Solving time: 23 minutes
I found this surprisingly easy considering that there were several words unknown to me and even more pieces of GK that I didn’t happen possess. Still, it’s the sign of an excellent cryptic puzzle that the clues enabled me to complete the grid correctly and in reasonable time despite such handicaps.
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 | In line of strikers, spot light-fingered criminal (10) |
| PICKPOCKET | |
| POCK (spot) contained by [in] PICKET (line of strikers). Not sure I have come across ‘pock’ on its own before, but I knew ‘pockmark’. | |
| 6 | Fighter pilot crossing river in Brazilian state (4) |
| ACRE | |
| ACE (fighter pilot) containing [crossing] R (river). NHO this region in NW Brazil. | |
| 9 | The writer’s servants given quarters of colossal size (7) |
| IMMENSE | |
| I’M (the writer’s), MEN (servants), S + E (quarters) | |
| 10 | Noble embracing love poet (7) |
| ARIOSTO | |
| ARISTO (noble) containing [embracing] 0 (love). I didn’t remember this guy who’s come up only twice before in daily puzzles, most recently in June 2020. | |
| 12 | Part of Scotland originally inspiring Schubert song (5) |
| ISLAY | |
| I{nspiring) + S{chubert) [originally], LAY (song). I needed all the checkers to bring this to mind. As the most southerly island of the Inner Hebrides it’s a bit off the beaten track, and the wordplay is devious with ‘inspiring’ suggesting enclosure and ‘Schubert song’ suggesting ‘Lied’ rather than LAY. | |
| 13 | Lacking will, belonging to trial rowing team, we hear (9) |
| INTESTATE | |
| IN (belonging to), TEST (trial), then ATE sounds like [we hear] “eight” [rowing team] | |
| 14 | Old man or woman heretic securing Irishman as MP? (15) |
| PARLIAMENTARIAN | |
| PARENT (old man or woman) + ARIAN (heretic) containing [securing] LIAM (Irishman). Of course parents don’t have to be old, but here we have a reference to the somewhat disrespectful way that offspring sometimes refer to their mother or father as ‘the old man / woman’. | |
| 17 | Infection requiring relief till work appears (4,7,4) |
| COLD COMFORT FARM | |
| COLD (infection), COMFORT (relief), FARM (till). The humorous novel by Stella Gibbons. | |
| 20 | Beggar is unable to fix one at first (9) |
| MENDICANT | |
| MEND (fix), I (one), CAN’T (is unable to) | |
| 21 | Motive for returning, avoiding a strong headwind (5) |
| NOSER | |
| RE{a}SON (motive) [avoiding ‘a’] reversed [returning]. I knew this meaning by chance because I came across it in May when I was checking ‘noser’ defined as ‘one that smells’ in a Felix QC and happened to mention it in my contribution that day. | |
| 23 | Caught on TV initially wearing toupee, perhaps (7) |
| TWIGGED | |
| T{v} [initially], WIGGED (wearing toupee, perhaps) | |
| 24 | Dull woman appearing in short film (7) |
| PROSAIC | |
| ROSA (woman) contained by [appearing in] PIC (short film) | |
| 25 | Bess’s man, heading off for wild party (4) |
| ORGY | |
| {p}ORGY (Bess’s man) [heading off]. Porgy and Bess is an opera by George Gershwin. | |
| 26 | Derrick’s advert for a geraniaceous plant (10) |
| CRANESBILL | |
| CRANE’S (derrick’s), BILL (advert). Neither the plant nor its description meant anything to me. The answer has appeared only once before in the TfTT era in a Club Monthly puzzle, but I never venture into that territory. | |
| Down |
|
| 1 | Cheek, weighing into Greek characters about diatribe (9) |
| PHILIPPIC | |
| LIP (cheek) contained by [weighing into] PHI + PI (Greek characters), then C (about). Another unknown. | |
| 2 | Beast of burden mostly encountered in the Golden State? (5) |
| CAMEL | |
| ME{t} (encountered) [mostly] contained by in CAL (the Golden State) | |
| 3 | Stingy girl doing what 1 ac aims to do (5-8) |
| PENNY-PINCHING | |
| PENNY (girl), PINCHING (doing what 1 ac – pickpocket – aims to do) | |
| 4 | Element regularly faked in new music (7) |
| CAESIUM | |
| {f}A{k}E{d} [regularly] contained by [in] anagram [new] of MUSIC | |
| 5 | Fibrous substance produced by English: first out? The opposite (7) |
| ELASTIN | |
| E (English), LAST IN (first out – the opposite). This appeared in a puzzle in July and was still in my head. | |
| 7 | Charge female leaving continent for republic (5,4) |
| COSTA RICA | |
| COST, (charge), A{f}RICA (continent) [female leaving] | |
| 8 | Call to mind the first lady touring Oklahoma (5) |
| EVOKE | |
| EVE (first lady) containing [touring] OK (Oklahoma) | |
| 11 | It’s immediate in fellow soldiers primarily employed in Intelligence (13) |
| INSTANTANEOUS | |
| IN, STAN (fellow), TA (soldiers – Territorial Army) , then E{mployed} [primarily] contained by [in] NOUS (intelligence) | |
| 15 | Giving in about gin, sadly, drinking fast (9) |
| RELENTING | |
| RE (about) + anagram [sadly] of GIN containing [drinking] LENT (fast) | |
| 16 | Manic rule oddly expressed in figures (9) |
| NUMERICAL | |
| Anagram [oddly] of MANIC RULE | |
| 18 | Roam with this writer and that Cockney woman (7) |
| MEANDER | |
| ME (this writer), AND, {h}ER (that Cockney woman) | |
| 19 | Dismissed, sleeps over in S African grazing area (7) |
| OUTSPAN | |
| OUT (dismissed), then NAPS (sleeps) reversed [over]. A word known to me since childhood as the brand name of South African oranges, but this is first time I’ve come across this meaning. This is also its first appearance here. | |
| 20 | Saw second official principally digesting Times (5) |
| MOTTO | |
| MO (second) + O{fficial} [principally] containing [digesting] T + T (times) | |
| 22 | Bath, say, before greeting old cavalryman (5) |
| SPAHI | |
| SPA (Bath, say), HI (greeting). The city of Bath is famed for the healing quality of its mineral waters. Yet another word unknown to me, but this one has appeared once before in a puzzle in 2010. | |
Enjoyed the workout. FOI PICKPOCKET (from def. only) swiftly followed by CAMEL and ISLAY (though I don’t drink scotch.) The only other unknowns were: ACRE, SPAHI, PHILIPPIC and CRANESBILL, with ARIOSTO vaguely remembered. Didn’t slog through the parsing of PARLIAMENTARIAN, and happy to see COLD COMFORT FARM emerge from the distant past (a very well adapted work shown on the BBC decades ago and starring Eileen Atkins). Thrown off the scent with OUTSPAN as my crossers were O-T-P- – and I’d thought of steppe as the SA plain …ah well. CODs to MENDICANT, INTESTATE, and CCF.