There were certainly some tricky pieces of vocab here, but that apart it was pretty much a glorified quickie. Maybe I was just on the wavelength. 13:50.
ACROSS
| 1 | Badger editor to go in for basic principles (7) |
| BEDROCK – ED in BROCK (British dialectal word for badger) | |
| 5 | Tool provided by supporter of Burmese, perhaps? (4-3) |
| CATS-PAW – a Burmese cat would stand on its paws, when it wasn’t sleeping, which it probably does most of the time; I think I’ve come across this here before – anyway, a cat’s-paw is a person used by another as a tool, or a dupe. Seems a bit strained to me… | |
| 9 | Old coach’s assiduity (9) |
| DILIGENCE – double definition (DD) – a diligence was a stagecoach; a bit strained once more… | |
| 10 | Unhealthy entering the French industrial city (5) |
| LILLE – ILL in LE; not hard… | |
| 11 | Dined in steakhouse at Enfield (5) |
| EATEN – super easy hidden | |
| 12 | Antelope we track but briefly, running wild (9) |
| WATERBUCK – anagram* of WE TRACK BU[t] | |
| 13 | Compliant, as one’s landlord will be (13) |
| ACCOMMODATING – double definition, one whimsical; we’ve now had compliance and diligence, too incredibly important parts of modern governance. What next? St Gary of Lineker, perhaps… | |
| 17 | Way Essex town’s character is an aid to progress (8,5) |
| STEPPING STONE – ST (way) EPPING’S (posh Essex town – they do exist) TONE (character) | |
| 21 | Run a bar, pushing back high-class storyteller (9) |
| RACONTEUR – R (run) A (a) COUNTER with the U pushed towards the end | |
| 24 | Question a graduate at a Middle Eastern port (5) |
| AQABA -Q (question) A (a) BA (graduate) next to/after A; famous for being taken by Lawrence of Arabia / Peter O’Toole in 1917 | |
| 25 | Caravan mostly reputed to carry eastern king (5) |
| SERAI -E (eastern) R (king) in SAI[d] (reputed); more an inn than a caravan, I think; anyway, a bit more Turkish /TE Lawrence stuff | |
| 26 | Woman with skill and practicality (9) |
| VIABILITY -VI (random old-fashioned woman) ABILITY (skill) | |
| 27 | Merry southern youth leader concealing tuft of hair (7) |
| SQUIFFY – QUIFF (tuft of hair – think Tintin) in S (southern) Y (initial letter of Youth); my Dad liked this word; merry as in tipsy, or worse | |
| 28 | Part payment a German offered after dash from east (5-2) |
| TRADE-IN -DART reversed EIN (‘one’ or ‘a’ in German) |
DOWN
| 1 | Move on time to produce financial statement (6) |
| BUDGET – BUDGE (move) T (time) | |
| 2 | US state using pink paper for a type of glazed pottery (9) |
| DELFTWARE – DELAWARE with FT (Financial Times -printed on pink paper; never read it) for A | |
| 3 | Natural, as no cigar can be (7) |
| ORGANIC – NO CIGAR*; had a superb Havanan for my 64th last week | |
| 4 | Blood relation ma is known to reform (9) |
| KINSWOMAN – MA IS KNOWN* | |
| 5 | Ambassador and son involved in court case (5) |
| CHEST -HE (His or Her Excellency) A (son) in CT (court) | |
| 6 | Winged sandals in unfinished story and song (7) |
| TALARIA -TAL[e] ARIA; as worn by Mercury. Natty, indeed… | |
| 7 | One found in place a universal spicy dish (5) |
| PILAU -I (one) in PL (place) A U; I am liking this very, very much… | |
| 8 | Pay park keeper initially accepted, bringing ruin (8) |
| WRECKAGE – REC (park) K (initial letter of keeper) in WAGE | |
| 14 | Perceptive old boy, one below stairs, perhaps (9) |
| OBSERVANT – OB SERVANT | |
| 15 | Repetitious new rite, with musical backing (9) |
| ITERATIVE – RITE* EVITA reversed | |
| 16 | Old Russians in tutus regularly adopting Indian garments (8) |
| TSARISTS – SARIS in T[u]T[u]S | |
| 18 | Work up new argument for bishop of Rome (7) |
| PONTIFF -OP reversed N TIFF | |
| 19 | Instrument in old vehicle in African capital (7) |
| OCARINA -O (old) CAR IN (from the clue) A (capital letter of Africa) | |
| 20 | Prohibition covering some tropical tree (6) |
| BANYAN -ANY (some) in BAN (prohibition) | |
| 22 | Greek island my favourite uncle originally used (5) |
| CORFU – COR (my) F U (initial letter of Favourite Uncle); going there in June. Join us if you’re in the area | |
| 23 | Diplomat’s covetousness involving ring (5) |
| ENVOY -O (ring) in ENVY |
There was certainly a band called Caravan. Loved them dearly for a year or two. The Canterbury sound, they called it I think. 9’23” so a rare under ten for me. No difficulties, though I failed to parse RACONTEUR.
22 mins so another tailender. Nothing too difficult apart from NHO Talaria but that was very generously clued.
13.29
Nothing to add other than, following the news about Horryd, to echo the sadness about Tony Sever. “Met” only through his comments when occasionally dipping into crosswords from years’ past, but he was clearly a character and a first rate solver.
Also encouraged to do this by QC blog and completed in 59:54. Many of the clues were straightforward but I echo a lot of the comments above. FOI ORGANIC, LOI SERAI.
Very sad to hear of Tony Sever’s death. We exchanged a few messages over the years and he was always very encouraging to a crossword duffer like me, despite his brilliance. RIP.