ARTICLE AD BOX
Among Reeves, the other Reeves, Reed and the rest, which are suitable for use in puzzles?
Some cabinet members have names that offer little to the crossword setter: I’m thinking of Liz Kendall, with her paucity of vowels, her surfeit of Ls and that nice-in-Scrabble nasty-to-clue duo K and Z. Others have decent letters but fail the “Can you expect the solver to have noticed them?” test: the letters in the name Steve Reed offer EVEREST and the surname of the chancellor but the environment secretary himself remains less than ubiquitous.
Perhaps Wes Streeting will prompt a setter to answer the subliminal question “how do you street?”; in the meantime, some ministers have had cameos and some are nearly celebrities of crosswording.
1a Sweaty Conservative confronting Labour politician (6)
[ wordplay: abbrev. for ‘Conservative’ next to (‘confronting’) surname of Labour politician ]
[ C + LAMMY ]
[ definition: sweaty ]
8d/23d Change it: MP Angela Rayner at one working on private bills (13,5)
[ wordplay: anagram (‘change’) of IT MP ANGELA RAYNER AT ]
[ definition: one working on private bills ]
13a Needing regeneration, Reeves leading the way – it’s most brutal (8)
[ wordplay: anagram (‘needing regeneration’) of REEVES before (‘leading’) abbrev. of ‘street’ (‘the way’) ]
[ SEVERE + ST ]
[ definition: most brutal ]