Time: 34:41
Music: Sonny Clark, The Blue Note Years
This should have been rather easy, but after racing through about two-thirds I became most thoroughly stuck, and could just not see some very simple clues. I had to crack down on myself, and systematically use all my cryptic knowledge on clue after clue, which does take a while compared to the rapid biffing of obvious answers. I was particularly annoyed at outline and formally, which should be write-ins.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Expert left out of deception (4) |
| BUFF – B[l]UFF. I could not get blind out of my mind, but a bind is not an expert. | |
| 3 | Brochure mistakenly supports involving European Commission (10) |
| PROSPECTUS – Anagram of SUPPORTS around E.C. | |
| 9 | A blow if French business has to absorb most of shock (7) |
| SIROCCO – SI(ROC[k])CO. | |
| 11 | Divulged policy’s main points (7) |
| OUTLINE – OUT + LINE. I felt sure the points were going to be N and E, which made solving this one difficult. | |
| 12 | Head of brotherhood drops rash idea (9) |
| BRAINWAVE – B[rotherhood] + RAIN + WAVE, as in a rash/wave of strange events. | |
| 13 | When caught, clamour for PM (5) |
| BLAIR – Sounds like BLARE. | |
| 14 | Romantic song sequence enthralling new spouse? (4,3,5) |
| BALL AND CHAIN – BALLA(N)D CHAIN. | |
| 18 | Might it indicate a revealing exchange? (5-2-5) |
| HEART-TO-HEART – Reverse cryptic – the heart of heart is A. | |
| 21 | Nothing dividing city assembly (5) |
| AGORA – AG(O)RA. I nearly put ALOTA, but decided to try again. | |
| 22 | New realities for Hebrew (9) |
| ISRAELITE – Anagram of REALITIES, a chestnut. | |
| 24 | Protesting Republican in a bad way (7) |
| RAILING – R + AILING. | |
| 25 | State school accepting society backing ChatGPT among others (7) |
| ESTONIA – E(S)TON + AI backwards. | |
| 26 | Prominent figures rattled Mailer in US (10) |
| LUMINARIES – Anagram of MAILER IN US. | |
| 27 | Assistant’s final check (4) |
| MATE – Double definition, referring to chess. | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | President’s youngest child, cute little creature (8) |
| BUSHBABY – BUSH BABY, another chestnut, which I didn’t see this time. | |
| 2 | Pupils team up in a methodical way (8) |
| FORMALLY – FORM + ALLY. | |
| 4 | Wine and port meets with Hamburg sommelier’s approval (5) |
| RIOJA – RIO + JA. | |
| 5 | Tweeter’s mostly drunken gossip (9) |
| STONECHAT – STONE[d] CHAT. My LOI, where I had to consider the possibilities of the literal a bit more broadly. | |
| 6 | Formation of the ruling class (13) |
| ESTABLISHMENT – Double definition, a very easy one. | |
| 7 | Bishop intervening in case concerning family (6) |
| TRIBAL – TRI(B)AL. | |
| 8 | Perhaps Pedro Ximénez reluctant to welcome European bishop (6) |
| SHERRY – SH(E,RR)Y. | |
| 10 | Joining European race with Italian chap in the lead (13) |
| CONCATENATION – E NATION following CON, CAT. | |
| 15 | Gun going astray in revolutionary socialist’s possession (9) |
| DERRINGER – D(ERRING)ER, red inverted in a down clue. | |
| 16 | Chained off area in Mexican plantation (8) |
| HACIENDA – Anagram of CHAINED + A. | |
| 17 | Usher periodically wangles cheap accommodation (8) |
| STEERAGE – STEER + [w]A[n]G[l]E[s]. | |
| 19 | Part of rifle butt (6) |
| BARREL – Double definition. | |
| 20 | On which one may speak of dishonour, quietly at first (6) |
| PODIUM – P + ODIUM. | |
| 23 | Always around, guarding English official from past (5) |
| REEVE – EV(E)ER upside down. | |
30 minutes, and just what I expect of a Monday puzzle – unlike last Monday’s offering. I missed the parsing of HEART TO HEART, but that was all. HACIENDA courtesy Pat Boone, 1962: “It was a moonlit night in old Mexico / I walked alone between some old adobe haciendas…”.
Beaten by PROSPECTUS and MATE I’m afraid, so a DNF in about 30. No other particular probs though I never properly parsed SIROCCO and really doubted, with BRAINWAVE, whether anyone would try equating RASH and WAVE in that sense…but they did. Thanks V.
From Billy (1 thru 7):
Camping out all night on the veranda
Dealing the cards ’til dawn in the HACIENDA
Up to Boot Hill they’d like to send ya
Billy, don’t you turn your back on me