I haven’t got a solving time for this as I did it in fits and starts but I didn’t find anything difficult.
First in was BEOWULF and last was NOMARCH.
If any of my explanations don’t make sense then feel free to ask for further elucidation.
The technical stuff:
Clues are in blue (unless you’re in dark mode) with the definition underlined. Anagram indicators are in bold italics.
Notation:
DD: Double definition
CD: Cryptic definition
DDCDH: DD/CD hybrid where a straight definition is combined with a cryptic hint.
&Lit: “all in one” where the entire clue is both definition and wordplay.
(fodder)* denotes an anagram of the letters in the brackets.
Rounded brackets are also used to add further clarity
Squiggly brackets {} indicate parts of a word not used
Deletions are struck out
Square brackets [] expand an abbreviation or shortening like G[ood]
| Across | |
| 1 | Reportedly assume lupine identity in ancient English poem (7) |
| BEOWULF – sounds like be a wolf. A dead old poem, possibly composed in the 7th century AD. | |
| 5 | Flexible mould used by cobblers in film (7) |
| PLASTIC – LAST in PIC | |
| 9 | Become tense when argument goes in several different directions (7) |
| STIFFEN – TIFF in S[outh] E[ast] N[orth] | |
| 13 | In front at last, hungry for such an injection? (11) |
| INTRAVENOUS – IN, {fron}T, RAVENOUS | |
| 14 | Readers initially commit a sin, somehow identifying Byron’s style (11) |
| ROMANTICISM – (R{eaders} commit a sin)* | |
| 15 | Good entertainer, one writing for another (5) |
| GHOST – G[ood] HOST | |
| 16 | Dutch navigator engaging quiet chap once working in bar (7) |
| TAPSMAN – TASMAN around P[iano]. Collins has this as an old-fashioned term for a barman. I panicked a bit when I read the clue as I didn’t think I knew any Dutch navigators. It turns out I did, I just didn’t know they were Dutch. | |
| 17 | Engraver using illegal aid in most of added material (9) |
| INSCRIBER – CRIB in INSER{t} | |
| 18 | Story originally read during specific game at Hampstead location? (3,7,2,3,6) |
| THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH – R{ead} in THE CRICKET ON THE HEATH. Dickens. | |
| 23 | Further evaluate soldiers taking a couple of ships round East (8) |
| REASSESS – R[oyal] E[ngineers], A, SS (screw steamer or steam ship) x 2 around E[ast] | |
| 25 | Basic device for securing electric cable, say (6) |
| STAPLE – DD | |
| 27 | First-class addition to dessert, perhaps (7) |
| TOPPING – DD | |
| 30 | Hoard of money picked up by listeners (5) |
| CACHE – sounds like CASH | |
| 32 | Stole across border, one in a former country (7) |
| BOHEMIA – BOA around HEM I | |
| 33 | Woman in Holy Writ displaying sagacity? Not so (9) |
| OTHERWISE -HER in O[ld] T[estament], WISE | |
| 35 | Admiral finally leaves River Plate, manoeuvring armed vessel (9) |
| PRIVATEER – (River Plate)* without {admira}L. A private vessel commissioned to seize and plunder an enemy’s ships in wartime. | |
| 36 | Financiers swapping area for love? That’s crazy! (7) |
| BONKERS – BANKERS with A[rea] replaced by O. It almost works the other way round. | |
| 37 | Singer mostly dressing formally? (5) |
| ROBIN – ROBIN{g} | |
| 38 | When a milk supplier is most essential to begin with? (7) |
| TEATIME – TEAT, I{s} M{ost} E{ssential}, semi &Lit (“When” is the only word that isn’t part of the wordplay). | |
| 40 | Lamb, so-called, following American girl (6) |
| AMELIA – ELIA (pen name of essayist Charles Lamb) following AM[erican] | |
| 41 | Liqueur, a new one, prepared for a speaker (8) |
| ANISETTE – A, N[ew], I + homophone of SET. I’ve always viewed it as an aperitif but the dictionaries disagree. | |
| 44 | Lions turn up at end of a summer: a warning against vanity (5,5,6,1,4) |
| PRIDE COMES BEFORE A FALL – DDCDH | |
| 48 | Circus performer’s two-wheeled vehicle unknown in new site (9) |
| TRAPEZIST – TRAP, Z in (site)* | |
| 50 | Eccentric group concealing drug in Arthur’s place (7) |
| CAMELOT – CAM (eccentric) LOT, around E[cstacy] | |
| 53 | Tragic lover, Aussie native, touring Maine (5) |
| ROMEO – ROO around M[ain]E | |
| 54 | Perplexing male acting a lie? That’s out of order (11) |
| ENIGMATICAL – (M[ale] acting a lie)* | |
| 55 | Disloyal educator muzzling Republican round America (11) |
| TREACHEROUS – TEACHER around R[epublican], O (round), U[nited] S[tates] | |
| 56 | Some metropolitan trickery to do with sacred writings (7) |
| TANTRIC – hidden. Nothing to do with Sting’s sex life then. | |
| 57 | Portrait painter keeps young lady, as permitted by law (7) |
| LEGALLY – (Peter) LELY around GAL | |
| 58 | Like fatty substance primarily located deep in Scottish river (7) |
| TALLOWY – L{ocated} in LOW, TAY | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Newlywed collecting last of stuffing for game (6) |
| BRIDGE – BRIDE around {stuffin}G | |
| 2 | Detached settlement’s blooming mail! (7) |
| OUTPOST – OUT (blooming as in flowers), POST | |
| 3 | Unsuitability of steps a nun contrived (9) |
| UNAPTNESS – (steps a nun)* | |
| 4 | Fast-moving naval task force (5) |
| FLEET – DD | |
| 5 | Likelihood programme of courses will exclude you and me (8) |
| PROSPECT – PROSPECTus | |
| 6 | A service sent up for tea (5) |
| ASSAM – A, MASS reversed | |
| 7 | City taken in by conductor on tour (7) |
| TORONTO – hidden | |
| 8 | Ladies in panel carry out supporter with sign (14) |
| COMMITTEEWOMEN – COMMIT (e.g. a crime), TEE, W[ith], OMEN | |
| 9 | Ageing nurse once looking down on eastern perfume (9) |
| SENESCENT – S[tate] E[nrolled] N[urse], E[astern], SCENT. “Once” because the diploma that qualified you as a SEN is obsolete. | |
| 10 | More distant old firm supported by former monarch (5) |
| ICIER – ICI on E[lizabeth] R[egina]. For many years the largest manufacturer in Britain, Imperial Chemical Industries started demerging in 1991 and was taken over ny AkzoNobel in 2008. | |
| 11 | Frivolous person initially finds freedom, we hear, before gallows (15) |
| FLIBBERTIGIBBET – F{inds}, homophone of LIBERTY, GIBBET. Thankfully recalled from The Sound of Music, otherwise by gibbet might have been positively flibbered. | |
| 12 | Ancient Egyptian leader upset about demonstration (7) |
| NOMARCH – ON reversed, MARCH. The governor of a nome. | |
| 19 | Ridiculous anger gripping little brother or sister (7) |
| RISIBLE – RILE around SIB | |
| 20 | English fellow in dark fur, worthy of respect (9) |
| ESTIMABLE – E[nglish] then TIM in SABLE | |
| 21 | Capital raised to keep a monarch (7) |
| EMPEROR – ROME reversed around PER | |
| 22 | Nutter taking two addictive drugs (8) |
| CRACKPOT – CRACK, POT | |
| 24 | Adjustment at Italian comic’s ground (15) |
| ACCLIMATISATION – (at Italian comic’s)* | |
| 26 | Initiator of action involving port authority in dispute (9) |
| PLAINTIFF – P[ort of] L[ondon] A[uthority], IN, TIFF | |
| 28 | Chap protecting eagle circling small island (8) |
| GUERNSEY – GUY around ERNE around S[mall] | |
| 29 | Chap involved with a true claim relating to drugs (14) |
| PHARMACEUTICAL – (chap a true claim)* | |
| 31 | Raised bar? This person’s hard to pin down (7) |
| EVASIVE – SAVE reversed, I’VE | |
| 34 | Exclamation of praise from woman holding up book (7) |
| HOSANNA – ANNA under HOS[ea] | |
| 39 | Self-centred, became accepted in swinging cities (9) |
| EGOTISTIC – GOT in (cities)* | |
| 42 | Look thoroughly for listeners where flights are accommodated (9) |
| STAIRWELL – homophone of STARE WELL | |
| 43 | Jesting duke unknown to keep luxury car (8) |
| DROLLERY – D[uke], Y around ROLLER (slang for ROLLS ROYCE) | |
| 44 | Forbearing person in doctor’s waiting room? (7) |
| PATIENT – DD | |
| 45 | Given support, register build-up of work (7) |
| BACKLOG – BACK, LOG | |
| 46 | Move falteringly over river, one in SE Africa (7) |
| LIMPOPO – LIMP, O[ver], PO | |
| 47 | Like keen equestrians losing heart in N London district (6) |
| HORSEY – HORnSEY. HORNSEY is indeed in North London so the N isn’t a trick. | |
| 49 | Man in army corps climbing round back of hill (5) |
| ELMER – REME reversed around {hil}L. Take your pick from Fudd or the patchwork Elephant | |
| 51 | Roadside accommodation army doctor hired going north (5) |
| MOTEL – M[edical] O[fficer], LET reversed | |
| 52 | Time to do something about India, it’s implied (5) |
| TACIT – T[ime], ACT around I[ndia] | |
BEOWULF was my FOI too; with a MER, since it’s pronounced ‘bay’ not ‘bee’. Didn’t know that a TRAP was 2-wheeled. Didn’t see how CRICKET worked, though in retrospect I knew of Hampstead Heath. (Is there cricket there?) DNK PLA at 26d. DNK NOMARCH. Failed to parse EVASIVE. Pot addictive? Not for me, anyway, although it did lead to addiction: cigarettes. (Once you’ve got used to sucking hot smoke directly into your lungs, there’s no problem drawing smoke into your mouth.) I knew FLIBBERTIGIBBET from King Lear.
I wondered about the pot / addition thing too Kevin so looked it up while writing up the blog. Long term side effects include addiction but on a list of drugs ranked by addictiveness (?) it doesn’t make the top ten.
A steady solve that took me about 32 1/2 minutes, woth the unknown NOMARCH my LOI. DNK the abbreviation of HOSEA. So that’s how 34D works, then. I liked BONKERS and TEATIME most. Thanks Penfold and setter.
This came as a pleasant bonus as I realised only 2 days ago that I had neglected to print it off and solve it. I enjoyed it over two sessions. NHO NOMARCH and I took forever to construct the unknown Dickens title, but otherwise this was quite easy and I had no queries.
Not too hard but I had to look up the unknown Dickens story to be sure it wasn’t ‘of’, which was a bit annoying. Another MER at the dodgy BEOWULF homophone.