Solving time 14:10, with one error that probably accounted for a third of that! A good puzzle that was mainly pretty easy, but there were a few (in my case 10ac, 19ac, 18dn and 24dn) that were much harder, although 10 and 24 were the only two that slowed me down as the others were put in from the definition and the wordplay worked out later.
Across | |
1 | Lead sheep in newly formed company (5-2) |
START-UP – STAR (lead) + TUP (sheep). | |
5 | Attack persistently dismal crowd in retreat (7) |
BOMBARD – DRAB MOB (dismal crowd), reversed. | |
9 | Delight in top bond, having tax covered (9) |
CAPTIVATE – CAP (top) + TIE (bond), around VAT (tax). | |
10 | Marks that are made round extracts in speech (5) |
RINGS – sounds like “wrings” (extracts). Looks really simple but it was one of my last ones in (and judging by the comments on the forum, a lot of others’ too). | |
11 | Choice of food returned by idiot breaking taboo without shame (13) |
UNEMBARRASSED – MENU (choice of food) reversed + [ASS (idiot) inside BARRED (taboo)]. | |
13 | Bank wholly behind start of financial decline that’s unstoppable (4,4) |
FREE FALL – REEF (bank) + ALL (wholly), after F(inancial). | |
15 | Brief film, gripping western (6) |
LAWYER – LAYER (film) around W(estern). | |
17 | Might head of convent left inside meditate? (6) |
MUSCLE – C(onvent) + L(eft) inside MUSE (meditate). | |
19 | Firm with load of mineral around tip (8) |
FORECAST – FAST (firm) around (with load of) ORE (mineral) + C (circa, around). | |
22 | Urgent devil, so deviously persuasive (6-7) |
SILVER-TONGUED – (urgent devil so)*. | |
25 | Bouquet in course of drama romantically presented (5) |
AROMA – hidden in “drama romantically”. | |
26 | When guarding base, that is dutiful behaviour (9) |
OBEDIENCE – ONCE (when) around BED (base) + IE (that is). | |
27 | Variable element in religious group missing leader no longer around (7) |
EXTINCT – X (variable) + TIN (element) inside (s)ECT (religious group missing leader). | |
28 | Set nothing next to brown fruit (7) |
TANGELO – GEL (set) + O (nothing), next to TAN (brown). |
1 | Article to cover extremity in strike (4) |
SOCK – double definition. | |
2 | Four internally occupying large capsule (7) |
AMPOULE – (f)OU(r) inside AMPLE (large). | |
3 | Rot in time fully developed (5) |
TRIPE – T(ime) + RIPE (fully developed). | |
4 | Place line about rising nation in advertisement for drama (8) |
PLAYBILL – PL(ace) + L(ine) around LIBYA reversed (rising nation). | |
5 | Poet in past lacking focused vision (6) |
BLEARY – LEAR (poet) inside BY (past). | |
6 | Preserve a medal thrown out after damage (9) |
MARMALADE – (a medal)* after MAR (damage). | |
7 | Expression of surprise about retreat after a suspension of law (7) |
AMNESTY – MY (expression of surprise) around NEST (retreat), all after A. | |
8 | Wanted things in agreement endlessly disrupted by party traitor (10) |
DESIDERATA – DEA(l) (agreement endlessly) around [SIDE (party) + RAT (traitor)]. | |
12 | Fiasco admitted by king, for example, raised in conflict with official line (3-7) |
OFF-MESSAGE – MESS (fiasco) inside OFFA (dyke-building Mercian king), + E.G. reversed (for example, raised). | |
14 | Sporting body with change of law ends time of illusory promise (5,4) |
FALSE DAWN – FA (sporting body) + (law ends)*. | |
16 | Gloomy individual, embraced by dame, cheers up (8) |
DOWNBEAT – OWN (individual) inside DBE (dame) + TA (cheers) reversed. | |
18 | Sons quarrelled less following betrayal (4-3) |
SELL-OUT – S(ons) + (f)ELL OUT (quarrelled, minus the F for following). | |
20 | Climbing mountain, carrier of information about us moving slowly (7) |
ANDANTE – ETNA (mountain) + DNA (carrier of information about us), all reversed. | |
21 | Greatest mass taken in by touts in chaos (6) |
UTMOST – M(ass) inside (touts)*. | |
22 | President wanting vote to support acceptable alliance (5) |
UNION – NI(x)ON (president, minus the X for a vote), underneath U (acceptable). | |
24 | Width of character in complete illustration (4) |
DEMO – EM (width of character, a printing term) inside DO (complete). I got this wrong at the first attempt, and knew it. After 5 minutes of staring at it I just stuck ZERO in without a clue as to how the clue worked. I looked at it again this morning and saw it instantly. |
Also slow to parse 20dn, fancying some connection with the Andes for a while.. if a lot of them are called the Andes, could one of them be an Ande?!
U and non-U were basically invented by Nancy Mitford in Noblesse Oblige (1956), standing for Upper Class and Non-Upper Class. Mainly seen today in apparent language faux-pas (napkin v serviette etc)
Edited at 2014-05-24 07:49 pm (UTC)
of solving I still don’t understand how I got some of the solutions albeit they were correct. For example, 24d when I knew all along what an EM was. Downright devious, what? And a 4-letter word to boot.
Thanks for the blog: I had not been able to parse SELL OUT or UNION. EM was new to me and required validation once I’d decided it just had to be DEMO.
Edited at 2014-05-25 01:29 pm (UTC)