Crosaire No 17276 by Crossheir – Friday, May 29th, 2020

Blog explanations available at 10pm on the day of publication

Across:

8 23 down (‘post’ = POST-) is taking a (-A-) line (-L) (POSTAL) in relation to letters (POSTAL),

9 State (= homophone indicator) Channel (channel = ‘strait’ = ‘STRAIGHT’) is not following The Curve (STRAIGHT),

10 Victor (V-) from a German (‘a’ German = -EIN) (VEIN) bloodline (VEIN),

11 Does the crossword (WORKS IT OUT) and gets all the solutions (WORKS IT OUT),

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12 Car (Model T-) for travelling (= anagram indicator) Haiti (Haiti = -AHITI) (TAHITI) and old French colony (TAHITI is an old French colony),

14 Rugby players (FORWARDS) shameless (FORWARD-) at first scrum (first ‘Scrum’ = -S) (FORWARDS),

15 Money for jam (STRAIGHTFORWARD) produced by 9 across (‘straight’ = STRAIGHT-) and most of 14 across (most of ‘forwards’ = -FORWARD) (STRAIGHTFORWARD),

18 Produce (produce/food = FRUIT-) at the end of (at the end ‘oF’ = -F-) university (University of Limerick = -UL) (FRUITFUL) getting good results (FRUITFUL),

20 Agree to (PERMIT) produce (= anagram indicator) Prime (Prime = PERMI-) Time? (-T) (PERMIT),

22 Writers’ blocks (PARAGRAPHS) – they cause divisions in The Paper (PARAGRAPHS),

24 Sid leaves Skid Row (‘Sid’ leaves ‘Skid Row’ = krow = WORK) to take a job (WORK),

25 The overheads (CEILINGS) for Bond’s (clings = C-LINGS) accommodation around (= reverse indicator) Ireland (Ireland domain = i.e. = -EI-) (CEILINGS),

26 Mark (mark = TARGET) immersed in Gibraltar getaway (immersed in ‘gibralTAR GETaway’ = TARGET).

Down:

1 Briefly (b) go up and down (‘bob’ without ‘b’= BO-) for painter of ballerinas (Degas) mostly (s) (‘Degas’ without ‘s’ = -DEGA) (BODEGA) to the wine shop (BODEGA),

2 Shock (STUN) with content of fascist unorthodoxy  (content of ‘fasciST UNorthodoxy’ = STUN),

3 Stick (cling = CL-ING) around county (Down) losing the head (d) (‘Down’ without ‘d’ = -OWN-) (CLOWNING) and acting the eejit (CLOWNING),

4 Takes advantage of (USER) the banks on USA river (the banks on ‘USa rivER’ = USER),

5 Rubber (ERASER) taint from tea strainer? (‘taint’ from ‘tea strainer’ = esraer = ERASER),

6 A major campaign in Asia (VIETNAM WAR) leads to native (native) unrest (= anagram indicator) (native = VIETNA-) with women (W-) in march (March = Mar = -M -AR) (VIETNAM WAR),

7 Ram (ram/knock = SHOULDER) or bear? (bear/accept = SHOULDER),

13 Picture (IMAGIN-E) about a (-A-) lawyer (bachelor of law = -BL-) (IMAGINABLE) – is that within the bounds of possibility? (IMAGINABLE),

14 Refurbished (= anagram indicator) a flat (a flat = FATAL) and it’s deadly (FATAL),

16 Strike possibility (THREATEN strike) put at risk (THREATEN),

17 Poles apart (OPPOSITE) in pipes too? (pipes too) Wrong! (= anagram indicator) (pipes too = OPPOSITE),

19 Trim (t), in good shape (‘fit’ without ‘t’ = FI-), set up for the fight (-RING) (FIRING) and taking one’s shot (FIRING),

21 Sets up (= reversal indicator) line (-L) for listeners (ears = -SRAE-) primarily in (primarily ‘In’ = I-) (ISRAEL) middle-eastern country (ISRAEL),

23 Opts (opts) out (= anagram indicator) (opts = POST) of appointment (POST),

24 Water sports dismissing protest (‘water sports’ dismissing ‘protest’ = wars = WARS) as struggles with a number of general employers (WARS).