Time: 38 minutes. A very enjoyable solve. I missed some of the parsing which added time when I came to write the blog. 15dn in particular gave me trouble in that regard.
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 now use a tilde sign ~ to indicate an insertion point in containment clues. I usually omit all reference to juxtaposition indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.
 Across |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Plant holding partition down (7) |
| SWALLOW – S~OW (to plant) containing [holding] WALL (partition) | |
| 5 | Company note port is full of spirit (3,4) |
| CON BRIO – CO (company), NB (note – nota bene), RIO (port). A musical direction. | |
| 9 | Tribal yet unusually free (2,7) |
| AT LIBERTY – Anagram [unusually] of TRIBAL YET | |
| 10 | Where drinks are made without added carbon dioxide (5) |
| STILL – Two meanings, the first as in distilling, the second e.g. ‘still orange’ as opposed to the fizzy drink. | |
| 11 | City kept changing sides before international (5) |
| DELHI – HELD (kept} changing sides becomes DELH, then I (international) | |
| 12 | Go into the Spanish sort of institute (9) |
| ESTABLISH – STAB (go – shot, try) contained by [into] E~L (‘the’ Spanish), -ISH (sort of) | |
| 13 | Drunk groom got us ice as proof of life? (6,4,3) |
| COGITO ERGO SUM – Anagram [drunk] of GROOM GOT US ICE. The saying associated with the French scientist and philosopher René Descartes usually translates as “I think, therefore I am”. |
|
| 17 | Sharing on social media popular with men only? Smashing! (13) |
| INSTAGRAMMING – IN (popular), STAG (men only), RAMMING (smashing – colliding) | |
| 21 | Emigrant touring island next to Iona, not quite making amends (9) |
| EXPIATION – EXP~AT (migrant) containing [touring] I (island), then ION{a} [not quite] | |
| 24 | Short characters sitting in booster seat (5) |
| TERSE – Hidden [characters sitting in] {boos}TER SE{at} | |
| 25 | One’s observant in probing high-definition movie certificate (5) |
| HINDU – IN contained by [probing} H~D (high-definition), then U (movie certificate – universal) | |
| 26 | Writer originally identifying location for Robin Hood (9) |
| ISHERWOOD – I{dentifying} [originally] SHERWOOD (location for Robin Hood – Sherwood Forest). Christopher Isherwood (1904-1986) is perhaps most famous as the author of Goodbye to Berlin. | |
| 27 | A head bitten by short seabird’s beak (7) |
| TEACHER – EACH (a head – per person) contained [bitten] T~ER{n} (seabird) [short]. Complaints will be voiced in some quarters as ‘beak’ is British slang for judge, magistrate, headmaster or schoolmaster, and most of the usual dictionaries qualify it as being dated. It was abundant in the schoolboy books of my childhood such as Jennings and Billy Bunter. I love to be reminded of words like this that conjure up nostalgic memories. | |
| 28 | Song about Cambridge University lacking in scope (7) |
| LIMITED – LI~ED (song) containing [about] MIT (Cambridge University – a chestnut by now along with Harvard) | |
| Down |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Salomé’s opening nearby, it could be in the round (6) |
| SHANDY – S{alomé’s} [opening], HANDY (nearby). ‘Round’ as in a round of drinks. | |
| 2 | Social cycling doesn’t involve national sports team (3,6) |
| ALL BLACKS – BALL (social) cycling becomes ALL/B, then LACKS (doesn’t involve) | |
| 3 | Launching activity to influence legislators with years to go (7) |
| LOBBING – LOBB{y}ING (activity to influence legislators) [years to go] | |
| 4 | Brag about compound in Midlands city (9) |
| WORCESTER – CROW (brag) reversed [about], ESTER (compound). ‘Ester’ featured in the QC I blogged yesterday when it was clued as ‘floral smelling compound’, so it was fresh in my mind. | |
| 5 | Tomb Raider: you play at first in skin of Croft (5) |
| CRYPT – R{aider}+ Y{ou} + P{lay} [at first] contained by [in] C{rof}T [skin of…] | |
| 6 | Ban goes awry where muzzle may be covered (7) |
| NOSEBAG – Anagram [awry] of BAN GOES. More nostalgic memories of our Express Dairy milkman’s horse and cart! | |
| 7 | Therapy that’s more pointed without special backing (5) |
| REIKI – (sp)IKIER (more pointed) [without special] reversed [backing]. When this answer showed up in the 15×15 on Monday of last week I noted that it had appeared here on 4 previous occasions and each time I had said I didn’t know it. Finally today I have remembered it! | |
| 8 | Running amok with Halo, OK? (8) |
| OKLAHOMA – Anagram [running] of AMOK HALO | |
| 14 | Swiss production cast Hamlet around king and queen, say (9) |
| EMMENTHAL – Anagram [cast] of HAMLET containing [around] MEN (king and queen, say). In the game of chess all pieces are classed as men. ‘Say’ is there to cover the DBE in the wordplay. | |
| 15 | Increase appeal of cold Italian sauces, recalled on the way up (5-4) |
| SUGAR-COAT – C (cold) + RAGUS (Italian sauces) reversed [recalled], then TAO (the way) reversed [up]. SOED: Tao – Confucianism. The way, method, or norm to be followed, esp. in conduct. I’m glad I didn’t need the wordplay to come up with the answer. | |
| 16 | Instantly appreciate formal headwear when out of work (4,4) |
| LIKE THAT – LIKE (appreciate), T{op} HAT (formal headwear) [when out of work – op] | |
| 18 | Where you shouldn’t pull with difficulty? (2,1,4) |
| AT A PUSH – A cryptic hint precedes the literal | |
| 19 | British playwright dismissing top writer’s acting (7) |
| INTERIM – {p}INTER (British playwright – Harold) [dismissing top], I’M (writer’s) | |
| 20 | Get very tired after knocking out American amongst the best at Wimbledon? (6) |
| SEEDED – SEE (get), DE{a}D (very tired) [knocking out American] | |
| 22 | Chinese native with makings of father? (5) |
| PANDA – P AND A (makings of father – PA) | |
| 23 | More distant royal once found beneath here in Versailles (5) |
| ICIER – ICI (‘here’ in Versailles), ER (royal once) | |
Kept this for a flight to Glasgow and it offered a very enjoyable 30′. One good think about solving when flying is that theres no possibility of having a peek on Google!
WhatsApp groups for family and friends, my wife shows me anything I might have missed on the “socials”.
Thanks Jack and setter.
A cellist who played in a trio
Was seduced by the oboe, named Cleo.
As she took off her panties
She said “No andantes –
I like it vivace con brio”.
And lo, I was able to solve 5a. The rest followed in 18:05, all parsed. Many thanks, Jack.
Either I’m finally improving, or the 15*15 has been a little more friendly of late – actually managed to complete this one. That said, I despair that I’ll ever be able to complete an entire grid without some biffing – some of the wordplays remain diabolical ( to me at least). Practice, practice …. Hugely enjoyable though. Thanks to the setter, and the ( most essential!) blogger.