I don’t usually write in answers to clues until I more or less understand why they’re correct, not just from a definition and the spaces, but this time I found I had ‘biffed’ more than usual. Indeed it took me a while when writing the blog, to decipher some of the parsing. We have some clever clues here, I think the clue for FIENDISH should win an award.
Definitions underlined in bold, (ABC)* indicating anagram of ABC, anagrinds in italics, [deleted letters in square brackets].
| Across | |
| 1 | Secure with rope, fitting reverse bar (7) |
| TAPROOM – MOOR (secure with rope), PAT (fitting), all reversed. | |
| 5 | Drama as American subject receives UK honour (7) |
| MACBETH – MATH (what Americans call mathematics or maths) with CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) inserted. | |
| 9 | Don’t be long invoicing, having quietly inserted flyer (9) |
| SPOONBILL – SOON (don’t be long), BILL (invoicing), insert P for quietly. A bird. | |
| 10 | Shrink from a certain stick-wielding official (5) |
| MACER – hidden clue. I assume a macer is a person who carries a mace. | |
| 11 | Ensuring an element of fashion in the offing? (7,2,4) |
| DRESSED TO KILL – witty cryptic, where “offing” means killing. | |
| 13 | Languishing? Nothing so weak, ultimately (8) |
| LOVESICK – LOVE (nothing in tennis), SIC (so in Latin) K (end of weak). | |
| 15 | Complex way to end call (4-2) |
| HANG-UP – double definition. | |
| 17 | Pricey fare, through having stopped taxi for one (6) |
| CAVIAR – VIA (Latin for through) inside CAR (taxi, for one). | |
| 19 | Capable of following unrecorded match (4,2,2) |
| LIVE UP TO – UP TO (capable of) after LIVE (unrecorded). | |
| 22 | Mum’s the word in strike planning! (13) |
| MASTERMINDING – MA’S (Mum’s) TERM (word) IN DING (strike). | |
| 25 | There’s nothing odd in priest’s idea to marry again (5) |
| RETIE – even letters as above. RE-TIE the knot perhaps. I’d expected a hyphen. | |
| 26 | Something for hair: a thing unwanted there, prohibited, we understand (5,4) |
| ALICE BAND – A, LICE (unwanted in hair), BAND (sounds like BANNED). | |
| 27 | One helping a non-drinker to crack open something unlikely (7) |
| ABETTER – A BEER with TT a non-drinker inserted. | |
| 28 | Camera accessory’s brief whizz, followed by echo (3,4) |
| HOT SHOE – a HOT SHOT is a whizz, delete the end letter and add E for echo. A hot shoe is the bracket on a camera with a connector to make the flash flash. I had one years ago. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | International news overlooking article from Paris (4) |
| TEST – LATEST = news, drop the LA. | |
| 2 | Short film and book with page appearing about Balkan city (7) |
| PLOVDIV – all reversed, VID[eo], VOL[ume}, P. I passed through Plovdiv once in 1969, in a Morris Minor convertible; it wasn’t much of a city, then, and oddly enough the excellent Bulgarian barman in our local pub comes from Plovdiv. He speaks highly of it. | |
| 3 | Oz couple dropping in as expected (5) |
| OUNCE – well, once I stopped thinking about Australians, the answer was clear, but as of now I can’t see how “couple dropping in as expected” gets us to OUNCE. It’s probably obvious to you, enlighten me! | |
| 4 | Postholder lacks aim somehow (8) |
| MAILSACK – (LACKS AIM)*. An anagram at last. | |
| 5 | Way to address peer’s illness: yen for an answer (2,4) |
| MY LADY – MALADY (illness) changes A to Y. | |
| 6 | Be old enough to succeed largely as a revolutionary (4,2,3) |
| COME OF AGE – COME OF[f] = succeed largely, E.G., A reversed. E.G meaning “as” I think. | |
| 7 | Bats in the MCG, lacking marks for artistic impression (7) |
| ETCHING – (IN THE CG)*, the M removed. | |
| 8 | Toilet and shower cheer up English port (10) |
| HARTLEPOOL – all reversed (up), LOO, PELT, RAH!. Seaside town of about 90,000 in Co. Durham, to which I have never been. | |
| 12 | Jet, one about to damage a police vehicle (5,5) |
| BLACK MARIA – BLACK (jet) MAR (damage), A, insert I (one). | |
| 14 | Coach departed — players also this way? (5,4) |
| STAGE LEFT – STAGE = coach, LEFT = departed. | |
| 16 | Very tricky cryptic finished (8) |
| FIENDISH – (FINISHED)*. Simple but brilliant, IMO. | |
| 18 | One called on jockey to hold place (7) |
| VISITEE – VIE (jockey) with SITE (place) inside. | |
| 20 | Animated pirate to stand up in support of boxer (7) |
| PUGWASH – Well, a PUG is a dog not unlike a boxer, or is PUG short for pugilist? Under that we have WASH = stand up, in the sense of “that won’t wash” meaning that doesn’t stand up. I remember watching Captain Pugwash cartoons in the early sixties, but apparently they went on until 1975. | |
| 21 | Spoil one’s twins (6) |
| IMPAIR – I’M (one is, one’s) PAIR (twins). | |
| 23 | What’s usually reduced to case of ignorance (2,3) |
| ID EST – usually shortened to i.e., I[gnoranc]E. | |
| 24 | Trailers for picking up cutting tool (4) |
| ADZE – sounds like ADS, advertisements. | |
I came up with Alice Band quite early but had no idea why Alice. Band was clear. But lice is not a thing. Lice are things. A louse is a thing.
I got there in the end, although I basically gave up and bunged in PLOVDIV that I’d never heard of, really just as a way of seeing if I had other pink squares. Amazed to find it is a real place. I did have onepink square though, since I sent for CAME OF AGE instead of COME, and that letter is not checked. So that seems valid to me.