Got back here yesterday, after my visit to Sledgette Major, to find mail from several correspondents informing me that no fewer than four down clues were missing. (Thanks to "Prospero" and "Elmer".) As the Oz has no crossword editor (a cardinal sin for any national newspaper), I guess it simply wasn't checked. In good Murdoch style, they set aside three columns beneath the grid for the clues and cut accordingly from the bottom. The clues we do have include some unforgivables-and-unforgivens. Go to the newsagent and demand your money back; and/or write to the Oz and let them know exactly what you think about getting a pile of dog shit on your Sunday breakfast table: letters@theaustralian.com.au. Don't worry, they won't publish it, so you can be as vitriolic as you wish.
Across
1. BATH. "Club" (BAT) + hot (H).
3. ECO-TOURISM. Anag of "omit source". "Of development" is among the worst anaginds I've seen in a long while.
10. MATCHLOCK. The "Lighter" is a MATCH and the "piece of hair" is a LOCK. Have a strong suspicion that "arm" can only refer to weaponry when in the plural.
11. UPPER. Bad pun masquerading as a double def.
12. AMIGO. Included in "ham I got".
13. TONSURED. Another bad pun; this time masquerading as a cryptic def.
15. DECAGON. The D is from the end ("tail") of "Daschund" -- which should, of course, be "Dachshund". (Maybe this is the source of the dog shit? -- What's the difference between a Dachshund and a barrow boy? "Das Chunder" is in fact German for what you do when you find dog shit on your Sunday breakfast table.) Then you need an anag of "on cage". "Figure it out" is both anagind and a misplaced def/literal: figure. Another sign of the setter's disdain for the solver. NEVER should the def be inside the body of the clue. ALWAYS at the start or end of it. They're chuckling into their pink gins in Maidenhead: "Let the stupid colonials cop this lot, Nigel!"
17. SECRETE. South-East Crete.
19. CANASTA. This one has me buggered and befuddled backwards. What I suspect is that you take "throw" to be CAST and chuck in an AN, then add an article (A). Negligent clue writing at its finest.
21. STARTLE. One of the many anags of "Rattles": SLATTER, STARLET, STARTLE, STATLER, TATLERS, TELSTAR.
22. TEMPORAL. "Secretary" (TEMP) with "exam" (ORAL). Amateur stuff.
24. AMBLE. Read "out" as "outside". The doctor is MB (like many medical quals, not a doctorate).
27. HELLO. Take the OT ("collection of books") off OTHELLO. Do we get this magazine here? It's popular in the newsagency in Maidenhead when they want to know what the PROLES (23 dn?) are thinking. Bugger all copies in the Minjup Deli.
28. ORCHESTRA. Anag of "carrots he". CARTHORSE of a clue.
29. CONCERTINA ?? Have to guess this one. Some dictionaries say it's hexagonal, others merely polygonal. How you get the INA ending is up to you. Too many pink gins quaffed at this pont? [[EDIT: a reader, "Barman", points out that there's also CONCERTINO: a short concerto, and also a "group of solo instruments in a concerto" (OED). Doesn't explain the "hexagonal" bit but.]]
30. LYRE. Included in "Abnormally records". Anyone have a recording of a lyre?
Down
1. BOMBAY DUCK. The worn out car is a BOMB and to bob is to DUCK. S'pose "alas" must be AY. "Fishy" is a crap def/literal. Many things are made of fish. Unless they're made of dog shit.
2. TUTTI. All the players at once.
4. CROUTON. When I last made them (Monday), they were fried, not toasted. Can ROUT be signalled by "large party"?
5. TAKINGS. KINGS is A college.
6. ULURU. Make L and R separate three vowels that sound like "ewe".
7. IMPLEMENT. Double def.
8. MARK. Double def.
9. THE OLGAS. Quite a distance from ULURU. But never mind. The Olga was a Kraut Corvette. Abstruse or what?
14. REGENERATE. Anag of "green tree".
16 & 20. CONNELLAN AIRPORT. Laboured anag. to make it fit with 9 and 6. Sort of.
18. CHARADES. The double-B in "possibbly" suggests far too many pink gins by this stage. Abbreviate "Charles" to "Chas" and bung in an anag of "dear".
20. See 16.
21. SILICON. Have to guess here. But is there much else for S_L_C_N? Maybe there's something called SALICIN? [[EDIT: Yes there is. Chambers has: "a bitter crystalline glucoside (C13 H18 O7) obtained from willow-bark, etc and used medicinally as an analgesic, etc".]]
23. P_O_E. Many possibilities here. My money would be on PHONE, PROBE, PROLE, PROSE and PROVE.
25. B_T_Y. Ditto. Try: BATTY, BETSY, BETTY, BITSY, BITTY, BUTTY.
26. _H_C. Not a lot of alternatives for this one. Bung 'em in. They can't refuse your entry. Include a dog turd or two for good measure. Unless you think your dog's poo is worth more than the Concise Oxford.
