I have to give my COD to 12d despite the use of the bra = supporter old chestnut, with FOI 1d. Thanks Orpheus.
Across
1 Friend carrying artist’s old sunshade (7)
PARASOL – PAL (friend) around (carrying) RA’S (artist’s) and O{ld}.
5 Reportedly wander round capital (4)
ROME – Sounds like (reportedly) ROAM (wander round).
7 State originally lauded in a lot of papers (5)
REALM – L{auded} (originally) inside REAM (lot of papers – a ream is defined as between 480 and 500 sheets of paper).
8 Source of grapes, fish and sour-tasting liquid (7)
VINEGAR – VINE (source of grapes) and GAR (fish, similar to a pike).
10 Bird of prey biting head off chicken (3)
OWL – fOWL (head off chicken).
11 Officiating priest sporting new bracelet (9)
CELEBRANT – Anagram (sporting) of N{ew} and [BRACELET].
13 Pay to take up residence (6)
SETTLE – Double definition.
14 Destructive type left at rear of London museum (6)
VANDAL – L{eft} after V AND A (London museum, the V & A – Victoria and Albert).
17 What pupils should pay? A strain, by the sound of it (9)
ATTENTION – Cryptic clue (pupils should pay attention) together with a homophone (by the sound of it), ATTENTION sounds like A TENSION (a strain).
19 Reduced price for salad ingredient (3)
COS – COS{t} – price reduced = drop the last letter.
20 Northern woman’s childminders (7)
NANNIES – N{orthern} and ANNIE’S (woman’s).
22 Girl from Addis Ababa initially eating egg (5)
ANITA – A{ddis} A{baba} (initially) containing NIT (egg).
23 Extreme anger? It’s the fashion (4)
RAGE – Double definition.
24 Possible runner’s articles about obstruction at Wimbledon (7)
ATHLETE – A and THE (articles) surrounding (about) LET (obstruction in tennis, or at Wimbledon).
Down
1 West Indian Capital or Vigo, possibly? (4,2,5)
PORT OF SPAIN – Cryptic hint or double definition maybe? – PORT OF SPAIN is the capital city of Trinidad and Tobago (in fact where I joined my first ship in January 1971). Vigo is a city and port in the NW of Spain, so is an example of a Port of Spain.
2 Again share out genuine sale item (7)
REALLOT – REAL (genuine) and LOT (sale item).
3 Army officer in house on short break (9)
SEMICOLON – COL{onel} (army officer) inside SEMI (house) and ON (on).
4 Animated quartet captured by Dutch portraitist (6)
LIVELY – IV (four, quartet) inside LELY (Sir Peter Lely, Dutch portraitist).
5 Manage to move at speed (3)
RUN – Double definition..
6 Molten rock mother found crossing top of gorge (5)
MAGMA – MAMA (mother) containing G{orge} (top of …). Hands up those who first thought of lava?
9 Eternal task diverting a venomous reptile (11)
RATTLESNAKE – Anagram (diverting) of [ETERNAL TASK].
12 Indoctrinate supporter swimming off Hunstanton? (9)
BRAINWASH – BRA (supporter) IN WASH (swimming off Hunstanton). The Wash is a rectangular bay and estuary at the north of East Anglia, and Hunstanton is a town on its coast.
15 Refuse to go to seed (7)
DECLINE – Double definition.
16 In Florida’s borders, strange site for a carnival (6)
FIESTA – F{lorid}A (Florida’s borders) containing an anagram (strange) of [SITE].
18 Vehicle used in India, not over Georgia (5)
TONGA – NOT reversed (over) to give TON and GA (Georgia). A TONGA is a light, two-wheeled vehicle used in India.
21 Frozen matter encountered in Arctic exploration (3)
ICE – Hidden answer found in {arct}IC E{xploration}.
I liked pupils paying attention, but was held up by that as I assumed it would be something to do with eyesight.
Edited at 2021-09-02 03:20 am (UTC)
At least managed without interruption from puppy. Oh, spoke too soon. I’ll grab my shoes (one of which appears to have a bite mark).
Happily started writing PORT AU PRINC (E) before running out of space. NHO Vigo, i thought he might be the prince from an opera.
At 20a (NANNIES) I stated to parse NANS=‘Northern.Women’, being the common term for a grandmother in those parts. Didn’t quite work.
12d BRAINWASH Is a good clue, but in this article one Times editor says
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/when-your-life-is-always-puzzling-john-grimshaw-times2-crossword-compiler-marks-a-milestone-rntgj3tpl
We relative newbies can’t ‘compete’ with experienced solvers, so let’s just do whatever we have to do to learn enough that one day we might!
I appreciate the suggestion. The only problem with coming here for a single answer as I am still solving, is that it is very easy to see other answers.
I occasionally attempt the Daily telegraph Crossword (sometimes I do better there than I do on the Times QC). There is a website called “Big Dave” that helps people solve the DT cryptic by giving alterative cluing. The answers are covered up and you have to press a button to reveal therm. That makes it easier to get extra help without seeing the answer, or other answers, unless you actively reveal it. I do not believe the same can be done on these Livejournal sites. It’s a shame as Big Dave really has great system for helping people solve clues they are stuck on.
I won’t give up on solving the Times QC, but I have to admit that sometimes I get tempted to.
Edited at 2021-09-02 08:54 am (UTC)
Big Dave’s Telegraph site is a different beast from TfTT, and I for one would not be blogging if we were required to drop hints or write alternative cluing.
You can also use the check button on line if you get very stuck. I sometimes biff an answer and then use check to see if it is correct. Note that this doesn’t work if you go in through the crossword club, only on the main site. You can also do this with letters, getting the right vowel is a great help in working out the word.
Edited at 2021-09-02 07:25 am (UTC)
Edited at 2021-09-02 11:50 am (UTC)
Thanks to Rotter
FOI PARASOL
LOI RATTLESNAKE
COD CELEBRANT
TIME 3:25
Nearly four minutes on my last three, just pushing me over target. Grr. Orpheus always keeps you on your toes; I thought that “short break” as the definition for SEMICOLON was particularly sneaky! Lots of good clues.
FOI PARASOL, LOI SETTLE, COD ATTENTION, time 10:28 for an estimated 2K and an OK Day.
Many thanks Rotter and Orpheus.
Templar
… and no errors!
Thanks to therotter and Orpheus.
Thought some of the clues had very smooth surfaces — LIVELY and SEMICOLON and there were a couple of excellent anagrams CELEBRANT and RATTLESNAKE
Knew P-o-S; didn’t know TONGA but the w/p was clear
No idea what was going in with BRAINWASH but an easy biff once I had all the checkers
Nice puzzle
Thanks Orpheus and Rotter
A shame as before that I was on for a really fast time. Port of Spain came straight away — as Templar says, not unknown to cricket fans, but doubly easy for me as I have been to both PoS and Vigo in my time. Only real holdup other than the charming Anita was 18D Tonga, which I had NHO, but the wordplay was extremely clear.
Many thanks Rotter for the blog. I agree with you that 12D Brainwash was a great clue, good enough indeed to allow Orpheus to get away with the cliché of supporter = bra!
Cedric
Aftermath of wild garden party in Essex ?
The answer was BRAINTREE.
Cedric
I found this a mix of easy write ins and quite tricky general knowledge. I knew the ports so that was fine but nho Lely and was trying to fit in another Dutch painter (so many) for a while. Southeast was slowest for me with Vandal, Anita & decline my LOIs.
Finally remembered LOI TONGA from all those novels about India.
Also had a PDM with SEMICOLON and REALM. FOI PORT OF SPAIN jumped into my head luckily.
COD BRAINWASH
Thanks for helpful blog, Rotter.
Edited at 2021-09-02 10:38 am (UTC)
FOI – 1ac PARASOL
LOI – 22ac ANITA
COD – 20ac NANNIES
Thanks to Rotter for the helpful blog
5:16.
FOI parasol
LOI rage
COD I did like Anita and vandal and semicolon but as a retired teacher I think I shall have to choose attention.
Thank you to Orpheus for a satisfying solve and to the Rotter for his explanations- I hadn’t parsed brainwash!
Blue Stocking
Need a holiday
Put “Intention” for 17ac which didn’t help. Not necessarily an excuse, but probably wasn’t in the right frame of mind.
FOI — 1ac “Parasol”
LOI — dnf
COD — 14ac “Vandal”
Thanks as usual!
I too liked BRAINWASH, although I’d put Brancaster and Holkham above Sunny Hunny for quality of beach if not the freezing winds even on a summer’s day! VANDAL also got a tick.
FOI Parasol
LOI Rage
COD Lively
Thanks Orpheus, and Rotter for a lively blog 😊
Thanks all
John George