Monthly Club Special 20,252: There’s A Hole In My Golf Club Dear Liza Dear Liza

This was enormous fun, enough answers that went more or less straight in (1ac, 18ac, 5dn, 17dn) to give a solid framework for tackling the puzzle, but then a panoply of clues requiring careful thought about what elements the wordplay might be providing, in order to cause the fiendish penny to drop.

I must confess I did feel a small stab of despair when, with just a few left to fill in, I was missing a long Greek word for something to do with centipedes, the name of a drug (so literally any combination of letters, pretty much), the name of an obscure Native American tribe, and some kind of African stringed instrument. I did get there but not before essaying OTCHITWES for the tribe – I can never remember if a CHIT is a counter or not. (Reader, it is not.)

Honourable COD mention to 21ac but I thought 22dn was just brilliant, as this month’s blog name tribute suggests. Great stuff setter!

Definitions underlined, (ABC)* indicating anagram of ABC, {} deletions and [] other indicators.

Across
1 Pancake with ham’s filling at parties (4)
DOSA – {h}A{m} at DO’S
3 Crosspiece not attached, except when bearing weight (7-3)
SWINGLE-BAR – SINGLE BAR [not attached | except], “bearing” W
10 IOC man stumbling across university rugby team’s drug (3,6)
NUX VOMICA – (IOC MAN*) “across” U XV
11 Ruse Muslim maybe got from naval officer — short type (5)
POMAK – P.O. MAK{e}. I think Ruse means “Russian” in some way here? Because Pomaks are Muslims from Bulgaria
12 No longer sanction putting upper limit on software (7)
APPROOF – ROOF on APP
13 Die half numb, after stripping for a ramble (6)
FULHAM – (HALF {n}UM{b}*). Apparently a fulham is a cheaty loaded die
15 Look to be in range, meaning mostly to remain within what’s expected of centipedes (15)
SCOLOPENDRIFORM – LO in SCOPE + DRIF{t} within NORM
18 Making typically London company with City finance ok, somehow (15)
COCKNEYFICATION – CO + (CITY FINANCE OK*)
21 Joint which lies to the west, out of bounds (6)
BIFTAH – reversed {t}HAT FIB{s}
23 Use fleas, oddly, after receiving staff’s order for newts (7)
URODELA – U{s}E {f}L{e}A{s} “receiving” ROD
26 Case coming from pocket found on alien (5)
ETWEE – WEE [pocket-sized] found on E.T.
27 Guards in thoroughfare on left I spot cycling (9)
STRELITZI – ST RE L I [thoroughfare | on | left | I] + cycling ZIT
28 A chap’s personal explosive is presumably … for opening cell? (10)
HISTOBLAST – A chap’s explosive is HIS TO BLAST
29 Pair caught napping, each losing diamonds one plucked from Africa (4)
ZEZE – at least if you are English, napping is catching some ZEDs. Subtract the diamonds from two of those and you get ZE{d}ZE{d}, an African stringed instrument
Down
1 Before chasing shot, racket is just the thing? (4,2,4)
DING AN SICH – DIN before (CHASING*). The unknowable Kantian thing-in-itself
2 Elaborate, that hoax, escorting demos (3,2)
SEX UP – reverse cryptic: you can find SEX reversed in {hoa}X ES{corting}
4 Lightness of touch of lord, leading royal to break rank (9)
WHIFFLERY – L + ER “breaking” WHIFFY
5 Finishes off an Inveraray tea of loaf and local trifle? (5)
NYAFF – {a}N {inverar}Y {te}A {o}F {loa}F
6 Small stones thrown out round island houses I’m going to (7)
LAPILLI – LAP [round] + I “houses” I’LL. Thrown out of a volcano, that is
7 Behind front of market, stacks one’s fish (9)
BUMMALOTI – BUM + M{arket} + A LOT + I
8 Cold deserts rugged, misty in places (4)
ROKY – RO{c}KY
9 Men rising to boot around large weight (6)
ROTOLO – reversed O.R. + TOO “around” L
14 Drug that’s rather popular gone into by chap with tablet (10)
AMANTADINE – A TAD IN [rather popular] entered by MAN, + E
16 Craven, maybe, after turning up to counter Native Americans (9)
OTCHIPWES – WES [Craven, the director] after reversed TO + CHIP
17 Welshman having pound bet giving away tips and drinks (9)
DAIQUIRIS – DAI + QUI{d} RIS{k}
19 Alliance crossing border once, never again (7)
NATHEMO – NATO crossing HEM
20 Fern in area covering the whole of Australia, from the south (6)
AZOLLA – A + reversed ALL OZ
22 One pursuing golf with time going for latest in clubs getting hole in one (5)
HOSEL – in the NATO phonetic alphabet, the one pursuing Golf is HOTEL. The T for time becomes {club}S and you end up with a hole in a golf club (where the shaft goes in). Most ingenious
24 Object to Scot removing header from form (5)
ETTLE – {f}ETTLE
25 Say that pub must shut in blow to Dundonians (4)
PEGH – EG “shut in” by PH