Time: 7 minutes. It was nice to finish in well under 10 minutes for once, as those occasions don’t come quite so often these days. I hope others found it easy too but I think there’s one answer that may not be familiar to some and perhaps I was lucky to have met it before in the title of a TV drama series made 50 years ago.
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]. “Aural wordplay” is in quotation marks. I now use a tilde sign ~ to indicate an insertion point in containment clues. I usually omit all reference to juxtaposition indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.
 Across |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Careless LAPD breaking frame (8) |
| SLAPDASH – LAPD contained by [breaking] S~ASH (window frame) | |
| 5 | Idiot following British singer (4) |
| BASS – B (British), ASS (idiot) | |
| 9 | A sailor coming back for reference book (5) |
| ATLAS – A, SALT (sailor) reversed [coming back] | |
| 10 | Look at first person reportedly joining dance (7) |
| EYEBALL – Aural wordplay [reportedly] EYE / “I” (first person), BALL (dance) | |
| 11 | Rules and regulations in Malawi (3) |
| LAW – Hidden [in] {Ma}LAW{i} | |
| 12 | Attentive old maid welcoming bishop (9) |
| OBSERVANT – O (old) ~ SERVANT (maid) containing [welcoming] B (bishop) | |
| 13 | Set out twice and fly (6) |
| TSETSE – Anagram [out] of SET SET [twice]. A nasty insect that sucks blood and spreads disease. | |
| 15 | Husband gatecrashing rubbish party (6) |
| THRASH – H (husband) contained by [gatecrashing] T~RASH (rubbish) | |
| 17 | Doctor a mannerly chap not quite succeeding (6,3) |
| NEARLY MAN – Anagram [doctor] A MANNERLY. Someone who narrowly fails to achieve the success or position expected of them in their particular field. As mentioned in the intro, I knew this from a 1970s TV series called The Nearly Man. | |
| 19 | Bad actor is a bit of a pig (3) |
| HAM – Two meanings, one of them our setter’s signature | |
| 20 | Bachelor stuck it out? Damn (7) |
| BLASTED – B (bachelor), LASTED (stuck it out) | |
| 21 | Increasingly sick assassin losing head (5) |
| ILLER – {k}ILLER (assassin) [losing head] | |
| 22 | Outspoken old king’s lecherous look (4) |
| LEER – Aural wordplay [outspoken] LEER / “Lear” (old king) | |
| 23 | African state’s PM admitting nothing (8) |
| CAMEROON – CAMERO~N (PM) containing [admitting] 0 (nothing). | |
| Down |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Young actress beginning to entertain the French (7) |
| STARLET – STAR~T (beginning) containing [to entertain] LE (‘the’ in French) | |
| 2 | Let almost everyone down (5) |
| ALLOW – AL{l} (everyone) [almost], LOW (down) | |
| 3 | Sad citadels soon destroyed (12) |
| DISCONSOLATE – Anagram [destroyed] of CITADELS SOON | |
| 4 | Those helping you to see detailed plans? (5) |
| SPECS – Two meanings | |
| 6 | Tale of the middle classes going to and fro (3,4) |
| AGA SAGA – No wordplay as such but ‘going to and fro’ indicates that the answer is a palindrome. A novel or drama depicting the lives and concerns of the English middle classes with reference to the popularity of Aga cookers in such circles. | |
| 7 | Break up in Croatian city (5) |
| SPLIT – Two meanings | |
| 8 | Chinese anger upset Google? (6,6) |
| SEARCH ENGINE – Anagram [upset] of CHINESE ANGER | |
| 14 | English chap had to come out (7) |
| EMANATE – E (English), MAN (chap), ATE (had) | |
| 16 | Old poet, punk at heart, a big hit in the States (4,3) |
| HOME RUN – HOMER (old poet), {p}UN{k} [at heart] | |
| 17 | Prize giver undoubtedly neglected periodically (5) |
| NOBEL – {u}N{d}O{u}B{t}E{d}L{y} [neglected periodically] | |
| 18 | Immediately providing cover for broadcasters and press (5) |
| MEDIA – Hidden in [providing cover for] {im}MEDIA{tely} | |
| 19 | Nightmare over for celebrity magazine (5) |
| HELLO – HELL (nightmare), O (over) | |
8:35
NEARLY MAN showed up in a cryptic some time ago (NHO at the time), and surprisingly I remembered it. AGA SAGA is another one I learned here.
Somehow, I knew the nearly man – must be crosswords. It was thrash that threw me – what kind of party is that? Must be a UK thing, over here we have a bash. I didn’t believe LAPD could be part of a word, but so it turned out.
Time: 6:37
4:14. Pretty quick, but not within coo-ee of our man from Hong Kong. With luck he’ll be along shortly to share his secrets with us.
When it comes to the ratio of “Used In Crosswords” to “Used in Real Life” AGA SAGA would sit comfortably near the top of the league.
Thanks Oink and Jack.