Time taken: 14:31, and going by the times posted on the leaderboard so far, this is on the tricky side. I made a good start at it, but put in a few completely incorrect answers that I thought were plausible (wasn’t there a knight named BERTRAND somewhere?) that threw me off. There are some tricky bits of wordplay here.
I shall be turning in shortly after posting this, and will not be able to answer anything until mid-afternoon UK time, so if there’s something you disagree with, check the comments, I’m sure the hive mind will set my tired mind correct.
Away we go…
| Across | |
| 1 | Initially, some prisoners will get support for climbing — to be this? (6) |
| SPRUNG – first letters of Some, Prisoners, then RUNG(support for climbing), and a prisoner can be SPRUNG out of jail | |
| 5 | Cover girl, say, crossing street, unknown character in low-key fashion (8) |
| MODESTLY – MODEL(cover girl) containing ST(street), then Y(unknown character) | |
| 9 | Scare, being loud? Correct (8) |
| FRIGHTEN – F(loud), then RIGHTEN(correct as a verb) | |
| 10 | Lively church faced with examination (6) |
| VIVACE – a musical term. CE(church) next to VIVA(examination) – I pretty confidently put in CHORAL initially | |
| 11 | What gets one amazingly alive for embracing a female? (4,6) |
| LOVE AFFAIR – anagram of ALIVE, FOR cotaining A, F(female) | |
| 13 | Carriage may be heard in this entrance (4) |
| GATE – sounds lie GAIT(carriage) | |
| 14 | Animal in river in Derby? (4) |
| HART – R(river) inside a derby HAT | |
| 15 | Friend’s final letter — is message contemptuous? (10) |
| DISMISSIVE – last letter in frienD, then IS, MISSIVE(letter) | |
| 18 | Person protecting English fort in a task involving many workers (10) |
| BEEKEEPING – BEING(person) containing E(English), KEEP(fort) – fun definition | |
| 20 | European hero in American adventures (4) |
| FINN – double definition, the other being for Huckleberry FINN | |
| 21 | Making a good escape, requesting cover (4) |
| SKIN – remove A and G(good) from ASKING(requesting) | |
| 23 | Upsetting Santa, young people who have problems to deal with? (5,5) |
| AGONY AUNTS – anagram of SANTA,YOUNG | |
| 25 | What may deaden sound in room for lecture? (6) |
| CARPET – double definition | |
| 26 | In a sort of cell a month after the French Revolution (8) |
| GERMINAL – double definition, a cell and a month in the French revolutionary calendar | |
| 28 | Knight’s gamble protecting queen, right? (8) |
| BANNERET – BET(gamble) containing Queen ANNE, R(right) | |
| 29 | Drug has unusual chemical compound (6) |
| POTASH – POT(drug) then an anagram of HAS | |
| Down | |
| 2 | A sponger wandering around a house of prayer? (9) |
| PARSONAGE – anagram of A,SPONGER surrounding A | |
| 3 | Oily substance that’s spicy but not soft you ultimately absorbed (7) |
| UNGUENT – UN-GENT(not soft, not gently) containing the last letter of yoU Edit: It appears I have mis-parsed this, as it should be PUNGENT missing P and containing U. Pity, I was rather fond of the UN-GENT | |
| 4 | Kid maybe gets duck killed, producing gun (3) |
| GAT – the kid is a GOAT, remove the O(duck) | |
| 5 | Stars and soldiers joining army of peace (5) |
| MENSA – MEN(soldiers) joining SA(Salvation Army). The Table constellation. | |
| 6 | Underwater explorer affected by mild pain in a funny sort of way? (11) |
| DIVERTINGLY – DIVER(underwater explorer), TINGLY(affected by mild pain) | |
| 7 | More than one brutal person keeps stealing silver (7) |
| SAVAGES – SAVES(keeps) containing AG(silver) | |
| 8 | Landed outside tax haven zone, not against the law (5) |
| LICIT – LIT(landed) surrounding CI(Channel Islands, tax haven zone) | |
| 12 | Sweet performer admitting fluff, finally added something for desired result (5,6) |
| FUDGE FACTOR – FUDGE(sweet), ACTOR(performer) containing the last letter of flufF | |
| 16 | Runner, 21, failing to finish (3) |
| SKI – 21 across was SKIN, remove the last letter | |
| 17 | NE natives, poor city-dwellers (9) |
| VENETIANS – anagram of NE,NATIVES | |
| 19 | Relations at home hugging doctor, most important person (7) |
| KINGPIN – KIN(relations), IN(at home) containing GP(doctor) | |
| 20 | One of a group of painters, six, entertained by German play (7) |
| FAUVIST – VI(six) inside FAUST(play by Goethe) | |
| 22 | Put out a note for Aussie tree-climber (5) |
| KOALA – KO(put out, in boxing), A, LA(note) | |
| 24 | Should do anything we’re told (5) |
| OUGHT – sounds like AUGHT(anything) | |
| 27 | Stuff provided by salesperson (3) |
| REP – double definition, but a tricky one, STUFF can also mean cloth, which is the connection to REP | |
No CARPET.
Crossed out the unknown BANNERET!
BANNERET was an NHO, and for some reason my brain took forever to come up with “bet” for “gamble” – why is it always the small words? MENSA was very vaguely known, and Googling it I can see why. Not only is it a southern constellation, but it also lacks any bright stars. Even worse, it seems to be made of only 4 stars in a non-rectangular arrangement. So, it’s an odd-shaped table with no legs, which I think is a plank rather than a table.
Is it still not the weekend? It feels as if it ought to be.
Edited at 2019-05-30 10:40 pm (UTC)
Seem to have been the opposite solving experience to the majority here with the SE corner being my start off point. Starting with OUGHT and AGONY AUNT (which I’d seen several times across different puzzles recently), was able to get to GERMINAL (again recently seen in a Polymath) and FAUVIST (vaguely remembered and FAUST a little less, but still lurking close enough to the top of mind).
Still it took over the hour with my comeuppance coming through the middle and strangely enough the NW where I finished with PARSONAGE, FUDGE FACTOR and LOVE AFFAIR. The unheard of MENSA was near the end of the solve and had to be looked up – the Salvos came to the rescue in the word play to help. BANNERET was the other unknown but settling on ANNE as the queen relatively early helped work it out.
Enjoyable solve.