27 across: Celebrity sailor act in bondage setting (7)
I’m including this one because of the titillation factor. I ended up thinking celebrity = star and sailor act = row giving starrow as some kind of bondage setting that I had never heard of but which DA was clearly familiar with. I was mistaken, however (although I do like to think that DA has a penchant for domination), and sailor = tar, act = do, bondage = sm giving sailor act in bondage setting = stardom = celebrity.
14 across: (hobo) 25-across lacks aspiration reciting woodwind (4)
A nice double-barrelled aural clue (which is perhaps why this DA was not so much fun — there weren’t many aural clues.) Hobo lacks aspiration = obo giving hobo lacks aspiration reciting = oboe = woodwind.
22 down: He plans grand finale for 2-down (Huckleberry Finn) or 11-down (Tom Sawyer) (7)
Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer = rafter (they both rafted down the Mississippi), grand finale = d giving he plans = drafter = grand finale for Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer. (Did you notice how d was well hidden by grand finale because the two words go together so effortlessly?)
Although I agree this wasn’t one of DA’s best, there is one clue I think is very clever and whose merits may well be overlooked.
I will wait a couple of days to see if it gets a mention. If not, I will nominate for DA Gold and argue the case.
Hint: it involves a homophone (sound-alike) which always increases Gold-worthiness in my opinion :)
Are you referring to bowed?
And I think part of the reason this crossword wasn’t so good is because there weren’t enough sounds-like clues.
Bowed was a good one I got early, but not the clue I am thinking of.
My suggestion for DA Gold is 2 down. I have posted my reasoning in DA Confusion (22nd August) by mistake…