Solving time: 47 minutes with quite a few bits unparsed as I began my blog. I think I got there in the end although some of it was tricky to unravel. How did you all do?
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]. “Aural wordplay” is in quotation marks. I usually omit all reference to juxtaposition indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.
 Across |
|
| 1 | Lead to secure entrance (9) |
| SPELLBIND | |
| SPELL (lead to – e.g. that’ll spell trouble), BIND (secure) | |
| 6 | Intention to keep note about criminal organisation (5) |
| MAFIA | |
| AIM (intention) containing [to keep] FA (note), reversed [about] | |
| 9 | Space — it is awfully sterile (7) |
| ASEPTIC | |
| Anagram [awfully[ of SPACE IT | |
| 10 | Ravel’s penned unusual Slav or Czech nationalist work (2,5) |
| MÁ VLAST | |
| MAT (ravel – entangle) contains (’s penned) anagram [unusual] of SLAV. This is a series of 6 tone poems by the Czech composer, Smetana. The title translates as ‘My country / homeland’ hence ‘nationalist’ in the definition. Probably the most famous of the pieces is Vltava aka The Moldau which depicts the course of ‘the Czech national river’ from its source to its confluence with the Elbe. |
|
| 11 | Muslim ruler in Iraqi city having a change of heart (5) |
| MOGUL | |
| MOsUL (Iraqi city) [having a change of heart] becomes MOGUL | |
| 12 | Cat has run in following men, reportedly in confusion (9) |
| MAELSTROM | |
| Aural wordplay [reportedly] MAELS / “males” (men), then TOM (cat) containing R [has run in] | |
| 13 | Difficulties since introducing Greek (5) |
| AGGRO | |
| AGO (since) containing [introducing] GR (Greek) | |
| 14 | Managed company move, mostly acrimonious (9) |
| RANCOROUS | |
| RAN (managed), CO (company), ROUS{e} (move) [mostly] | |
| 17 | Help curse get resolved in mummy’s tomb? (9) |
| SEPULCHRE | |
| Anagram [get resolved] of HELP CURSE. Ancient Egypt had many tombs that might be classified as sepulchres, hence the ‘mummy’ reference. | |
| 18 | Passage from Jeffrey Archer? Stark, perhaps (5) |
| FREYA | |
| Hidden in [passage from] {Jef}FREY A{rcher}. Dame Freya Stark (1893-1993), explorer and travel-writer. I’d never heard of her but took the answer on trust. I’d have been happier never having heard of Jeffrey Archer. | |
| 19 | Measure of resistance as I am exercising west of Lambeth walk? (9) |
| IMPEDANCE | |
| I’M (I am), PE (exercising), DANCE (Lambeth walk). ‘West of’ is a juxtaposition indicator. There’s an argument that ‘walk’ should be capitalised here since it’s part of the name of a real street in London as referenced in the song Lambeth Walk and the Cockney dance of the same name. Both featured in the 1937 stage musical Me and My Girl by Noel Gay with book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose. In the 1980s the show was revived with a new book by Stephen Fry and ran successfully in the West End, on Broadway and toured for many years. It’s reputed to be where Fry made his first million. I won’t post a link to the tune as its a real earworm and you’ll be cursing me all day. | |
| 22 | Skin gashes need iodine putting in (5) |
| CUTIS | |
| CUTS (gashes) containing [putting in] I (iodine) | |
| 24 | Retired academics returning — it has to anger me (7) |
| EMERITI | |
| IT + IRE (anger) + ME reversed [returning] | |
| 25 | Finish on note admitting end of symphony’s turned bland (7) |
| ANODYNE | |
| END (finish) + ON + A (note) containing [admitting] {symphon}Y [end of…] reversed [turned]. Handy that we had this only last Wednesday. | |
| 26 | Dated tax article includes it (5) |
| TITHE | |
| THE (definite article) contains [includes] IT. An ancient method of raising tax revenue. The proceeds sometimes went to the Church. Payment was often ‘in kind’ e.g. crops from the fields. Produce would be stored in ‘tithe barns’ some of which survive to this day. | |
| 27 | It is unavoidable, distress when given dirt about son (5,4) |
| NEEDS MUST | |
| NEED (distress), SMUT (dirt) containing [about] S (son). This appears in the proverb ‘Needs must when the devil drives’ meaning sometimes you have to do things you would rather not. | |
| Down |
|
| 1 | Mass of insects small, getting close (5) |
| SWARM | |
| S (small), WARM (close – as in warm weather) | |
| 2 | Go over need for measure of conductivity (6,3) |
| ENERGY GAP | |
| ENERGY (go), GAP (need – e.g. a gap in the market). Collins: energy gap – in physics, the difference of energy between the bottom of the conduction band and the top of the valence band of the electrons in a crystalline solid. So now I know – not! | |
| 3 | Bird landed, let out and flying low (6,3) |
| LITTLE OWL | |
| LIT (landed), anagram [out] of LET, then anagram [flying] of LOW | |
| 4 | Unawareness in school about the Muppets’ inventor entertaining one (15) |
| INCOMPREHENSION | |
| IN, COMP (comprehensive school), RE (about), HENSON (Jim, the Muppets’ inventor) containing [entertaining] I (one) | |
| 5 | Even Madge agreed: just not a good — a fantastic superstar (4,4,7) |
| DAME EDNA EVERAGE | |
| Anagram [fantastic] of EVEN MADGE A{g}REED A [just not a G (good) – i.e. only one of the G’s]. I had fun finalising the anagrist here! For the surface reading, Madge Allsop was the long-suffering, silent “bridesmaid” of Dame Edna as played on stage and TV by the actress Emily Perry. | |
| 6 | Girl accommodating six in French farmhouse (5) |
| MAVIS | |
| MAS (French farmhouse) containing [accommodating] VI (six). I had no idea what was going on here as my first port of call, Collins, doesn’t list ‘mas’, nor do the one-volume Oxfords. It’s in SOED and Chambers but the amount of foreign words not really incorporated to English that we are expected to know these days is starting to get a bit much. Also I wonder when there was last a Mavis who might reasonably have laid claim to being a girl. | |
| 7 | Shed much light in speech — it’s a skill (5) |
| FLAIR | |
| Aural wordplay [in speech]: “flare” (shed much light) | |
| 8 | Shrub one encountered right over in region of China (9) |
| ARTEMISIA | |
| I (one) + MET (encountered) + R (right) reversed [over] contained by [in] ASIA (region of China) | |
| 13 | Absorbed in thought about can having no alcohol (9) |
| ABSTINENT | |
| ABSENT (absorbed in thought) containing [about] TIN (can) | |
| 15 | Interfering in workplace, mostly dedicated but without power (9) |
| OFFICIOUS | |
| OFFIC{e} (workplace) [mostly], {p}IOUS (dedicated – devout, dutiful perhaps) [without power] | |
| 16 | All yours open initially outwards yet ours upwards (4,2,3) |
| OVER TO YOU | |
| OVERT (open), then O{utwards} + Y{et} + O{urs} + U{pwards}[initially] | |
| 20 | Grassy land in part needed for fold (5) |
| PLEAT | |
| LEA (grassy land) contained by [in] PT (part) | |
| 21 | Spin perhaps is mostly nonsense (5) |
| DRIVE | |
| DRIVE{l} (nonsense) [mostly]. One might ‘go for a spin’ in a car. | |
| 23 | You and I have sat around as one does in a sauna (5) |
| SWEAT | |
| SAT containing [around] WE (you and I) | |
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