Solving time: 41 minutes. Some of this was quite tricky.
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]. I usually omit all reference to positional indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.
| Across | |
| 1 | Anyone check about sleuth with hound? (3,4,3,5) |
| TOM DICK AND HARRY | |
| MOT (check) reversed [about], DICK (sleuth), AND (with), HARRY (hound – pester). MOT (standing for Ministry of Transport) is an annual test of roadworthiness for vehicles over a certain age. The ministry title was changedmany years ago (it’s currently ‘Department for Transport’) but the name of the test has survived. ‘Tom, Dick and/or Harry’ is a Victorian expression for the man-in-the-street – or on the Clapham omnibus – considered to be of the lower orders and therefore of no importance. | |
| 9 | Forget your woes — plug in the mobile (7,2) |
| LIGHTEN UP | |
| Anagram [mobile] of PLUG IN THE. The definition seems a tad over-specific as the expression usually means nothing more than ‘don’t take things so seriously’. | |
| 10 | Constituent very nearly claims overtime (5) |
| VOTER | |
| VER{y} [nearly] contains [claims] OT (overtime). I wasn’t sure about the abbreviation, but Collins has it. | |
| 11 | Mean northern cardinal blocks passport for one (6) |
| INTEND | |
| N (northern) + TEN (cardinal number) is contained by [blocks] ID (passport for one – other forms of ID are available) | |
| 12 | Spot conservationists with a primary food supplier (8) |
| PLACENTA | |
| PLACE (spot), NT (conservationists – National Trust), A | |
| 13 | King George the Sixth appearing in poster with child (6) |
| GRAVID | |
| GR (King George – Georgus Rex), then VI (the Sixth) contained by [appearing in] AD (poster) | |
| 15 | Plot against father assuming power (8) |
| CONSPIRE | |
| CON (against), then SIRE (father) containing [assuming] P (power) | |
| 18 | Appear to control car trade (8) |
| COMMERCE | |
| COME (appear) containing [to control] MERC (car) | |
| 19 | Hold firm‘s ambassador in centre (6) |
| COHERE | |
| HE (ambassador – His/Her Excellency) contained by [in] CORE (centre) | |
| 21 | Plan to avoid returning after school (8) |
| SCHEDULE | |
| SCH (school), then ELUDE (avoid) reversed [returning] | |
| 23 | Perhaps tablet‘s best after drink (6) |
| LAPTOP | |
| LAP (drink), TOP (best). Two different devices to my mind, but I suppose there may be overlap in the definition. | |
| 26 | Our group at university tracks shark’s activity (5) |
| USURY | |
| US (our group), U (university), RY (tracks – railway). Lending money at extortionate rates of interest. | |
| 27 | Cut across road following flag’s course (5,4) |
| IRISH STEW | |
| IRIS (flag), then HEW (cut) containing [across] ST (road). Iris / flag, yet again! Let’s hope everyone has remembered it this time. | |
| 28 | Idle investor makes a hash of representing pal (8,7) |
| SLEEPING PARTNER | |
| Anagram [makes a hash] of REPRESENTING PAL | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Convincing the Yorkshire pianist to shed weight (7) |
| TELLING | |
| T‘ (the – as spoken in Yorkshire), ELLING{ton} (pianist – Duke) [to shed weight] | |
| 2 | Tot’s vocal power (5) |
| MIGHT | |
| Sounds like [vocal] “mite” (tiny tot) | |
| 3 | Cool quartet in past maybe concentrated (9) |
| INTENSIVE | |
| IN (cool – beatnik slang), then IV (quartet) contained by [in] TENSE (past, maybe) | |
| 4 | Twist finding family at the heart of Dickens (4) |
| KINK | |
| KIN (family), {Dic}K{ens} [heart] | |
| 5 | French consul‘s personal refusal to admit a European (8) |
| NAPOLEON | |
| NON (personal refusal – ‘no’ as expressed by a Frenchman) containing [to admit] A + POLE (European). I didn’t know this, but one of Nap’s titles was ‘First Consul of France’. | |
| 6 | Good book in head office beginning to cause mayhem (5) |
| HAVOC | |
| AV (good book – Authorised Version of the Bible) contained by [in] HO (head office), then C{ause} [beginning] | |
| 7 | Holding back on shelter before a quarter past four (9) |
| RETENTIVE | |
| RE (on), TENT (shelter), IV (four), E (quarter – of the compass). ‘Past’ is a positional indicator. | |
| 8 | Distance, say, a cart must be raised (7) |
| YARDAGE | |
| EG (say) + A + DRAY (cart) all reversed [raised] | |
| 14 | A large pest keeps quiet in poor accommodation (9) |
| ALMSHOUSE | |
| A, L (large), MOUSE (pest) contains [keeps] SH (quiet). Accommodation for the poor. | |
| 16 | Her mascot displayed front cover once (9) |
| STOMACHER | |
| Anagram [displayed] of HER MASCOT. Collins has this as: a decorative V-shaped panel of stiff material worn over the chest and stomach by men and women in the 16th century, later only by women. I vaguely remember meeting this before but the Google search on TfTT was not helpful when I tried to check, bringing up every previous occurrence of ‘stomach’. | |
| 17 | Small copper line on celebrity’s dishwasher? (8) |
| SCULLION | |
| S (small), CU (copper), L (line), LION (celebrity). I knew this from ‘scullery’. | |
| 18 | Protective wear an essential part of Inca’s quest (7) |
| CASQUES | |
| Hidden in [an essential part of[ {In}CA’S QUES{t}. More obscure apparel from a bygone era. SOED has ‘casque’ as a piece of armour to cover the head; a helmet. | |
| 20 | Sanction representative, old, visiting the jug (7) |
| EMPOWER | |
| MP (representative – Member of Parliament) + O (old) contained by [visiting] EWER (jug) | |
| 22 | Upset, your party hosts stop talking (3,2) |
| DRY UP | |
| DUP (party – Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland) contains [hosts] YR (your) reversed [upset] | |
| 24 | Venetian school master ignores current big noise (5) |
| TITAN | |
| TIT{i}AN (Venetian school master) [ignores current – i]. ‘Big noises’ are people who hold an important position within a group or organization. | |
| 25 | Wuss in mummy’s pocket primarily? (4) |
| WIMP | |
| W{uss} I{n} M{ummy’s} P{ocket} [primarily] | |
Eventually I got YARDAGE then TOM DICK AND HARRY and then raced to a finish with INTEND LOI. An hour or so.
Lots of excellent clues. I gave a star to COMMERCE but TELLING also excellent inter alia.
David
This morning I realized how sleepy I had really been when I set this aside last night, as the last three (which I won’t even list) went in instantly.
Edited at 2021-11-02 07:21 pm (UTC)
Got a bit put off by intent and intensive being so adjacent but took the plunge. All in all a very enjoyable puzzle I thought.
Thx setterand blogger.
Failed to completely parse H/STEW (seen the IRIS part plenty of times now), INTEND and INTENSIVE.
I had heard all the obscure words previously, even if I could not have defined them. Only failure of parsing was in 1ac where I took ‘about’ to indicate a wrap around rather than a reversal and ‘check’ to give us ‘tomand’ which I took to be an unheard of tartan. I was quite pleased with this invention, much more fun than a boring MOT! Even if totally incorrect.
Thanks for the explanation Jack and thanks to the setter.
I really enjoyed this puzzle with its entertaining range of clues, albeit with a few obscurities which necessitated the odd biff or two.
NHO 16 d “stomacher” but trusted the anagrist and the definition.
Also NHO of POI 13 ac “gravid”. I’d always thought he was a Dutch international footballer.
LOI and COD 1 d “telling”. By that stage I needed no convincing that I had heard of a Yorkshire pianist called George Tellington, so fired in my answer. Thanks to Jack for the explanation and hats off to setter for foxing me completely.
Thanks to Jack for a fine blog and to setter for the mental stretch.