i Cryptic Crossword 2148 Scorpion

So it’s Wednesday, and it isn’t Dac, but Scorpion which sometimes means that the solver is in for a bit of a rough ride. As it turns out we have a reasonably straightforward puzzle based around 18ac’s, a fair amount of which I’m guessing has been consumed over the past week. My first answer in was 9ac, swiftly followed by 6d, at which point I guessed what the gateway clue was going to be, and from that point on it was a fairly easy ride. I had to check the names of one or two, notably my LOI 27ac, but most were pretty well known. Was I the only person to briefly worry that 24/17A was going to be an obscure Swiss wine? A nice piece of misdirection.

All in all pretty enjoyable, and not too difficult, thankfully leaving me time to prepare for the imminent arrival of the in-laws, at which point solving and blogging crosswords might be somewhat frowned upon. Pass me a glass of Penderyn whisky…

COD? The aforementioned 24/17A for the misdirection, nice wordplay, and pleasing surface reading – “18 from Switzerland, having one over the eight, upset French chef (6,5)”.

To the decidedly unfestive days of August 2013:

http://www.fifteensquared.net/2013/08/06/independent-8365-scorpion/