ACROSS
1 - Pudding poorly cooked - extremely lumpy (4-4) - ROLY-POLY {ROLY-PO*}{L
9 - First of players to drive, having honour (5) - PRIDE {P}{RIDE}
10 - Queen's lodged in Venice, surprisingly, from then till now (4,5) - EVER SINCE {EV{ER' S}INCE*}
12 - Crazy about a dance popular in the 1960s (5,3,5) - ROUND THE TWIST {ROUND THE} {TWIST}
14 - Hairstyle popular in Utah? (7) - BEEHIVE [DD]
17 - A rugby player, very large by the way (7) - APROPOS {A}{PRO}P{OS}
19 - Hors d'oeuvre with portion of bread, and sponge to follow (7) - ROLLMOP {ROLL}{MOP}
21 - Comedian in lace factory I scold constantly? On the contrary (5,8) - SPIKE MILLIGAN {SPIKE} {MILL}{I}{GAN<-}
24 - Female figure in Rabat in assassination (9) - BRITANNIA*
26 - Soccer team finding time for a drink? (6) - ELEVEN [DD]
27 - Drum major's beginning to get in my punt - a lunatic (8) - TYMPANUM {TY{M}PANUM*}
DOWN
1 - Murdoch to produce a comic strip? (6,4) - RUPERT BEAR {RUPERT} {BEAR}
3 - Quietly go ahead and claim (5) - PLEAD {P}{LEAD}
4 - Country line, the nicest possibly (13) - LIECHTENSTEIN*
7 - Sounds like a catch for a girl (7) - ANNETTE {A}{NETTE} (~net) (Addendum - {A}{NNETTE}(~net) - See comments)
8 - A legal document, whichever way you look at it (4) - DEED <->
11 - Remarkable run on old bicycle (13) - EXTRAORDINARY {EXTRA}{ORDINARY}
13 - Holding on to old lady not saying a word (7,3) - KEEPING MUM {KEEPING} {MUM}
15 - Elected soldier behind closed doors (2,7) - IN PRIVATE {IN} {PRIVATE}
18 - Rest of English giving support to turbulent priest (7) - RESPITE {RESPIT*}{E}
20 - Unit of explosive power - got name wrong (7) - MEGATON*
22 - 18? Could get grant at university (3-2) - LET-UP {LET}-{UP}
23 - All there over in Kinmel Bay (4) - ABLE [T<-]
17 - A rugby player, very large by the way (7) - APROPOS {A}{PRO}P{OS} Anno for second 'P' not clear
ReplyDeletePROP - (Rugby) either of the forwards at either end of the front row of a scrum...(freedict)
17A, Prop is a Rugby player
ReplyDeleteProp hoc, ergo poster hoc !
ReplyDeleteReminded me of the Rev. Harold 'Stinker' Pinker, Curate, who was also a prop forward. He had a reputation for clumsiness (except when playing rugby)
ReplyDelete"
Bertie:'I believe you would bump into something if you were crossing the Gobi desert.'
Harold:'I've never been in the Gobi desert.'
B:'Well, don't go. It isn't safe ...'
Extract from 'Stiff upper lip, Jeeves'.
Thanks to all the Rugby prop's!!
ReplyDeleteCol.,
ReplyDeleteA small correction in 7D. It should be Annette. One N is left out. Does A become 'an'?
Deepak, after the desert referred to proceed NE to get your favourite Chinese cuisine.
ReplyDeleteRegarding rugby positions - there are actually some quite bizarre terms;
ReplyDeleteLooseheads, tightheads, hookers, fly halfs, blindsides and opensides. Personally I hated rugby at school, it was always cold or wet and the ground was either pure mud or frozen solid - and it would also appear that all PE/rugby teachers are sadists.
So would you be by a rug than rug-by?
ReplyDeletegood Sunday fare. One actually learns a lot!
ReplyDeletePadmanabhan @ 10:53,
ReplyDeleteThanks. It need not be {AN}{NETTE} it can be {A}{NNETTE} as 'NNETTE' still sounds like NET
Went 12 Across, getting 21 Acros-- MILL I GAN was ok but the first name got me Spiked.
ReplyDelete4 Down seems to be a favourite among the setters, as I have seen it too often nowadays. Lick the Stein? 13 down was very 11 down, I must say.Never get a 22 down or 18 down from the toughies.
Thanks a 20 down to the clever compiler