Crosaire No 17218 by Crossheir – Monday, March 23rd, 2020

Blog explanations available at 10pm on the day of publication

Across:

8 Tried (HAD A GO) to halt first (‘Halt’ first = H-) bill (-AD-) by government lawyer (Attorney General = -A G-) and it came to nothing (-O) (HAD A GO),

9 English (E-) cleric (cleric = -LEC-RIC) freely (= anagram indicator) admits Last Judgement (last ‘judgemenT’ = -T-) (ELECTRIC) is powerful in the main? (ELECTRIC),

10 Made from Medieval (‘made’ from ‘medieval’ = ievl = EVIL) type of spirit that’s not good (EVIL),

11 GP, for example (Grand Prix = MOTORSPORT), drink (-PORT) drives (MOTORS-) from the start (= position indicator) (MOTORSPORT),

READ MORE

12 Turns up (= reversal indicator) on The Hill (tor = -ROT) for the music (rap = PAR-) (PARROT) and is likely to repeat everything you say (PARROT),

14 Belittles (DETRACTS) new (= anagram indicator) cadets (cadets = DE-ACTS) welcoming uplifting (= reverse indicator) retweet (RT = -TR-) (DETRACTS),

15 The current path (ELECTRIC CIRCUIT) of 9 across (‘electric’ = ELECTRIC) and most (s) of 25 across (‘CIRCUITs’ without ‘s’= CIRCUIT) (ELECTRIC CIRCUIT),

18 Lays the blame at (ASCRIBES) American (A-) writers (-SCRIBES) (ASCRIBES),

20 The black stuff (PORTER) employed by a hospital (PORTER),

22 Had a night on the tiles (CELEBRATED) with fancy (= anagram indicator) bracelet (bracelet = CELEBRAT-) and Oriental (east = -E-) diamonds (-D) (CELEBRATED),

24 Finish filming (WRAP) of what’s on the menu in The Restaurant? (WRAP),

25 Tracks (CIRCUITS) one employing clowns (CIRCU-S) across island (-I-) with temperature (-T-) (CIRCUITS),

26 Took care of (NURSED) sister (NURSE-) and daughter (-D) (NURSED).

Down:

1 A vital (a vital) building (= anagram indicator) (a vital = LATVIA) in Eastern Europe (LATVIA),

2 Part of The House (hall) report (= homophone indicator) (‘hall’ = ‘HAUL’) produced by Transport (transport = HAUL),

3 100 (Roman 100 = C-) Frenchmen (Messieurs = -MM-) in route (route) breakdown (= anagram indicator) (route = -O-UTER) (COMMUTER) travelling to work (COMMUTER),

4 Moth-eaten Monet is left out (‘moth-eaten’ ‘Monet’ is left out/without ‘Monet’ = thea = HEAT) in the hot weather (HEAT),

5 Centre stage ignoring a gent (‘centre stage’ ignoring ‘a gent’ = cerest = SECRET) no one is supposed to know about (SECRET),

6 Raises (= reversal indicator) cats, dogs (pets = STEP-) and reindeer (Santa’s reindeer -DANCER) (STEP-DANCER) for one of those moved by music (STEP-DANCER),

7 Brittle (brittle = LIBRETT-), unsteady (= anagram indicator) ego (-I) (LIBRETTI) produced music texts (LIBRETTI),

13 It’s not the first time (RECURRENCE) it’s about (RE-) latest (current) short (t) (‘current’ without ‘t’ = -CURREN-) from Clare (-CE) (RECURRENCE),

14 Knocks out local (DECKS) wines out of wickedness (‘wines’ out of ‘wickedness’ = ckeds = DECKS),

16 Work on The Wire (LISTEN IN) with snoop (LISTEN IN),

17 Bold (IMPUDENT) rascal (IMP-) to study (-DEN-) in Utah (UT = -U-T) (IMPUDENT),

19 Bear in mind Mann left (‘bear in mind’ ‘mann’ left/without ‘mann’ = beriid = BIRDIE), of course, the one under par (BIRDIE),

21 Removed from (ERASED) wild (= anagram indicator) Red Sea (Red Sea = ERASED),

23 Lay to rest without royal (‘lay to rest’ without ‘royal’ = test = TEST) standard (TEST),

24 Wine bar ignores ban (‘wine bar’ ignores ‘ban’ = wier = WIRE) on the electric amp (WIRE).