As ever, a highly enjoyable puzzle from Dean, but not as mind-bending as some - and I'm certainly not complaining, particularly as this was my blogging week! The trademark elegance and economy of cluing were all there as usual, and there were a couple of outstanding anagrams.
Did not know the beast at 20dn, but pleased to have made his acquaintance. Enjoyed the surface and wit of 21dn, and I thought 15dn was rather good - albeit possibly a tad obscure to those not overly familiar with cockney rhyming slang.
Struggled a bit with the parsing at 4ac, but I'm sure the assembled company will come to my rescue here. Thanks very much to Dean.
Definitions underlined; DD = double definition; anagrams indicated by *(--)
Did not know the beast at 20dn, but pleased to have made his acquaintance. Enjoyed the surface and wit of 21dn, and I thought 15dn was rather good - albeit possibly a tad obscure to those not overly familiar with cockney rhyming slang.
Struggled a bit with the parsing at 4ac, but I'm sure the assembled company will come to my rescue here. Thanks very much to Dean.
Definitions underlined; DD = double definition; anagrams indicated by *(--)
| Across | |
| 1 | What acne cream should do for tyrant (6) |
| DESPOT - De-spot (what acne cream should do) | |
| 4 | Replace list that includes strange page (8) |
| SUPPLANT - Answer is clear enough from definition, but I'm struggling with the parsing here. SLANT (list) "includes" UPP: page gives us P, but does 'strange' give us UP? Maybe - "something's up" suggests something strange might be going on... Or is 'strange' indicating a rearrangement of PUP, with PUP somehow meaning 'page' (slang for a pageboy? - although I couldn't find anything to support this in the usual sources). Maybe I'm missing something obvious here - looking forward to enlightenment... | |
| 10 | Will split, heading off (5) |
| LEAVE - Will being used as in "to will" - i.e. leave to a beneficiary, with the wordplay being {C}LEAVE (split, heading off) | |
| 11 | Seeing nothing, first sign of blank page? (9) |
| OBSERVANT - O (nothing) + B (first sign of blank) + SERVANT (page) | |
| 12 | Having paying guests moved to Greek island (4,2,7) |
| TAKE IN LODGERS - *(TO GREEK ISLAND) with "moved" as the anagrind - a ripper of an anagram | |
| 14 | Boxer knocked over in Sri Lanka (3) |
| ALI - Reversed (knocked over) hidden (in) srI LAnka. And before anyone rushes to the obituaries, remember it's Sunday... | |
| 15 | Carrier had better sort of anticipation (5,6) |
| BATED BREATH - BA (carrier - British Airways) + *(HAD BETTER) with "sort" as the anagrind | |
| 17 | Seafood and fresh spring water (5,6) |
| TIGER PRAWNS - *(SPRING WATER) - another crackerjack anagram | |
| 18 | It rises in direction of river (3) |
| TOR - TO (in direction of) R (river). Small but perfectly formed. | |
| 19 | One charged for holiday accommodation? (6,7) |
| STATIC CARAVAN - Cryptic based on two meanings of "charged" | |
| 22 | Mad, as in desperate to cut friend (9) |
| BRAINSICK - *(AS IN) - with "desperate" as the anagrind - inside (to cut) BRICK (friend) - as in "you are a real brick" | |
| 23 | Elephant's tail, something like trunk (5) |
| TORSO - T (elephanT's tail) + OR SO (something like). | |
| 24 | Get backing in homeless plan (8) |
| STRATEGY - TEG (GET reversed - "backing") in STRAY (homeless) | |
| 25 | Secret escape from within court (6) |
| CLOSET - LOSE (escape from) 'within' CT (court) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Broadcast it with talented amateur (10) |
| DILETTANTE - *(IT TALENTED) with "broadcast" as the anagrind. One of my favourite words | |
| 2 | Fizzy drink with deposit in it (9) |
| SPARKLING - PARK (deposit) in SLING (drink). Whilst the Singapore Sling comes readily to mind, what I did not know until I asked that nice Mr. Google is that "sling" is actually a generic name for any drink comprising a spirit mixed with sugar and soda water. | |
| 3 | Love to disguise short daggers (5) |
| OBELI - O (love) + BELI | |
| 5 | Is it overly sweet? (6-4,4) |
| UPSIDE DOWN CAKE - Gentle cryptic clue | |
| 6 | Garden areas in which you hear usual flies (9) |
| PARTERRES - The plural of the kind of ornamental garden comprising beds and paths sounds like PAR (usual) + TEARS (flies) | |
| 7 | Assemble team as security guards (5) |
| AMASS - Hidden (indicated by 'guards') in teAM AS Security | |
| 8 | System for bettertransport (4) |
| TOTE - DD | |
| 9 | Child will be better at going after it (6,8) |
| TOILET TRAINING - Cryptic (& Lit, I guess - unless "going" is regarded as figurative rather than literal...) | |
| 13 | A drummer occupies secure allotment (7,3) |
| SHARING OUT - A RINGO (a drummer) 'occupies' SHUT (secure) | |
| 15 | Attractive thing, glossy, in hair (3,6) |
| BAR MAGNET - MAG (glossy) in BARNET (cockney rhyming slang for hair - Barnet Fair) | |
| 16 | It's run via special sort of software (9) |
| ANTIVIRUS - *(ITS RUN VIA) with "special" as the anagrind | |
| 19 | Part of flight one's taken through sun (5) |
| STAIR - I (one) inside STAR (sun) | |
| 20 | Animal artist has permit rejected (5) |
| RATEL - TEL (let - permit - reversed - rejected) in RA artist, giving us the Honey Badger - an impressive looking beast. Did not know this creature, but the wordplay was generous. | |
| 21 | Hotel group is accommodating AC/DC (4) |
| IBIS - IS 'accommodating' BI (AC/DC - as in bisexual). Nice surface with a nod to the Aussie rockers | |