27910 Thursday, 25 February 2021 I still remember money!

Author   ZabadakPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
This looks like a not-too-taxing puzzle, which I thought I was doing even better at than my time of 15.44 indicates. No real holdups along the way, although I only worked out the Chinese biscuity thing by writing out the crossing letters I had horizontally, which sometimes helps.
There are a plethora of containment clues, where you are required to put part B into part A: it felt to me that there were more than usual, but I might be mistaken.
It helps if you know one of the more bizarre incidents in British history, the original Gangsta Granny case, and it also helps (a bit) if you can actually remember who appears on which British banknotes. I sympathise with those of you who are more familiar with the faces on dollars or the bridges and such on Euros, but if it helps, I struggle with the British ones anyway and so rarely see them in our almost cashless, Covid influenced society.
Clues are italicied, definitions also underlined, and SOLUTIONS thusly.

Across

1 Jewel thief to hold his horses? (10)
BLOODSTOCK  The jewel thief is the spectacular “Colonel” Thomas BLOOD, the jewels he (almost) got away with being the actual Crown ones. Translate hold into STOCK to complete “pedigree horses collectively” (Chambers). I can find no indication that “his” is in the clue other than to smooth the flow.
6 Ferret food (4)
GRUB Two definitions, the first not the albino polecat, but the rummaging around after rabbits they are employed to do.
9 Figure label required on front of case, nothing on bags (7)
OCTAGON The order of the  various elements is a bit ambiguous. The label TAG is on (immediately following) the front of C(ase), and then O (nothing plus ON “bags”or embraces both.
10 A number of evergreens in dry surroundings, initially (2,5)
AT FIRST The number of evergreens is just plural FIRS. A (in plain sight) plus TT (TeeTotal) for dry surrounds both.
12 Ship finding wave on the rocks (3-7)
ICE-BREAKER Wave is BREAKER, to be attached to ICE standing in for rocks. “Whiskey on the rocks”: (other beverages are available).
13 Cricketer’s run, so long (3)
BYE two definitions, the first a run taken in cricket where the batsman has not hit the ball but nonetheless can get safely to the other end.
15 Charity sporting official concealing untruth (6)
RELIEF Another containment, this time untruth: LIE in sporting official REF
16 Working with DIY turns nasty (8)
INDUSTRY An anagram (nasty) of DIY TURNS. I lost time trying to work out where the W of with went. Ignore.
18 Cross, head delivering corporal punishment (8)
SPANKING First attempt had smacking, but it’s cross: SPAN plus head: KING
20 Witness defending African party, spirited gathering? (6)
SÉANCE Witness is SEE, which defends (another containment) the A(frican) N(ational) C(ongress) of Mandela and South Africa
23 Trouble: every other part falling off rapidly (3)
AIL The first of our alternate letter clues: rApIdLy
24 Legit, speaking down to chairman? (5,5)
ABOVE BOARD If you find yourself (somehow) above the board of directors, you would be in a position to talk down to the chairman.
26 Retired player, demanding type? (7)
EXACTOR Not a reversal clue as suggested by “retired”, but a more simple “this is an EX ACTOR, he has ceased to – um – act”.
27 Are discerning what to do with cheque (4,3)
MAKE OUT Two expressions for the same words. You might be required to make out a cheque to participate in the Championships, though that’s increasingly unlikely. “Daddy, what was a cheque?”
28 Expression of disapproval about a job (4)
TASK The expression of disapproval is TSK – not in my edition of Chambers, but it is in Bugs Bunny. Surround A with it. Hands up if, like me, you initially tried to justify TAUT.
29 Had second thoughts about grass skirts Jenny? (10)
REASSESSED Yet another containment. This time, grass: REED  surrounds (skirts) ASSESS, whimsically a female ass or donkey, which a Jenny also is.
Down
1 Loud noise as heart ripped from chest (4)
BOOM Perhaps suggesting Aztec sacrifices, but here it’s just take the middle out of BOSOM for chest.
2 Current, with temperature dropping a little, is a type of illusion (7)
OPTICAL Drop the T(emperature) of current: TOPICAL down a couple of spaces.
3 With British cornered, sort of Dark Ages on the way — shambles! (4,9)
DOG’S BREAKFAST So it’s an anagram (sort) of OF DARK AGES plus B(ritish), all perch on way: ST(reet)
4 Where Dickens and Darwin once for example found a voice to be heard (6)
TENNER Dickens was on sterling £10 notes from 1992, and evolved to Darwin from 2000. Jane Austen took over in 2017. The voice to be heard is, of course a tenor.
5 Lovely working out (8)
CRACKING What you’ve been doing to these clues. Some of them are indeed cracking.
7 Hot dish, uncooked part (7)
RAREBIT A charade of uncooked: RARE and part: BIT. Also known as (Welsh) rabbit, basically cheese on toast.
8 Thereby ant disturbed layer (7,3)
BATTERY HEN Clearly enough an anagram (disturbed) of THEREBY ANT.
11 A lot of dough to prepare — that is a little dough containing a lot? (7,6)
FORTUNE COOKIE A  lot of dough is a FORTUNE, prepare is COOK, and get the IE from “that is”. The definition itself is also a bit cryptic.
14 Urge a fellow to provide publicist (5,5)
PRESS AGENT Urge: PRESS and a fellow: A GENT
17 Where student might be going in the right direction (2,6)
ON COURSE Two ways to the same phrase
19 Too short to grip old king keen on enlightenment? (3,4)
ALL EARS Start with too to give ALSO, shorten it, then contain (grip) LEAR as the old king.
21 Imperial sovereign claiming victory, America anxious (7)
NERVOUS It’s a particular imperial sovereign, NERO, claiming (containing(!)) V(ictory) and adding US for America
22 Deity: the disorder she caused is endless (6)
HERMES The disorder she caused is HER MESS, which you shorten for the (male) messenger of the gods
25 Gripping thing, is it buddy, where every second counts? (4)
STUD Unusually, a second alternate letter clue; iS iT bUdDy. Well, we don’t have a “hidden”.

62 comments on “27910 Thursday, 25 February 2021 I still remember money!”

  1. 12.55 with FOI Optical and LOI Make Out. Everything well clued and a nice mix of subject matter. Bloodstock took a while but partly due to a fixation with bloodstone which never looked right for obvious reasons.

    Liked tenner and Hermes which was my COD.

    Thanks setter and blogger.

  2. LOI was the unparsed BLOODSTOCK, after guessing that the two Charlies would be on a banknote. I’ve come to this site to ‘Look and Learn’, and have had dim memories of Colonel Blood and the childrens’ magazine reawakened by reading the comments above. Liked Jenny’s ass.
    21’59”
  3. Straightforward enough. I was another Bloodstone who had for a while.
    I suppose someone has to be the Icebreaker at a Seance.

  4. Straightforward. Knew the jewel thief but did not get to him till late as I started with GRUB and thence went in a generally clockwise direction. My LOI was TENNER.
  6. These are either getting easier, or I have finally got the hang of it (I suspect the former). That makes four solves in a row, whereas I was lucky to finish one in ten a few months back. No doubt Friday’s will restore normality. As for the puzzle itself, All Ears was a welcome pdm, after a Taut diversion, as was Fortune Cookie after far too long staring at F*r*u*e. Col Blood was married at Winwick Church, not 5miles from where I live – as was Capt Smith of RMS Titanic. Invariant
  7. ….while trying to parse “smacking”, and trying to fit a female deity into my LOI before the penny dropped.

    FOI GRUB
    LOI HERMES
    COD TENNER
    TIME 7:52

  8. I seem to be on a roll.

    13:42 – with TENNER being my LOI and also a CRACKING clue – at least for Brits who remember what cash looks like.

  9. FOI octagon, LOI tenner. Hopped about the grid getting quite a few on the first pass – a lot more than the three that mean it will be too much like hard work to carry on. Good to do it on line with word checking, I thought the ship was some kind of steamer but the word check put me right on that. Check, not reveal. I use reveal in the last, last resort, and didn’t need it for this. I did, however, need disinterested husband for a tenner. Didn’t parse bloodstock but guessed it from the clueing. COD battery hen, but lots of other candidates. Really enjoyed the puzzle, and finishing, as a team. A split time for me as I had three goes at this. Thanks blogger and setter. GW.
  10. A late entry today after an amazing day’s cricket followed by the statutory walk. Reasonably easy puzzle apart from bloodstock and reassessed. Had no idea how either worked other than that the former had something to do with horses and the latter had grass round the outside.
    Perhaps commenting has sharpened my game because this is the first time I can remember ever having solved all four puzzles correctly by Thursday. Tomorrow the pressure will be on.
    Had forgotten about Look and Learn but loved it as a kid.

    Edited at 2021-02-25 05:23 pm (UTC)

  11. I nearly broke the Ten Minute Barrier but I was held up by Make out, Hermes and what proved to be necessary checking.
  12. Quick run through the first half, then almost ground to a halt. Loved HERMES and LOI TENNER after 53 mins. Never heard of the Colonel but understood the Stock bit and the rest fitted. DNK Jenny was a donkey. Wasn’t sure about King for Head ?

    Edited at 2021-02-25 07:42 pm (UTC)

  14. 26.27. I really struggled with this and didn’t much enjoy it if I’m being honest. Never got into the groove with it. A too literal approach to parsing meant I was foxed by his in 1ac, was looking for a specific number not a plural in 10ac, couldn’t make sense of make out, bewildered by the ass-ess, didn’t even try to work out dog’s breakfast, fortune cookie and all ears took ages to arrive and I kept trying to shoehorn Tethys into Hermes, so to speak.

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