Crosaire No 17457 by Crossheir – Monday, December 28th, 2020

Blog explanations available at 10pm on the day of publication

Across:

8 Type of poker (STUD- poker) I (-I-) love (love in tennis = -O) (STUDIO) in the drawing room? (drawing room for artist = STUDIO),

9 Takes a risk (STUNTMAN) falling for a star (STUNTMAN),

10 Sides with Henry of Navarre (sides with ‘HEnry of navarRE’ = HERE) on this spot (HERE),

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11 It’s my pleasure (PRIVILEGED) to deliver pig (deliver pig) unexpectedly  (= anagram indicator) (deliver pig = PRIVILEGED),

12 Parade (STREET) of various (= anagram indicator) trees (trees = STREE-) from the bottom of the forest (bottom of the ‘foresT’ = -T) (STREET),

14 Played by a folk musician (MELODEON) in short (t) run (melt) (‘melt’ without ‘t’ = MEL-) on old Greek stage (-ODEON) (MELODEON),

15 Exciting (ELECTRIC) Kent Lab (Kent Lab) cooking (= anagram indicator) (Kent Lab = BLANKET) (ELECTRIC BLANKET) something that gradually heats up and is put over a single (ELECTRIC BLANKET),

18 State (COLORADO) of lots of restaurant starters (‘Lots Of Restaurant’ starters = -LOR-) from America (-A-) wrapped in fish (-CO-D-) and duck (-O) (COLORADO),

20 Unfinished (y) sample (‘try’ without ‘y’ = TR-) to put away (-EAT-) with some open (‘Some’ open = -S) (TREATS) goodies (TREATS),

22 Repudiation (DISCLAIMER) of Dee (Dee) saying (= homophone indicator) (‘dee’ = ‘d’ = D-) Charlie (-C-) is consumed by air miles (air miles =  -IS-LAIMER), flying all over the place (= anagram indicator) (DISCLAIMER),

24 Give exposure (BARE) to acts thrown out of cabarets (‘acts’ thrown out of ‘cabarets’ = bare = BARE),

25 What those with class are expected to do (HOMEWORK) in The House (HOME-) for Labour (-WORK) (HOMEWORK),

26 Church (CH-) diocese (bishop’s see) backing (= reversal indicator) (see = -EES-) ecumenicalism from the start (‘Ecumenicalism’ from the start = -E) (CHEESE) in Gloucester (Gloucester CHEESE).

Down:

1 Confirm (ATTEST) a (A-) bone (-T- bone) analysis (-TEST) (ATTEST),

2 Good-for-nothing (IDLE) set-up (= reverse indicator) in Hotel-Dieu (in ‘hotEL DIeu’ = eldi = IDLE),

3 Come (COM-E) across place (-PUT-) that’s right (-R) (COMPUTER) and PC (COMPUTER),

4 Some spirits appreciated (some ‘spirITS Appreciated  = itsa) all the way back (= reverse indicator) (itsa = ASTI) by one drunk in Italy (ASTI),

5 The end of the line (BURIAL) of British (B-) wild sheep (-URIAL sheep) (BURIAL),

6 Almost (d) catch (attend) (‘attend’ without ‘d’ = ATTEN-) ball (-DANCE) (ATTENDANCE) in the stadium watching the game (ATTENDANCE),

7 Don’t turn a blind eye (TAKE NOTE) to what reporter might do (TAKE NOTE),

13 Each censor (each censor) curiously (= anagram indicator) (each censor = ENCROACHES) treads on someone’s toes (ENCROACHES),

14 Sample of Hiroshima chopsticks (sample of ‘hiroshiMA CHOpsticks’ = MACHO) produced by Butch (MACHO),

16 Visit (LOOK IN ON) gent’s (gents = LOO-) people? (kin = -K IN) In retrospect (= reverse indicator), that’s out of the question! (no! = -ON) (LOOK IN ON),

17 Turned on (LIT-) close to bedtime (close/end to ‘bedtimE’ = -E-) by risqué (-RACY) (LITERACY) ability to read and write (LITERACY),

19 River (AMAZON) in Oman (Oman) travelling (= anagram indicator) (Oman = AM-ON) around a (-A-) zone (-Z-) (AMAZON),

21 Flog (THRASH) lead from terraced (lead from ‘Terraced’ = T-) house from the start (‘House’ from the start = -H-) at a number of spots (-RASH) (THRASH),

23 Chain-smoker dismisses Cornish (‘chain-smoker’ dismisses ‘Cornish’ = amke = MAKE) build (MAKE),

24 Introduction of bank (Introduction of ‘Bank’ = B-) charge (fee) raises (= reverse indicator) (fee = -EEF) (BEEF) criticism (BEEF).