Crosaire No 17369 by Crossheir – Tuesday, September 15th, 2020

Blog explanations available at 10pm on the day of publication

Across:

1 Ramble (TODDLE) on foot (TO-E) covering Dublin (-D-) to Donegal (-DL-) (TODDLE),

4 Miss (LEAVE OUT) Holiday (LEAVE) is no longer in fashion (OUT) (LEAVE OUT),

9 Nutty sort (ALMOND) of poor (= anagram indicator) old man (old man = ALMOND),

10 Play emotional games (PSYCH OUT) with foreign (= anagram indicator) spy (spy = PSY-) caught (-C-) with heroin (-H) at the end of 4 across (end of ‘leave out’ = OUT) (PSYCH OUT),

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12 Impediment (HINDRANCE) for deer (female deer = HIND-) managed  (-RAN-) by church (Church of England = -CE) (HINDRANCE),

13 Turns up (= reverse indicator) Virgil used it (Latin) endlessly (n) (‘Latin’ without ‘n’ = lati = -ITAL) to sign (Victory sign = V- sign) (VITAL) out of total necessity (VITAL),

14 The forcefulness of contemporary influencers (PEER PRESSURE) in Dock (pier) Speech (= homophone indicator) (‘pier’ = ‘peer’ = PEER) by Harry (harry/harass = PRESSURE) (PEER PRESSURE),

18 Agitation (agitation/furore = FERMENT-) to deprive state (nation) of leader (n) (‘nation’ without ‘n’  = -ATION) (FERMENTATION) is part of the process brewing in The Beer Cellar (FERMENTATION),

21 Hacks (hacks/severs = CHOPS) producing leader columns (leader ‘Columns’ = C-) and a fair amount of (half of) those in 1 down (half of ‘tea sHOPS’ = -HOPS) (CHOPS),

22 The result of examination (DIAGNOSIS) by detectives (DIs = DI-S) surrounding Saigon (Saigon) building (= anagram indicator) (Saigon = -AGNOSI-) (DIAGNOSIS),

24 Criminal (= anagram indicator) record (record = RED COR-) associated with gangster (-AL Capone) (RED CORAL) employed in the jewellery business (RED CORAL),

25 Knocks back (= reverse indicator) endless (t) champagne (brut) (‘brut’ without ‘t’ = bru = -URB) on public transport (bus = SUB-) (SUBURB) provided it’s outside the city (SUBURB),

26 Permit (BROOK-) for lake (-L-) with yellowfin on both banks (‘YellowfiN’ on both banks = -YN) (BROOKLYN) in city borough (BROOKLYN),

27 Useless (FUTILE) record (F-ILE) about Utah (-UT-) (FUTILE).

Down:

1 Clip (e) of kid (tease) (‘tEase’ without ‘e’ = TEA S-) going to hospital (-H-) for operations? (Ops = -OPS) (TEA SHOPS) She expects to get hot drinks in such places! (TEA SHOPS),

2 Local out to lunch (local ‘out to lunch’ = DEMENTED with one sandwich – that’s a bit short for a picnic! (‘one sandwich short of a picnic’ = DEMENTED),

3 Crafty type (LINER) raises (= reverse indicator) some children illuminatingly (some ‘childREN ILluminatingly’ = renil = LINER),

5 It’s a moveable feast (EASTER SUNDAY) for Daisy’s relative (-ASTER) following (= position indicator) Oriental (East = E-) paper (SUN-) for 24 hours (-DAY) (EASTER SUNDAY),

6 Victor (VIC-) and Eve (Eve = -E VE-) going to South Africa (Republic of South Africa  = -RSA) (VICE VERSA) switching orders (VICE VERSA),

7 Nothing (O-) to drink (-PORT-) or open (‘Or’ open = -O) (OPORTO) in a European city (OPORTO),

8 Count’s (counts = TOTALS) last to (last to) collapse (= anagram indicator) (last to = TOTALS),

11 In the past, examination (INTER- exam), by the press (-MEDIA-) leads to reform? Yes (leads to ‘Reform Yes’  = -RY) (INTERMEDIARY), by mediator! (INTERMEDIARY),

15 Herb (cress) that’s trimmed (c) (‘cress’ without ‘c’ = -RESS-) along with a minimum (w) of wasabi (minimum of ‘Wasabi’ = -W-) in pig meat (pork = P-ORK) (PRESSWORK) produced by those in the news (PRESSWORK),

16 US State (MISSOURI) address (MISS-) at old (-O-), old city (-UR-) institute (-I) (MISSOURI),

17 Ulster (U-) bus lane (bus lane) potentially (= anagram indicator) (bus lane = -NUSABLE) (UNUSABLE) is not fit for purpose (UNUSABLE),

19 School (S-) friend from Ireland (Irish ‘friend’ = -CARA-) with Black (-B) (SCARAB) Beetle (SCARAB),

20 Introduces Ozzy Osbourne’s discography (introduces ‘Ozzy Osbourne’s Discography’ = -ODD-) after (= position indicator) five (Roman five = V-) from the start of Oklahoma (start of ‘Oklahoma’ = -O-) and Love (-O) (VOODOO) by The Cult (VOODOO),

23 Leader of Nigeria (leader of ‘Nigeria’ = N-), Australia (-AU-), Russia (-RU) (NAURU) and Pacific Nation? (island country in South West Pacific = NAURU).