Crosaire No 17756 by Crossheir – Monday, December 13th, 2021

Blog explanations available at 10pm on the day of publication

Across:

8 Order it officially (ORDAIN) for new (= anagram indicator) road (road = ORDA-) going up (= reversal indicator) north (NI = -IN) (ORDAIN),

9 Bolt (U- bolt) for safety mechanism (safety pin = -P IN) on guns (ARMS) (UP IN ARMS) when at boiling point? (UP IN ARMS),

10 Be resentful of (ENVY) English ivy on the borders (‘ENglish iVY’ on the borders = ENVY),

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11 Native’s leg (native’s leg) broken (= anagram indicator) (native’s leg = EVANGELIST) on the missions (EVANGELIST),

12 Time (T-) for youthful Greek goddess (-HEBE-) is endless (end ‘lesS’ = -S) (THEBES) on the Nile (THEBES),

14 Worry (worry/fret = FRE-T-) over points (compass points ‘North-East’ = -NE-) to get into top (‘Into’ top = -I-) college (-C) (FRENETIC) – it’s all go in a wild, uncompromising way (FRENETIC),

15 What an environmentalist wants to reduce (CARBON FOOTPRINT) in 20 across (‘carbon’ = CARBON) and 24 across (‘foot’ = FOOT-) and most of 19 down (most of ‘prints’ = -PRINT) (CARBON FOOTPRINT),

18 Oscar (-O-), Sue (Sue = -USE-), Rocky (= anagram indicator) and Penny (-P-) consumed by cracked (mad = M- -AD) (MOUSE PAD) computer accessory (MOUSE PAD),

20 Aston Martin (CAR-) taken by Bond (bond) – almost (d) (‘bond’ without ‘d’ = -BON) (CARBON) the typical dating material? (CARBON dating),

22 Keep (keep/castle = FORT-) going to University (-U-) – it (-IT-) is associated with Oxford (-O-), and for you and I (-US) (FORTUITOUS) that’s lucky (FORTUITOUS),

24 Soft option to ignore points (‘soft option’ to ignore ‘points’ = ofto = FOOT) produced by one of those down at heel (FOOT),

25 Work on a film (DIRECT-) from first light (first ‘Light’ = -L-) to end of the day (end of ‘daY’ = -Y) (DIRECTLY) getting to where you want to get without changing one’s lines? (DIRECTLY),

26 Flower (flower/river OB-) is behind schedule (-LATE) (OBLATE) and while round in shape, it’s a bit squashed (OBLATE).

Down:

1 Jimmy (WRENCH) West (W-) loses the head (f), in a manner of speaking (French) (‘French’ without ‘f’ = -RENCH) (WRENCH),

2 Cromwell’s issue, for example (issue/child = BABY), on both sides at the Battle of Naseby? (on both sides at the ‘BAttle of naseBY’ = BABY),

3 Popular (IN) Red (SEA-) State (= homophone indicator) paper (‘Sun’ = ‘son’ = -SON) (IN SEASON) is about to be pulled perhaps (IN SEASON),

4 Mystique (AURA) of A-list from Australia (‘alist’ from ‘Australia’ = uraa = AURA),

5 Old English missing hols (‘old English’ missing ‘hols’ = dengli = DINGLE) in the kingdom (in the kingdom of Kerry = DINGLE),

6 One of those raising the dead perhaps (PALLBEARER) has a lot on his shoulders of late? (PALLBEARER),

7 Tip off (r) of reduced sentence (remission) (‘remission’ without ‘r’ = EMISSION) is leaked perhaps? (EMISSION),

13 Temporarily keeps an eye on the issues raised by The Guardian (BABYSITTER), and 2 down (‘baby’ = BABY-) – the poseur (-SITTER) (BABYSITTER)

(BABYSITTER),

14 What restaurants serve (F-OOD) around port (port/left= -L-) (FLOOD) in Rush when the heavens open? (FLOOD),

16 Formal defence (APOLOGIA) of American (A-) Assistant (-P-A) overseeing igloo (igloo) reconstruction (= anagram indicator) (igloo = -OLOGI-) (APOLOGIA),

17 Unable to move (stuck) heading off (s) (‘stuck’ without ‘s’ = TUCK) to small (S-) dance (-HOP) (TUCK SHOP) – the one in the school for the sweeties (TUCK SHOP),

19 Pictures (PRINTS) of sprint (sprint) runner (= anagram indicator) (sprint = PRINTS),

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

23 Order (O-) New York (-NY-) Times (times/multiply = -X) (ONYX) from The Gem (gem/ agate = ONYX),

24 Drop (FALL) part of the Oath of Allegiance (part of the ‘oath oF ALLegiance’ = FALL).