Time: 34:41
Music: Sonny Clark, The Blue Note Years
This should have been rather easy, but after racing through about two-thirds I became most thoroughly stuck, and could just not see some very simple clues. I had to crack down on myself, and systematically use all my cryptic knowledge on clue after clue, which does take a while compared to the rapid biffing of obvious answers. I was particularly annoyed at outline and formally, which should be write-ins.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Expert left out of deception (4) |
| BUFF – B[l]UFF. I could not get blind out of my mind, but a bind is not an expert. | |
| 3 | Brochure mistakenly supports involving European Commission (10) |
| PROSPECTUS – Anagram of SUPPORTS around E.C. | |
| 9 | A blow if French business has to absorb most of shock (7) |
| SIROCCO – SI(ROC[k])CO. | |
| 11 | Divulged policy’s main points (7) |
| OUTLINE – OUT + LINE. I felt sure the points were going to be N and E, which made solving this one difficult. | |
| 12 | Head of brotherhood drops rash idea (9) |
| BRAINWAVE – B[rotherhood] + RAIN + WAVE, as in a rash/wave of strange events. | |
| 13 | When caught, clamour for PM (5) |
| BLAIR – Sounds like BLARE. | |
| 14 | Romantic song sequence enthralling new spouse? (4,3,5) |
| BALL AND CHAIN – BALLA(N)D CHAIN. | |
| 18 | Might it indicate a revealing exchange? (5-2-5) |
| HEART-TO-HEART – Reverse cryptic – the heart of heart is A. | |
| 21 | Nothing dividing city assembly (5) |
| AGORA – AG(O)RA. I nearly put ALOTA, but decided to try again. | |
| 22 | New realities for Hebrew (9) |
| ISRAELITE – Anagram of REALITIES, a chestnut. | |
| 24 | Protesting Republican in a bad way (7) |
| RAILING – R + AILING. | |
| 25 | State school accepting society backing ChatGPT among others (7) |
| ESTONIA – E(S)TON + AI backwards. | |
| 26 | Prominent figures rattled Mailer in US (10) |
| LUMINARIES – Anagram of MAILER IN US. | |
| 27 | Assistant’s final check (4) |
| MATE – Double definition, referring to chess. | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | President’s youngest child, cute little creature (8) |
| BUSHBABY – BUSH BABY, another chestnut, which I didn’t see this time. | |
| 2 | Pupils team up in a methodical way (8) |
| FORMALLY – FORM + ALLY. | |
| 4 | Wine and port meets with Hamburg sommelier’s approval (5) |
| RIOJA – RIO + JA. | |
| 5 | Tweeter’s mostly drunken gossip (9) |
| STONECHAT – STONE[d] CHAT. My LOI, where I had to consider the possibilities of the literal a bit more broadly. | |
| 6 | Formation of the ruling class (13) |
| ESTABLISHMENT – Double definition, a very easy one. | |
| 7 | Bishop intervening in case concerning family (6) |
| TRIBAL – TRI(B)AL. | |
| 8 | Perhaps Pedro Ximénez reluctant to welcome European bishop (6) |
| SHERRY – SH(E,RR)Y. | |
| 10 | Joining European race with Italian chap in the lead (13) |
| CONCATENATION – E NATION following CON, CAT. | |
| 15 | Gun going astray in revolutionary socialist’s possession (9) |
| DERRINGER – D(ERRING)ER, red inverted in a down clue. | |
| 16 | Chained off area in Mexican plantation (8) |
| HACIENDA – Anagram of CHAINED + A. | |
| 17 | Usher periodically wangles cheap accommodation (8) |
| STEERAGE – STEER + [w]A[n]G[l]E[s]. | |
| 19 | Part of rifle butt (6) |
| BARREL – Double definition. | |
| 20 | On which one may speak of dishonour, quietly at first (6) |
| PODIUM – P + ODIUM. | |
| 23 | Always around, guarding English official from past (5) |
| REEVE – EV(E)ER upside down. | |
30 minutes, and just what I expect of a Monday puzzle – unlike last Monday’s offering. I missed the parsing of HEART TO HEART, but that was all. HACIENDA courtesy Pat Boone, 1962: “It was a moonlit night in old Mexico / I walked alone between some old adobe haciendas…”.