Times 27,209: The Sporting Life

verlaine

First one in 1ac (quite unusual to see the telescopic hidden at 1ac instead of bringing up the rear, no?), LOI possibly the tricksy 20dn, though 23ac and 24dn were both also late to fall. Very many Clue of the Day candidates but I think I might give a shout out to 8dn: brilliant both in terms of hiding the definition (the mind gravitating to “put up with” rather than “put up”, or at least mine did) and the above-average sneakiness of “do perhaps”. Well played, setter, well played!

ACROSS
1 Repeat of Crécy? Clearly, in part (7)
RECYCLE – hidden in {c}RECY CLE{arly}

5 Former champion from China, these days at home (7)
PALADIN – PAL A.D. IN [china | these days | at home]. Better known to me from D&D than Charlemagne’s court, I’m ashamed to say.

9 Attendance record, perhaps, one might want to keep up (11)
APPEARANCES – cryptic def: “keeping up appearances”.

10 Prime strip of land? (3)
ARM – double def

11 Like cave, maybe, or garden in city, close to cemetery (6)
ECHOEY – HOE [garden], in EC [city] + {cemeter}Y

12 Soothing stuff from peace-keepers following confrontation on pitch (8)
AFTERSUN – U.N. [peace-keepers] following AFTERS [confrontation on pitch]

14 Version of game giving coloured jacket primacy? (6,7)
PYJAMA CRICKET – (JACKET PRIMACY*) [“coloured”]

17 Firing agent giving grass to actor’s horse (7,6)
TRIGGER FINGER – GRASS [finger, as in rat on] given to TRIGGER [actor’s horse, the actor being Roy Rogers]

21 Necessity for pub social event: piano in rear (4,4)
BEER PUMP – BEE [social event] + P [piano] in RUMP [rear]

23 Hides out of panic, small creature (6)
ANIMAL – {p}ANI{c} {s}MAL{l} both being stripped of their “hides”

25 Passed on one’s charm (3)
OBI – O.B. [passed on] + I [one]

26 Extension serving part of hospital, one of fifteen (4,7)
WING FORWARD – or WING FOR WARD, [extension | serving | part of hospital]. One of fifteen rugby union players.

27 Parasite, large, in denial, plainly (7)
NAKEDLY – KED L [parasite | large] in NAY [denial]

28 Acknowledges characters involved in a tussle (7)
SALUTES – (A TUSSLE*) [“characters involved in…”]

DOWN
1 Person taking off after touching farm machinery (6)
REAPER – APER [person taking off, as in mimicking] after RE [touching]

2 Nick takes short trip (3,4)
COP SHOP – or COPS HOP [takes | short trip]

3 Girl on small boat when Jack’s boarded vessel for Bordeaux (6,3)
CLARET JUG – CLARE [girl] on TUG [small boat] when J [Jack] has boarded. Bordeaux as in the wine.

4 Mature, upwardly mobile daughter, dated brother (4)
EGAD – reverse AGE [mature, “upwardly mobile”] + D [daughter]. An old-fashioned word for “brother!”

5 Coastal regions provided one with cover when lifting felon (7,3)
PACIFIC RIM – reverse all of IF I CAP [provided | one | cover], + CRIM [felon]

6 Fabric’s length: an inch under (5)
LISLE – L [length] with ISLE [an inch] under

7 Had snack prepared, leaving out cold dish (7)
DHANSAK – (HAD SNA{c}K*) [“prepared”]

8 Put up with bird gatecrashing do perhaps (8)
NOMINATE – MINA [bird] “gatecrashing” NOTE [do perhaps; as in do-re-mi]

13 What’s invested intelligently after small, momentary lapses (5,5)
SMART MONEY – after S [small], (MOMENTARY*) [“lapses”]

15 E-learning worked, mainly (2,7)
IN GENERAL – (E-LEARNING*) [“worked”]

16 Objections raised, presumably not made difficult (8)
STUBBORN – reversed BUTS [objections] + BORN [presumably not made]

18 What waiter might use to cover in sugar and cream (3,4)
ICE PICK – ICE [to cover in sugar] and PICK [cream, as in the best]

19 Defensive structure in the Suffolk area? (7)
RAMPART – RAM PART [Suffolk, as in the breed of sheep | area]

20 Name that’s good for a female (6)
GLADYS – G [good] + LADY’S [for a female]

22 Happy news about dad is handled inappropriately (5)
PAWED – hopefully PA WED would constitute happy news, though I’d say it might depend if you end up with a wicked stepmother or not…

24 States field officer should cut unexplained overheads? (4)
UFOS – U.S. [states] that F.O. [field officer] should “cut”