Toughie 972

Toughie No 972 by Warbler

Wake up and smell the 1 across!

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***

This must be the most straightforward Toughie that I have ever solved

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Across

1a    Business charge including fellow’s drink (6)
{COFFEE} An abbreviation denoting ‘business’ + a charge round F (fellow)

5a    Soldier left undisciplined in apparent change of position (8)
{PARALLAX} A soldier dropped from the air + L (left) + ‘undisciplined’

9a    In Spain the brewed beer runs dry hence a type of wine is produced (10)
{ELDERBERRY} The Spanish word for ‘the’ + an anagram (brewed) of BEER R(uns) DRY gives a fruit used for making wine

10a    River / supports (4)
{TEES} 2 meanings: a river in NE England/supports used by golfers

11a    Letter shape in convoluted prose is a kind of 1 (8)
{ESPRESSO} The shape of the 19^th letter of the alphabet goes inside an anagram 9convoluter) of PROSE

12a    Stays abed at home after first signs of severe enteric illness likely to return (4,2)
{LIES IN} ‘At home’ follows a reversal of the initial letters of Severe Enteric Illness Likely

13a    Among a million one died (4)
{AMID} A + million + one + died

15a    Animal lacking height has a tail wagging by end of run (8)
{ALSATIAN} An anagram (wagging) of HAS A TAIL with letter H (height) removed + the last letter of ruN

18a    Covered in scratches, champion advances rapidly (8)
{SCORCHES} ‘Scratches’ round CH (champion)

19a    Make lovey-dovey noises to the Northern bird (4)
{COOT} ‘Make lovey-dovey noises@ + T’ (the Northern)

21a    Poet‘s beginning to recite most of song before the Queen (6)
{RHYMER} The first letter of Recite + a song of praise with the last letter removed + the Queen

23a    Occasional gesture’s vulgar on looking back (3-3-2)
{OFF-AND-ON} A reversal (looking back) of a gesture of the head + vulgar + O’ (on)

25a    Constituent of vital chemical that is found at the bottom of Moh’s scale (4)
{TALC} Hidden in viTAL Chemical

26a    Top composer’s ego lost over type of 1 (10)
{CAPPUCHINO} Top + an Italian composer with the letter I (ego) removed + O (over)

27a    Cameron manoeuvres to right. He tries to woo us (8)
{ROMANCER} An anagram (manoeuvres) of CAMERON + R (right)

28a    Net forms part of creels etc (3-3)
{EEL-SET} Hidden in crEELS ETc

Down

2d    Amorous glances from nasty fellow changing direction before seduction begins (5)
{OGLES} Take a nasty fellow and change R (right) to L (left). Then add the first letter of Seduction

3d    As one not paying for union privileges, I referred in error (4-5)
{FREE-RIDER} An anagram (in error) of I REFERRED

4d    Raise in relief exploded bombs, not one British, in European square (6)
{EMBOSS} An anagram (exploded) of BOMBS minus one of the letter Bs (one British) goes inside E (European) S (square)

5d    Son’s a proper help — sadly one will have counsel in store (8,7)
{PERSONAL SHOPPER} An anagram (sadly) of SON’S PROPER HELP

6d    Cavalier man’s on a roll (8)
{ROYALIST} A man’s name + A + a roll

7d    Centre of dish displays variety of 1 (5)
{LATTE} The middle 5 letters of a 7-letter word meaning ‘dish’

8d    Nice aroma drifting about in kind of 1 (9)
{AMERICANO} An anagram (drifting about) of NICE AROMA

14d    Scot has talk about one over sort of 1 (9)
{MACCHIATO} A Scotsman + talk round I (one) + O (over)

16d    Strangely the laconic will have nothing to lose in kind of hitch (9)
{TECHNICAL} An anagram (strangely) of THE LACONIC with the letter O (nothing) removed

17d    Cold follows hot in aortic malfunctioning of the chest (8)
{THORACIC} C (cold) goes after H (hot) in an anagram (malfunctioning) of AORTIC

20d    There’s no right for rubbish around top of field to be spread (6)
{EFFUSE} ‘Rubbish’ with the letter R (right) removed goes round F (first letter of field)

22d    Instant tea variety of 1 (5)
{MOCHA} An instant + tea

24d    Cat on one occasion grabbed emu’s tail (5)
{OUNCE} ‘On one occasion’ goes round U (last letter of emu)

One of the most straightforward cryptic crosswords I have ever solved