Crosaire No 17564 by Crossheir – Monday, May 3rd, 2021

Blog explanations available on the day of publication at 10pm

Across:
8 For the pictures (CAMERA) of a cream (a cream) pie (= anagram indicator) (a cream = CAMERA),

9 One of the heroes (IDOL-) getting a (-A-) score (-TRY) (IDOLATRY)? The church warns against this sort of behaviour! (IDOLATRY),

10 Creepy sort (VINE) could be responsible for sour grapes (VINE),

11 Don’t forget (KEEP IN MIND) castle (KEEP) is popular (IN) with wits (MIND) (KEEP IN MIND),

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12 No Lent in East Berlin (no ‘lent’ in ‘East Berlin’ = easbri = SERBIA) or in Central Europe (SERBIA),

14 Fine wool (CASHMERE) from state (= homophone indicator) on Indian and Chinese border (‘Kashmir’ = ‘CASHMERE’),

15 Men-only gathering (STAG-) is key (music key -E) North and South (DIRECTIONS) (STAGE DIRECTIONS) to those employed to manage a theatrical performance (STAGE DIRECTIONS),

18 Get a face-lift (RENOVATE) in city in Nevada (RENO-) with Virginia (-VA-) Lawrence (-TE Lawrence) (RENOVATE),

20 New (= anagram indicator) sales (sales = EAS-LS) around Spain (-E-) (EASELS) for studio supporters (EASELS),

22 One of those undermining creators of fiction? (TRUTH SERUM) That’ll get them talking, honestly! (TRUTH SERUM),

24 Wrap (BIND) up (= reversal indicator) some mixed nibbles (some ‘mixeD NIBbles’ = dnib = BIND),

25 Caught (C-) Michael (Michael) mixing (= anagram indicator) (Michael = -HEMICAL) (CHEMICAL) drug (CHEMICAL),

26 Noise (RACKET) of car coming off racetrack (‘car’ coming off ‘racetrack’ = etrack = RACKET).

Down:
1 Tries a (tries a) soup (= anagram indicator) (tries a = SATIRE) produced by Swift, for one (produced by Jonathan Swift, for one SATIRE)

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

3 Bet (BACK-) on trouble (-WAR-) with editor, the second (the second letter of ‘eDitor’ = -D) (BACKWARD) that’s not up to the standard of The Times (BACKWARD),

4 It’s not good (DIRE) for Geordie with no ego (‘Geordie’ with no ‘ego’ = rdie = DIRE),

5 Skeletons (BODIES) in Russian River (River Ob) back up (= reverse indicator) (River Ob = BO-) and it stops running (-DIES) (BODIES),

6 Records of those fighting a losing battle perhaps (WAR MEMOIRS) produced by those who had a view on The Troubles (WAR MEMOIRS),

7 “Burst of Speed (sprint) Starting Off (s) (‘sprint’ without ‘s’ = PRINT) The Marathon” (RUN) (PRINT RUN) – produced by a number of the copies of The Press (PRINT RUN),

13 Gladstone’s (Gladstones = BAGS) old French (OF) car (model T-) on motorway (MI) going over (= reverse indicator) (MI = -IM-) to Spain (-E) (BAGS OF TIME) for an open-ended duration (BAGS OF TIME),

14 Church (Church of England = CE = C-E) overlooks old city (-UR-) for some initial (‘Some’ initial = -S) (CURSE) bad spell? (CURSE)

16 Godlike rule (THEARCHY) by those people (THE-Y) over a (-A-) church (Roman Catholic church = -RC-) with foremost heretic (foremost ‘Heretic’ = -H-) (THEARCHY),

17 Do the people running this firm have a cheese board (CREAMERY) and food processor? (CREAMERY),

19 Idiom from social media (‘idiom’ from ‘social media’ = scalea = ALSACE) in France (ALSACE),

21 Hang on? (LINGER) Presumably, you can catch this (LING-) from one of those in hospital! (-ER) (LINGER),

23 Winning Streak (roll), it’s said (= homophone indicator) (‘roll’ = ‘ROLE’), has a part to play (ROLE),

24 One of those playing the field (footballer/defender/ BACK) with a fair amount of (half of) 3 down (half of ‘BACKward’ = BACK).