20:59. I seem to have found this quite tricky, but I can’t remember anything about the solve. I’ve had a ridiculously busy week and didn’t get a chance to do the blog until last night after watching
(highly recommended) with the older 60% of the family. I had to look up the answers for most of the clues, which gives you an idea.
I do remember loving 22dn, and I loved it just as much the second time round.
.
| Across |
| 1 | Bishops on vacation drinking like fish |
BASS - BishopS containing AS. |
| 4 | Finish cool pint with me after work |
| COMPLETION - (COOL PINT, ME)* |
| 9 | Capital of Tobago undergoing rebuilding
|
| BOGOTA - (TOBAGO)*. |
| 10 | Blood group screened by staff on call for bypass |
| RING ROAD - RING (call), RO(A)D. |
| 11 | Sandwich filler finished butter and last of piccalilli |
PASTRAMI - PAST, RAM, piccalillI. |
| 13 | Honourable church organist’s first US number one |
HONCHO - HON., CH, Organist. I don’t think of HONCHO as a particularly American term but Chambers does. |
| 14 | Openly gay footballer hosting society ball |
| OUTSWINGER - OUT(S), WINGER. A cricket clue. |
| 16 | No power to free oneself of guilt or desire? |
URGE - pURGE. |
| 17 | One seen in brass bath with naked man? |
TUBA - TUB, mAn. |
| 18 | I acted a lot differentlyin wedding dress |
| TAILCOATED - (I ACTED A LOT)*. |
| 20 | Mozart?He was a hit with the ladies! |
| SCORER - DD. |
| 21 | Do this if I’m shocked about boyfriend? |
| KEEL OVER - reversal of EEK, LOVER. Semi-&Lit. |
| 23 | Upset stomach I had after slice of lamb cut off the leg? |
MUTILATE - reversal of TUM, I, then ATE following Lamb. |
| 24 | Nurse and model making first time last for hours |
SISTER - SITTER, replacing the first T with hourS. |
| 26 | Writer puts up tenor inside those top-flight lodgings |
| PENTHOUSES - PEN, HOUSES containing T (tenor). |
| 27 | Heads of state ignorant to extremist plot |
| SITE - first letters (heads) of ‘state ignorant to extremist’. |
| Down |
| 2 | Song and dance act led by original member of Abba |
ADO - Abba, DO (act). |
| 3 | Display of tennis? |
| SPORT - DD. |
| 4 | Bread and tea with dad and relations round |
| CHAPATI - CHA, PA, reversal of IT (relations, nudge nudge etc). |
| 5 | Harried men in Kings Cross expecting trouble? |
| MORNING SICKNESS - (MEN IN KINGS CROSS)*. Nice definition. |
| 6 | Left a Parisian and dear French chap eating at oneish? |
| LUNCHER - L, UN, CHER. |
| 7 | Cat with natural bent to avoid conservative (creepy sort) |
TARANTULA - (cAT, NATURAL)*. |
| 8 | Chopper maintenance |
| ORAL HYGIENE - CD. |
| 12 | A cold flat that you must inhabit? It gives one the needle |
| ACUPUNCTURE - A, C, PUNCTURE containing U. |
| 15 | At first I worried about heading to laughably old elevator! |
STAIRLIFT - (AT FIRST I)* containing Laughably. |
| 18 | Fuss over service area that might raise the roof |
| TORNADO - TO-DO containing RN, A. |
| 19 | Places test-match players may try to get in rucks |
| CREASES - almost a DD, but I would call the first – cricket-related – definition just about oblique and cryptic enough to qualify as wordplay. It’s trying to get you to thing of rugby, of course. |
| 22 | When one’s to follow central plots in Band of Brothers? |
OASIS - AS, I’S following plOts. The band of Liam and Noel, of course. Wonderful clue. |
| 25 | Worry copper’s round to take off bachelor |
EAT - bEAT. |