Like most Don Manley puzzles, this was pretty straightforward, and I managed to solve it in one sitting. Most of the answers are not too obscure, and some of the cryptics are quite easy. Stahlhelmist was the only answer I had really never heard of, which is a little surprising in a Mephisto. If we had SNITCH ratings, this one would probably be a 70 or so.
If we posted times, I’d expect to see some good ones – so how did you get on?
| Across | |
| 1 | Swimming attire is so out of place in church (6) |
| COSSIE – Anagram of IS SO inside C.E. | |
| 5 | A cooper dealt with fellows, showing skill (6) |
| ACUMEN – A + CU + MEN. I can’t account for the second element, unless it should have been copper. | |
| 9 | Sound by deer in road — people here may be put off (12, two words) |
| LANDING STAGE – LAN(DING, STAG)E, one that many solvers will biff. | |
| 11 | Lincoln? More than one tree is seen across the far side of it (5) |
| ABIES – ABE(I[t])S. A rather tricky construction, with multiple Lincolns all named Abe, and the definition in the middle. | |
| 13 | Students getting bishop in knots (5) |
| NURRS – NU(RR)S, the old National Union of Students tangling with the Right Reverend. | |
| 14 | Big circle in which soldier entertains Queen and one princess (8) |
| MERIDIAN – M(ER, I DI)AN. | |
| 15 | People in toilet wasting time (4) |
| GENS – GEN[t]S. | |
| 16 | Disreputable house needing to arrange fencing (5) |
| KENDO – KEN + DO, where ken is 18th-century slang. | |
| 17 | Good part of church to the west — see old Gospel (8) |
| EVANGELY – G NAVE backwards + ELY. | |
| 22 | Old traders providing duke with swords (8) |
| DRAPIERS – D + RAPIERS. | |
| 24 | Dig quietly before rain (5) |
| PROKE – P + ROKE, a festival of dialect words. | |
| 26 | Tack to secure something round, a tiny thing (4) |
| PION – PI(O)N, very tiny indeed. | |
| 28 | Hello! — publication with anecdotes in a style of writing (8) |
| HIRAGANA – HI +RAG + ANA. | |
| 29 | They get hot cooked courses maybe, but no starter (5) |
| OASTS – [r]OASTS. | |
| 30 | Wife in evil society — they house prostitutes (5) |
| BAWDS – BA(W)D + S, in a bawding ken, presumably. | |
| 31 | German veteran — this hamlet’s organised to accommodate fifty (12) |
| STAHLHELMIST – Anagram of THIS HAMLET’S + L. | |
| 32 | Reverse of thanks evident in weird restaurant (6) |
| EATERY – TA backwards inside EERY. | |
| 33 | Flowering plants making dearest endlessly excited (6) |
| RESEDA – Anagram of DEARES[t]. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Informal party — a king’s gone (got up, being very old) (6) |
| CLAMBE – CLAMB[a,k]E, some Spenser for you. | |
| 2 | “Lousy trains!” — let out a snicker (5) |
| SNIRT – Anagram of TR[a]INS. | |
| 3 | Nasty dig seen as old-fashioned scorn (7) |
| SDEIGNE – Anagram of DIG SEEN. | |
| 4 | Old artificer dressed in green (7) |
| ENGINER – Anagram of IN GREEN. | |
| 5 | Rulers making one horrified, no end (5) |
| AGHAS – AGHAS[t], a Mephisto starter clue. | |
| 6 | Bent piece of equipment turning up in base but useless (5) |
| UTUBE – Upside-down hidden in [bas]E BUT U[seless]. | |
| 7 | State penetrated by river and sea (6) |
| MARINE – MA(R)INE, where sea is treated as an adjective. | |
| 8 | Indonesian working on site (6) |
| NESIOT – Anagram of ON SITE. | |
| 10 | Over-regulator disregarding fools is one ultimately dismissed (9) |
| GRADGRIND – Anagram of DISREGARDING – IS [on]E. | |
| 12 | Being braver, eat nasty rodent (9, two words) |
| BEAVER RAT – Anagram of BRAVER, EAT. | |
| 18 | Learner less considerate and more aggressive? (7) |
| LAIRIER – L + AIRIER. | |
| 19 | Sex symbols giving wrong signal, taking maiden in (7) |
| LINGAMS – Anagram of SIGNAL + M. I messed up my solve with a careless misspelling here. | |
| 20 | Resist work and attitudinise (6) |
| OPPOSE – OP + POSE, my FOI. | |
| 21 | A comet’s somehow losing energy as an orbiter (6) |
| COMSAT – Anagram of A COMET’S without E. | |
| 23 | Daisy’s place? Has sat on the move (6) |
| SHASTA – Anagram of HAS SAT. | |
| 25 | Jock’s to appear in outfit when meeting ambassador (5) |
| KITHE – KIT + H.E. | |
| 26 | Strong feeling of regret around hospital (5) |
| PITHY – PIT(H)Y. | |
| 27 | Marble that is easy to deal with (5) |
| TAWIE – Double definition, one Scots. | |
It had never occurred to me that YouTube was a pun!
In 27 down I think the marble is TAW, then IE coming from that is.