| Time: 22 minutes
Music: Stephane Guillaume, Soul Role I found this a typical Monday, and while I had trouble getting started, I was able to find a foothold in the bottom half and make rapid progress. I was also helped by a certain Quickie from last week, and broke out into the top half. This part was a little slower, but a few crossers are the biffer’s friend. Having made such short work of the puzzle, I will have to figure out some of the cryptics as I blog- they shouldn’t be too hard.
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| 1 | Knight errant’s boy suffering physical discomfort? (7) |
| PALADIN – PA(LAD)IN, i.e. a LAD in PAIN. | |
| 5 | Old orator’s initial itch for China tea (6) |
| OOLONG – O + O[rator] + LONG. | |
| 8 | Level-headed about boxer’s spasmodic twitching (9) |
| REALISTIC – RE ALI’S TIC, no need to lift and separate. | |
| 9 | Article on sacred river getting top grade (5) |
| ALPHA – ALPH + A. | |
| 11 | Quiet man finally consuming uncooked seafood (5) |
| PRAWN – P(RAW)[ma]N. | |
| 12 | The writer’s attitude, assuming false identity (9) |
| IMPOSTURE – I’M + POSTURE. | |
| 13 | Native American’s revolutionary directions inspiring strong desire (8) |
| CHEYENNE – CHE (YEN) N.E. | |
| 15 | Device for recording time on river (6) |
| CAMERA – CAM + ERA, a chestnut that had me fooled for a minute due to the very general literal. | |
| 17 | Copper given superb muscle relaxant once (6) |
| CURARE – CU + RARE. | |
| 19 | Avoid little daughter’s aquatic plant (8) |
| DUCKWEED – DUCK + WEE + D. | |
| 22 | Ex-pupil’s ruse mostly involving note to do with childbirth (9) |
| OBSTETRIC – OB’S (TE) TRIC[k]. | |
| 23 | Customer’s extra fiver ultimately securing uniform (5) |
| BUYER – B(U)YE + [five]R – cricket, of course, for the bye. | |
| 24 | Divided up the port (5) |
| SPLIT – Double definition, the second referring to the port in Croatia. | |
| 25 | Congenial girl mostly backed by counsel at first in court (9) |
| SIMPATICO – MIS[s] backwards + PATI(C[ounsel])O. One many solvers will biff, I predict. | |
| 26 | Gannet regularly circling a chap’s seaside defence (6) |
| GROYNE – G[a](ROY)N[n]E[t]. Defending against the ocean, not invading marines. | |
| 27 | Train soldiers, initially excluding detachment from the east (7) |
| RETINUE – RE + E[xcluding] UNIT backwards, which is correctly described as from the East. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Shrewd Irish leader caught in a roomy environment (13) |
| PERSPICACIOUS – PER + SP(I[rish],C)ACIOUS. I biffed this one, a typical college entrance exam word. If you know the difference between perspicacious and perspicuous, you will do well. | |
| 2 | Greenery is a bore, invading shelter (7) |
| LEAFAGE -LE (A FAG) E. | |
| 3 | Condescend to take up part of song I edited (5) |
| DEIGN – Backwards hidden in [so]NG I ED[ited]. Sdeign has been very popular in Mephisto lately. | |
| 4 | Nourishing substance Greek character originally identified in river (8) |
| NUTRIENT – NU + TR(I[dentified])ENT. | |
| 5 | Live in, surprisingly coy about sports award (6) |
| OCCUPY – Anagram of COY around CUP. | |
| 6 | Report of only hotel in island, one demanding a lot of interest (4,5) |
| LOAN SHARK – Sounds like LONE + S(H)ARK, a Channel Island. | |
| 7 | Record plugging new melody, part of The Planets (7) |
| NEPTUNE – N (E.P.) TUNE. | |
| 10 | Poet and pontiff upholding a Roman law with hesitation (9,4) |
| ALEXANDER POPE – A LEX + AND + ER + POPE. | |
| 14 | New style English composer adopted with sincerity (9) |
| EARNESTLY – Anagram of STYLE around ARNE, the most popular English composer among setters, with Holst second – see above. | |
| 16 | Girl on river carrying minute percussion instrument (8) |
| DULCIMER – DULCI(M)E + R. If you know anyone named Dulcie, raise your hand. | |
| 18 | He may steal two-fifths of stock kept by monarch, perhaps (7) |
| RUSTLER – RU(ST[ock])LER, a bit of an &lit. Why he wouldn’t steal the rest is not explained! | |
| 20 | Delightful Welsh girl supporting diocese (7) |
| ELYSIAN – ELY + SIAN, a chestnut in the clear. | |
| 21 | Castaway gloated in this way, we’re told (6) |
| CRUSOE – Sounds like CREW SO. | |
| 23 | Show excessive pride in second-rate kiln (5) |
| BOAST – B OAST. | |
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