Time taken: 18:56. I struggled mightily with this one, and I think my difficulty was in second-guessing a few of the defintions, which in my mind did not perfectly fit the answers. I should have just relied on wordplay, which works all the way around.
The other early solvers are taking a little longer than their average times (I’m 3rd on the list at the time of writing this up), so I think it is genuinely difficult.
The first definition in each clue is underlined.
Away we go…
| Across | |
| 1 | Acquisitive chap, as we see it (8) |
| COVETOUS – COVE(chap) TO US (as we see it) | |
| 5 | Back yard fencing weak and sagging (6) |
| DROOPY – reversal of all of the wordplay – YD(yard) containing POOR(weak) | |
| 8 | Stripping off uniform, love holding colonel’s coat (10) |
| UNCLOTHING – U(uniform), then NOTHING(love) containing the exterior letters of ColoneL Edit: I missed the “coat” section originally and just had CL for Colonel | |
| 9 | Without a mark where they should be gained (4) |
| EXAM – EX(without), A, M(mark) | |
| 10 | Put a stop to Rugby’s foul school leader (5,2,3,4) |
| KNOCK ON THE HEAD – the foul in Rugby is a KNOCK ON, then school leader is THE HEAD | |
| 11 | Foreign letter coming in is the French letter (7) |
| EPISTLE – PI(foreign letter), inside EST LE(is the, in French) | |
| 13 | Charge to pack knick-knacks hurriedly (7) |
| AGITATO – AGIO(charge), containing TAT(knick-knacks) – musical term | |
| 15 | At first, bear one fruit or another (7) |
| BANANAS – first letter of Bear then one fruit is ANANAS | |
| 18 | Cited tot defending authoritarian leader (7) |
| ADDUCED – ADD(tot) containing DUCE(Mussolini, authoritarian leader) | |
| 21 | Heady mixture of qualities nurse developed (7,7) |
| TEQUILA SUNRISE – anagram of QUALITIES NURSE. Tequila with grenadine and juice | |
| 22 | A little house might … be this? (4) |
| SEMI – double definition for a little part of, and a house, and to boot, it is hidden inside houSE MIght | |
| 23 | The writer’s twice penning papers of merit (10) |
| IMPRESSIVE – I’M and I’VE (the writer’s twice), containing PRESS(papers) | |
| 24 | Highest-ranking lady has heart stolen roguishly (6) |
| ARCHLY – ARCH(highest-ranking), then LADY without the central letters | |
| 25 | Grant a leader in the papers a column (8) |
| CARYATID – the actor CARY grant, then A, the first letter in The, ID(papers). A carved figure replacing a column | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Charles’s going to loudly show amusement (7) |
| CHUCKLE – sounds like CHUCK’LL | |
| 2 | Number one Scot with puritanical views (9) |
| VICTORIAN – VICTOR(number one), then IAN(Scot) | |
| 3 | What handyman has flipping spoils apparel (7) |
| TOOLKIT – reversal of LOOT(spoils), then KIT(apparel) | |
| 4 | Errant knight in huge trouble (7) |
| UNHINGE – anagram of N(knight),IN,HUGE | |
| 5 | Turned tenacious, holding on (9) |
| DOGLEGGED – DOGGED(tenacious), containing LEG(on, in cricket) | |
| 6 | Stuff’s possibly tax-free, before cuts (7) |
| OVEREAT – if something is tax-free there could be 0 VAT. Insert ERE(before) | |
| 7 | Praise, primarily, to give the thing acclaim? (7) |
|
PLAUDIT – an all-in-one where the whole clue is the wordplay. P |
|
| 12 | One admitted to being unstable? It’s still to be settled (9) |
| LIABILITY – I(one) inside LABILITY(the chemical property of ready reactivity) | |
| 14 | This vicar could be the record-holder (9) |
| ARCHIVIST – anagram of THIS,VICAR | |
| 16 | Complaint received by a miserly sort presenting a threat to workers (3,4) |
| ANT BEAR – the complaint is TB(tuberculosis), inside A, NEAR(miserly) | |
| 17 | Liberal leader gave up splitting wood (7) |
| ASQUITH – QUIT(gave up), inside ASH(wood) | |
| 18 | Light vessel reversed by a kingdom once (7) |
| ASSYRIA – AIRY(light), SS(steamship, vessel) all reversed next to A | |
| 19 | Ruling line in colour, almost ugly (7) |
|
DYNASTY – DY |
|
| 20 | European bank invests — diving in here? (4,3) |
| DEEP END – E(european) inside DEPEND(bank) | |
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