FOI 11ac closely followed by 18ac, but the down clues were easier than the acrosses. LOI 22dn when I finally realised that it wasn’t an S we were trying to contain in a word for “ring”. Hard to choose a COD when economy is the watchword of most of these clues, but I drank more than a couple of whisky and sodas tonight so I’ll give a shout out to the boozy clues at 12ac and 20ac. The Scottish history subtheme was also appreciated, thanks setter!
Everyone starting to feel ready for Champs I hope? Just a few weeks away now!
ACROSS
1 Shed, important office by the sound of it? (6)
THROWN – homophone of THRONE [important office]
4 Massive loss in the end, heavy defeat (8)
STONKING – {los}S + TONKING [heavy defeat]
10 Scottish queen ruled, perhaps, English admitted (9)
MADELEINE – MADE LINE [ruled, perhaps], “admitting” E [English]. Madeleine of Valois, the “Summer Queen” of the Scots who married James V but died before her 17th birthday in 1537.
11 Shipping lanes are visibly affected, not initially heading westward (5)
NAVAL – L{anes} A{re} V{isibly} A{ffected} N{ot}, read from east to west
12 I gasp on spilling wine, dropping one drink (9,5)
SINGAPORE SLING – (I GASP ON*) [“spilling”] + R{i}ESLING [wine, “dropping” I = one]
14 Could girl be in difficulty? (5)
ISSUE – or IS SUE [could girl be?]
16 Surrounded by rocks only? Wrong (9)
INJUSTICE – or IN JUST ICE [surrounded by | only | rocks]
18 Disaster may last centuries, following destruction (9)
CATACLYSM – (MAY LAST C C*) [“destroyed”]
20 Drink inspiring oenophiles, primarily? (5)
PINOT – PINT [drink] “inspiring” O{enophiles}, &lit
21 Extremely hungry, so food’s eaten when rotten — now all seems hopeless? (3,2,5,4)
ONE OF THOSE DAYS – (H{ungr}Y SO FOOD’S EATEN*) [“rotten”]
25 More or less on (5)
ABOUT – double def
26 Time-saving preference working (9)
OPERATION – OPTION [preference] “saving” ERA [time]
27 Novel was liked — where Capote would have put his foot down? (8)
SIDEWALK – (WAS LIKED*) [“novel”]. Capote or any other resident of America.
28 Sign racket backfiring for Brezhnev, say? (6)
LEONID – LEO [sign] + reversed DIN [racket]
DOWN
1 Setter’s device, one casting spell on our readers? (4,6)
TIME SWITCH – or TIMES WITCH
2 Controlled squeezes make gas (5)
RADON – RAN [controlled] “squeezes” DO [make]
3 Scottish hero in defence, brilliant (7)
WALLACE – WALL ACE [defence | brilliant]
5 Sappers present (5)
THERE – or THE R.E.
6 Puzzle always negative? (7)
NONPLUS – or NON-PLUS, i.e. never positive
7 Popular opening subject of my autobiography, touching story (9)
INVENTION – IN VENT I ON [popular | opening | subject of my autobiograpy | touching]
8 Hoodwink flapper (4)
GULL – or a flapper as in one that flaps its wings
9 Popular novice upstanding in my youth (8)
MINORITY – IN [popular] + reversed TIRO [novice] in MY
13 Black shaded binding is discarded (10)
JETTISONED – JET [black] + TONED [shaded] “binding” IS
15 Town sad, I suspect, about old tree (9)
SATINWOOD – (TOWN SAD I*) [“suspect”] “about” O [old]
17 Gathering pace finally, force trial to go ahead (8)
JAMBOREE – {pac}E, after JAM BORE [force | trial]
19 Temple erected in support of sweet native American (7)
CHOCTAW – reversed WAT [(Cambodian) temple] in support of CHOC [sweet]
20 Ecclesiastic punctual, it’s implied? (7)
PRELATE – or PRE-LATE, i.e. early or on time
22 Secured by ring, second bit of fresh bait (5)
TROLL – {f}R{esh}, “secured by” TOLL [ring]
23 Flier: a through train at last (5)
AVIAN – A + VIA [through] + {trai}N
24 Deep swimmer (4)
BASS – or a swimmer as in one that swims
Had a Singapore Sling at Raffles Hotel two years ago. Very touristy but very nice.