Expecting the trademark pun across the top line is just beginning to be helpful: if you can get one or other, it becomes a significant extra bit of information for solving the associated clue. But please don’t stop, this week’s was another delight. Probably because I selflessly chose the “wrong” one, I’m of the opinion that we have a good shout for an alternative spelling. My time of around 37 minutes would then look better and rise some way up the table.
I present my findings with clue, definition, SOLUTION.
Across
1. Rough breeches worn by a king (6)
HOARSE Introduce A R (king) to hose , as in doublet and, for breeches
5. Lover, in case he left the wife of his youth (8)
CHESNUTT Charles W, an African American author who wrote “”The Wife of His Youth”. The wordplay puts NUT (lover) in a CHEST (case)
9. This writer blocks those that could rectify a threat to Troilus (8)
DIOMEDES Contender for the title of Best Greek Warrior Except Achilles of Course and participant in the Trojan War. This writer: ME (Myrtilus doesn’t fit) surrounded by DIODES, one way electrical gizmos.
10. Sporting charmer who could make the 11? (6)
POTTER References Stephen the author of “The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship: Or the Art of Winning Games Without Actually Cheating”. Equally a potter might create (spoiler alert) a TEA SERVICE, se next clue.
11. A secretive novel set in China (3,7)
TEA SERVICE An anagram (novel) of A SECRETIVE
13. Way around an ancient land (4)
EDOM A nation occupying the area to the south of the Dead Sea, traditionally descended from Esau, as in “my brother Esau is an hairy man, but I am a smooth man.” MODE for way backwards.
14. Cool school’s lack of rules (12)
INDISCIPLINE Cool in my generation could be substituted by IN, as in the in crowd. Doubt it still can. School slides smoothly into DISCIPLINE
17. Migrant faced timeless moment in a novella (2,4,3,3)
OF MICE AND MEN Take T(ime) away from MOMENT, add the letters of FACED, allow them to migrate where they will until they resemble the Steinbeck novella. The clue itself is a decent précis of the work.
20. Juvenile indiscretions, like Larkin’s intros for his prose work (4)
JILL The only novel written by Phillip Larkin, spelled out by the first letters of the first four words.
21. Story writer’s maiden, cheerful fool, trapped by a soldier (10)
MAUPASSANT M(aiden) then UP (cheerful) ASS (fool) contained within A ANT (a soldier)
23. “What joy is joy, if — be not by” (The Two Gentlemen of Verona) (6)
24. American dropped from funny knight’s part in Princess Ida (8)
HILARION Suitor to Priincess Ida, though as a man , “Mother Nature’s sole mistake” he’s on a hiding to nothing. Ida is G&S 8th opera. Take the US out of HILARIOUS (funny) and get the N from Knight (chess)
26. Rides around following Jesus in parts of Greece (8)
CYCLADES Following Jesus gives you AD (or used to). Rides: CYCLES. The Cyclades are an archipelago to the SE of Greece.
27. Macbeth’s servant and armourer agreed about fashion (6)
SEYTON (ooer, sounds a bit like Satan, wonder how that happened) is as described, and is also a reversal of YES (agreed) and TON (fashion)
Down
2. Parish boy, short of meat (6)
OLIVER Well, obviously, but there is some wordplay: short O(f), LIVER for meat.
3. Hurt, lifting stuff (3)
RAM An easy reverse of MAR for hurt, but could have gone either way. I think, indeed with the comma placement mar might have been the marginal favourite.
4. Sign leaving Kent perhaps: ‘Witch lived here’ (5)
ENDOR The witch of Endor was fatefully consulted by King Saul, in 1 Samuel 28, The Wordplay n also takes some divination, but endorse for sign loses SE the location of Kent from a certain perspective.
5. Drink spiked by university conspirator … (7)
CASSIUS Cassis is your drink, and U(niversity) your enlivening additional ingredient. Cassius conspired with Brutus et al to improve the air conditioning of Caesar’s mantle.
6. … it’s one used for sex (9)
EUPHEMISM There are many euphemisms for – um – thingy, of which “It” is a laconic example.
7. Yon lass packs mesh bags in the country (11)
NETHERLANDS Yon lass is HER, over there. NET translates mesh, and LANDS bags, as in captures. Arrange in a straight line.
8. Comedians filling with ego on stage (3,5)
THE GOONS Hidden (filling) wiTH EGO ON Stage.
12. Life drawing is something for evening courses (6,5)
SPIRIT LEVEL Practically every word needs to be detached from the misleading context. So life: SPIRIT, drawing: having the same score/level. Evening translated to levelling, and courses not food but bricks and such.
15. Derby’s first alderman translated Utopia (9)
DREAMLAND The one I knew was in Sarfend., but Utopia will do as a synonym. Anagram (translated) of D(erby) and ALDERMAN
16. A deviant, fifty, hiding in a Sarah Waters book (8)
AFFINITY A plus a deviant version of FIFTY hides IN for Sarah Waters second book after Tipping the Velvet, a euphemism for –um – thingy practiced by two ladies. Affinity continues the exploration of the theme. Whether we should read anything into the surface of the clue is a bit of a loaded question.
18. O, love a duck! (7)
NOUGHT, a triple definition which doesn’t look like one. I plumped without thinking too much for NAUGHT, which I still think is possible.
19. Popular Oz character? Absolutely! (2,4)
IN TOTO Popular is there to give you in. The Oz character is the dog Toto, always pronounced as if spelt with a D
22. One forever holding up a mariner’s return (5)
ATLAS The Titan who keeps Henny-Penny’s hopes alive, and a reversal of SALT (sailor) following A.
25. Man famous for photographing fish (3)
RAY The photographer (and surrealist is Man Ray
With regard to 10ac, even though I own a few Stephen Potter books, including the recently acquired Anti-woo book, I had intended nothing more complicated than Harry Potter, the ‘charmer’ first choice for the Quidditch team.
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