Solving time: 41 minutes. I found this one quite straightforward. Although there were a couple of obscurities they didn’t delay me unduly.
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]
|
Across |
|
| 1 | Against mum’s the word “nonsense” (4) |
| TOSH : TO (against), SH (mum’s the word) | |
| 3 | £51 rise arranged? This might make things go smoothly (10) |
| LIQUIDISER : LI (51), QUID (£), anagram [arranged] of RISE | |
| 9 | Opening large part of church (7) |
| CHANCEL : CHANCE (opening), L (large). It’s the part near the altar that’s usually reserved for priests and choir. | |
| 11 | Obsolete furnace regularly comes in handy (7) |
| DEFUNCT : {f}U{r}N{a}C{e} [regularly] is contained by [comes in] DEFT (handy) | |
| 12 | Perhaps I fix judgement (13) |
| PRONOUNCEMENT : PRONOUN (perhaps I), CEMENT (fix) | |
| 14 | What will hold little new in clothes (5) |
| TONGS : N (little new), contained by [in] TOGS (clothes) | |
| 15 | Swimming rat is with an aquatic mammal dealer (9) |
| TRADESMAN : Anagram [swimming] of RAT, DESMAN (aquatic mammal). I’ve never heard of this creature: Either of two semi-aquatic insectivorous shrewlike mammals of the mole family Talpidae, Desmana moschata of Russia, and Galemys pyrenaicus of the Pyrenees (SOED). This seems to be its first appearance in a 15×15. Google reveals that it has turned up once in a Times Two puzzle and on three occasions in Mephistos. | |
| 17 | Country‘s in the middle of Blitz – thus panic, man (9) |
| LITHUANIA : {b}LIT{z}, {t}HU{s}, {p}ANI{c}, {m}A{n} [middle of] | |
| 19 | Walrus, perhaps with the beginning of tusk pain (5) |
| TACHE : T{usk} [beginning], ACHE (pain). Famous wearers of this type of moustache include Theodore Roosevelt and Mark Twain. | |
| 21 | Obscure university name one with child identifying as the other sex (13) |
| UNTRANSPARENT : U (university), N (name), TRANS (identifying as the other sex), PARENT (one with child) | |
| 24 | Sanction sellers? Not very English (7) |
| ENDORSE : {v}ENDORS (sellers) [not very], E (English) | |
| 25 | Old language of a Roman emperor, missing core of Latin (7) |
| IBERIAN : {t}IBERIAN (of a Roman emperor) [missing core of Latin] | |
| 26 | Message to many that might have felt tremor in a quake (4,6) |
| FORM LETTER : Anagram [in a quake] of FELT TREMOR. Not quite the term I’m familiar with but it’s a standardised letter sent to many people. | |
| 27 | Knock down chap that emits a cry of pain (4) |
| FELL : FELL{ow} (chap) [emits a cry of pain – ow!] | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Great many turned up about London, say, as the top attraction (2,3,2,3) |
| TO CAP IT ALL : LOT (great many) reversed [turned up] containing [about] CAPITAL (London, say) | |
| 2 | Petty quarrel gets personal – cure may be found here (3,4) |
| SPA TOWN : SPAT (petty quarrel), OWN (personal) | |
| 4 | Long sit-in arranged in left-leaning London borough (9) |
| ISLINGTON : Anagram [arranged] of LONG SIT IN. A hot-bed of socialism if the Daily Mail is to be believed, but anyway its two constituencies (North and South) are represented in Parliament by Jeremy Corbyn and Emily Thornbury, neither of whom could be mistaken for darlings of the right. | |
| 5 | European Union up for supporting German and extreme (5) |
| UNDUE : UND (German ‘and’), EU (European Union) reversed [up] | |
| 6 | Classify as separate after definite mutating (13) |
| DIFFERENTIATE : Anagram [mutating] of AFTER DEFINITE | |
| 7 | Reserved space putting in new court for the centre of Salisbury (7) |
| SANCTUM : N (new) + CT (court) replaces [for] the centre of SA{r}UM (Salisbury). ‘Sarum’ can refer to the modern city of Salisbury or the ruins of the old one, and is often preceded by ‘New’ or ‘Old’ in order to 6dn. | |
| 8 | List of those working for Catholic court (4) |
| ROTA : Two meanings, the second being unknown to me | |
| 10 | Bridging a gap to get over very popular river (5-8) |
| CROSS-CULTURAL : CROSS (get over), CULT (very popular), URAL (river). ‘Very popular among a particular group of people’ might be a more accurate definiton of ‘cult’, and the group itself might be very small. | |
| 13 | Like a gut feeling during exam over last missing header (10) |
| INTESTINAL : IN (during), TEST (exam), {f}INAL (last) [missing header] | |
| 16 | A mother pig that’s found in mud? (5,4) |
| ADAMS WINE : A, DAM (mother), SWINE (pig). Colloquially this is ‘water’ and water is a consituent of mud, but is there something more to the definition that I’m missing? | |
| 18 | Tail end of shift hours leading subordinate to crack? (7) |
| THUNDER : {shif}T [tail end], H (hours), UNDER (subordinate to). As in the expression ‘crack of thunder’. | |
| 20 | Loose garment with edging is used in church (7) |
| CHEMISE : HEM (edging) + IS contained by [used in] CE (church) | |
| 22 | Expert working on involving deputy (5) |
| ADEPT : AT (working on) containing [involving] DEP (deputy) | |
| 23 | British raised charge for grouse (4) |
| BEEF : B (British), FEE (charge) reversed [raised]. Both terms are slang for complain or moan. Many of the pubs in the villages near where I live are old buildings with low beams in the ceilings and display notices warning taller customers to ‘Duck or Grouse!’ | |
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