I did get about 7 answers but that was because I grabbed the theme quite quickly. If I hadn't I'd have been stuffed. My first answer in was 16D, which was a pretty obvious anagram clue even though it contained a theme link part to 4-across. The answer there was wrong. I can only imagine DA is getting swamped with emails and 'letters to the editor' for making a mistake in his puzzle. It's one of those things solvers aren't forgiving about especially when the puzzle's difficulty level is set so high. Either way, googling that answer still got me the artist for 4A and thus the theme. If only the theme had been about most often misheard lyrics, DA would've been fine.
4-across gives us our theme's performer and the rest are his songs. Starting with 16-down:
16D - Riddle (riddle, wow!) from 4-across (4,5)
It stood out that "riddle" was an anagrind and "riddle wow" was fodder. Mix that to get
WIDE WORLD. I'm more inclined to think this is deliberate, it's a "riddle" done twice. Perhaps this is a nod to people like me who hear lyrics wrong all the time(Really, all the time) When I put WIDE WORLD into google it auto-selected "song" so I went for it and first answer was Cat Stevens's Wild World. With that, having a list of Cat Stevens songs helped with the rest. Mainly because I'm not a fan and knew nothing about his work. Ugh, folk music - wank. It's as bad as cricket. ("Don't type that! You'll lose friends." my husband says)
Let's break the other crossing clues:
10A - Head to solve setter (4)
"Head" is the definition and "to solve" = DO and "setter" = ME as in "It's me, DA! I'm the setter!" for DOME.
22A - Frantically swam the circuit a bit... (8)
Anagram: "A bit" is the definition and "Frantically swam the ," is anagrind and part fodder leaving us only one letter short then "circuit" = O if you think of it as a lap mix up SWAMTHEO to get SOMEWHAT.
26, 12A - 4-across's classic hangs on rim as a result (7,3,6)
I got this looking through the song list and finding an enumeration match. It was then I noticed "hangs on a rim" was fodder which must leave "as a" being the anagrind - pretty hard one to spot, too. gives us MORNING HAS but I don't see how from the clue we get the last word BROKEN. How does "result" = BROKEN? See why the song list was important for me?
15D - Staff principal dismissed one (3)
"Staff" is the definition but in the sense of employing. "Principal" = MAIN "dismissed one" = -I leaving MAN as in "Man the door."
17A - Particular 15-down stopping a 15-down to be national? (8)
I could be wrong here: "Particular MAN" = ERIC that's "stopping" or in the middle of A MAN where we take the A from the clue itself to give us AM(ERIC)AN as a "National"
1A - Musical disc by 4-across, 22-across? (4)
"Musical" is the definition and "disc" = O by "Cat Stevens" "Somewhat" with a bit of google we find 2010 he had an album released called "A Journey: OPUS collection" for OPUS.
4A - Musical voice starting to bore youth's 15-down of music (3,7)
I appealed to the wisdom of the D.A. Trippers a lot for this puzzle. I'd got myself tied in a corner and unable to parse half this clue. Mort got me straight "starting to refers to “voice” which bores (goes inside) a word for youths. The apostrophe is misleading. " Dash and damn those misleading apostrophes! "Musical" = CATS "youths" = TEENS and "Voice starting" = V for CAT S(TE(V)ENS)
9A - Radical family twice involves 17-14-across lately (5,5)
Some clues just make me want to peel my face off. With help from Mort "9A is an anagram (radical) of family, plus to references to 17A." so it'll be 17A - AMERICAN shortened twice = US US plus FAMILY as full fodder to give us YUSUF ISLAM.
10A - Solved above.
11A - Sucker spins tablet in orbit (8)
"Sucker" is our definition and "spins tablet" = PILL in reverse > LLIP placed "in" a word for "orbit" = LOOP like this: LO(LLIP)OP.
13, 19A - Well-fed mobs swamp an active 4-across hit (6,3,3)
We are looking for a Cat Stevens hit. "Well fed" = FAT "mobs swamp AN" = HERDS + AN and maybe "active" = ON to give us FAT(HER(AN)DSON)
15A - Encounter cyber-ninny 22-downing back bottom line? (4,4)
"Encounter" is the definition and with help from Mort again "15A is yet another of those answers that are most easily parsed after getting the answer. There is a three-letter word meaning “bottom” – think skirt or trousers, backwards around a made up word for “cyber ninny”." Well we know for certain the word for "bottom" of trousers won't be "cuff" so that's one off our list. HEM > MEH works better and the "cyber-ninny" is an E-TWIT to give us ME(ET WIT)H.
17A - Solved above.
20A - Prize spot near a soft spot (6)
"Prize" is our definition and "spot" = AD like an advertising spot, and a "soft spot" = MIRE for ADMIRE. I got stuck thinking of fontanelles and tissues.
22A - Frantically swam the circuit a bit... (8) Solved above. SOMEWHAT.
24A - ...and cramp foot limiting desire (4)
"And" is the definition, "cramP foot" = P as the last letter of "foot" of "cramp", "limiting desire" = LUST -T for P(LUS). They're ellipses clues so I think the connection is that the definition overlaps. I felt "and" as a definition was a bit short but "a bit and" is better.
25A - 4-across's own dysuria symptom discussed? (5,5)
Then comes the clue that makes all the face ripping frustration melt away and we're reminded to chill out and not be so serious. I looked up "dysuria" and found it was an inability or finding it difficult to urinate. Then go through the song list and a eureka lightbulb bring us to PEACE TRAIN which sounds like PEE STRAIN. You can't stay grumpy at someone who makes us laugh like that.
26,12A - Solved above.
27A - 10-across flabbergasted pilot (4)
10-across is DOME and "flabbergasted" is an anagrind. Remix DOME to get DEMO for "pilot."
2D - Professional tips sorted out cosmic dwarf (5)
"Cosmic dwarf" is our definition and "ProfessionaL tips" = PL, "sorted out" is anagrind and fodder to give us: PL(UTO)
3D - Walker in mud possibly suggests banner (9)
"Walker in mud" is our definition which "possibly suggests" could be hinting to homophone or something heard and "banner" if we consider DATer Ann's hint "in 3D you are looking for a person who bans." we can get SQUELCHER. Is "suggests" hinting to something heard, as "squelch" is an onomatopoeia?
4D - Jovial one nearing green (7)
"Jovial" is the definition and I'd had a feeling this was golf related with the word "green" and with cross letters I could see CHIPPER. Solving otherwise I'm less sure. "One" usually hints to an I but how would "nearing green" be CHPPER? Is it just a cryptic definition needing no more finagling?
5D - Bloomer essential to actual insolence (5)
"Bloomer" is our definition and we are looking for a flower. "essential to acTUal," = TU as the middle or "essential" letters in "actual" and "insolence" = LIP for TULIP.
6D - Easily 12-across Mexican dish includes basic starter (7)
"Easily BROKEN," is our definition and we need to think horses. "Mexican dish" = TAMALE which "includes Basic starter" = B for TAMA(B)LE.
7D - Film drip ascending to Latin God (5)
I had the first and last letter and guessed VIRGO or VIDEO playing to either end of the clue. "Drip ascending" = IV > VI, leaving "Latin God" which got me stuck because I thought it was DEUS and that's too many letters. Sandy tells us " think letters 3-5 of 7d is Latin for ‘to God’. God in the nominative would require 4 letters." so it's "to Latin god" which there makes VI(DEO) the right answer. (I think we knew RGO was not going to work)
8D - Crap deputy (6,3)
since we had a joke about number ones in 25A it would be wrong to not have a joke about NUMBER TWO as well to have balance.
14D - Plated one meat dish first off, adding herb on chop (9)
"Plated one" is the definition and "meat dish, first off" = PARMA - P, "adding herb" = DILL and "on chop" leaves us with O if we "chop" off the N, giving us ARMA(DILL)(O)
15D - Solved above.
16D - Solved above.
18D - Lower fraudster confined, twice wasting time (7)
"Lower" is the definition. I needed full help on this and Mort provided "Feather 18D, definition is “lower”. Letters 1-4 are “fraudster” – wasting time; 5-7 are “confined”, wasting time. Where time = t." so it's "fraudster" = CHEAT -T, "confined" = PENT - T for CHEAPEN. I hope that's right.
19D - Drifting vessel Miami unit retrieved (7)
Container: "Drifting" is the definition and "retrieved" the container signpost leaving "veSSEL MIAmi" which is AIMLESS in reverse. Hmm, how would I know this was a reverse container? Is that imperative in container clueing?
21D - Top writer seeing intermittent playwright (5)
"Playwright" is our definition and I think it's "Top writer" = NIB -N and "SeEiNg intermittent" = SEN for IBSEN.
22D - Trim squirrel casing tree (5)
"Trim" is the definition and "SquirreL casing" = SL and yes I'd missed that for a long time thinking of "casing" as surveillance which is not typical behaviour of a squirrel. The "tree" is an ASH for SLASH.
23D - Saw 17-across chopper lifting yours truly into Paris.
"Saw" is the definition and I needed help here, again Mort to the rescue "an American chopper is letters 1-2. We spell it with an “e” on the end. Yours truly = me = moi in Paris, lifted up." gives us AXIOM.
We are done! Shake off the grumps and have a victory lap around town. Particular thanks to Mort who was extremely supportive to all in the forum. This puzzle has further distanced me from liking Cat Stevens and I'm pretty certain that was its intention. 25A has me convinced. I will not sway from that belief.
We are on school holidays and are having a staycation but we live seaside so every staycation is still a vacation. That should be our town's motto "Where every Staycation is still a Vacation." That's mine, you can't steal it!
Have a great weekend!
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