Across Clues
1 Misemployed under-secretary sleeping around (6)
ABUSED Insert the abbreviation for “under-secretary” into (around) an old-fashioned four-letter term for where you are when you are sleeping
5 Warrior serves winner capturing raised ground (8)
ACHILLES Take a verb meaning hits a clean winning serve in tennis and insert (capturing) a four-letter piece of raised ground (eg Solsbury) to get an Ancient Greek warrior with an unlikely weak spot
10 Trouble experienced over lovely thing in bed (6)
DAHLIA Take the usual Crosswordland three-letter synonym for “trouble” and a three letter synonym for “experienced” (or owned) and reverse both (over) to get a type of flower
11 Political initiative takes boundary through Scottish river (8)
DEMARCHE An old term for “boundary” (eg between countries) is inserted into (takes… …through) a three-letter Scottish (or Cheshire/Welsh) river to get a political initiative. I was vaguely aware of the word, but didn’t know the meaning!
12 Potentially harmful brand suspended? (5,2,8)
SWORD OF DAMOCLES Nothing to do with consumer protection, but a very clever cryptic definition of a mythological weapon symbolising impending peril
16 Poorly defined matter Dyer may cover at Temple? (4,4)
GREY AREA A double definition, the second sense being that of hair colouration
18 Person telling tales about north-east in row (6)
LINEAR The abbreviation for “north-east” in inserted into (about) someone who doesn’t tell the truth. I’m not sure the grammar quite works – for me, there’s an “a” missing before “row”, although that does noting for the surface
20 Infection, one that gets into love birds (6)
OTITIS An (aural) infection is found by inserting the letter resembling “one” into the combination of the letter that looks like zero and a family of small birds
21 Orchestra to transgress: more contrived for listener? (8)
SINFONIA A small orchestra is formed from a three-letter verb meaning to transgress (principally in a religious sense) and a phonynym (for listener) of “more contrived” (or less real)
22 Freed from undue ritual: that’s John Harmon! (3,6,6)
OUR MUTUAL FRIEND The solution is a Dickens novel in which John Harmon is the lead/titular character, and which is an anagram (freed) of “from undue ritual”
27 First victim in religion not male: Keats wrote of her (8)
ISABELLA Take a prominent middle-eastern religion, remove the abbreviation for “male” and then insert the name of the Biblical first murder victim to get the subject of a poem by Keats
28 Fearless Stubbs possibly knocked back water (6)
UNAWED Combine a famous Stubbs (forget artwork, think TV Charades) and a reversal (knocked back) of the sort of water that forms on eg lawns overnight.
29 Write on these new books recalling stone tablet (8)
NOTELETS Something you may write on is formed by taking the letter for new, the abbreviation for the older part of the Bible and a reversal (recalling) of an inscribed stone tablet. I didn’t know the tablet, it was a guess based on the checking letters
30 Duke ingesting ecstasy before a celebration (6)
FIESTA “Duke” here refers to a body part (used eg in boxing) into which is inserted the abbreviation for the drug “ecstasy” and followed by “a” from the clue.
Down Clues
2 Renegade wife tucked into ruptured sausage (9)
BRATWURST Insert a three-letter “renegade” (or traitor) and the abbreviation for “wife” into a synonym of “ruptured”
3 Swede in salty sauce – check order with local star (5,6)
SOLAR SYSTEM A common four-letter Scandinavian male name is inserted into a three-letter sauce extensively used in Asian cookery and followed by a verb meaning “to check” “in the sense of to stop or reduce) to give an astronomical term referencing the “order” (or arrangement of items) that includes Earth
4 Physician firm restraining a harsh lawmaker (5)
DRACO Two-letter abbreviations for “physician” and “firm” (as in business) surround (restraining) “a” from the clue to get an ancient Greek renowned for establishing harsh laws with severe punishments
6 Claw embedded in Archelaus (5)
CHELA The name of a crustacean’s claw is lurking (embedded) in “Archelaus”
7 Idealised figure Mike stopping murderous ensign (5)
IMAGO The letter “Mike” in the NATO phonetic alphabet is inserted (stopping) into a villainous Shakespearean standard-bearer
8 Laugh out loud incarcerating chap regularly confined (5)
LOCAL The text-speak abbreviation for “Laugh out loud” surrounds (incarcerating) the odd letters (regularly) of “chap” to get a synonym of “confined” in the geographic sense.
9 Poet to compose in ship on turning turtle (7)
SPENSER The usual two letter abbreviation for “ship” surrounds a three-letter verb meaning “to compose” (or write) followed by a reversal (turning turtle) of the usual two-letter alternative for “on” (or in the matter of) to get an English poet I’ve only ever encountered in Crosswords
13 Six feet under, tailless marine mammal in lowest lake (4,3)
DEAD SEA A charade of what you are if you are said to be “six feet under” and a four-letter marine mammal lacking its final letter (tailless) yields a hypersaline lake, and the lowest point “on dry land”
14 City on the rise in national importance (5)
MILAN An Italian city is lurking, in reverse (on the rise in a Down clue) in “national importance”
15 For Unite, nothing new in Tesco squabbling with Aldi (11)
CONSOLIDATE Insert the letter that resembles zero and the letter indicating “new” into an anagram (squabbling) of “Tesco” and “Aldi” to get a word meaning “Unite”
17 One interrupting break to take over? (5)
RESIT “Take over” here has nothing to do with changes in power/responsibility, but refers to what may be needed in the case of a failed examination. Insert the letter resembling “one” into a four-letter “break”
19 Straightening leg Tin Man bent (9)
ALIGNMENT An anagram (bent) of “leg Tin Man”
20 Graduate‘s old Scotsman keeping Roman goddess up
OXONIAN A graduate of a University (between Luton and Swindon) is found by inserting an inversion (“keeping… …up” in a Down clue) of the Roman goddess of the night (new to ne) between the letter indicating “old” and Crosswordland’s common, three-letter Christian name associated with Scottish men
23 Robuchon’s principal oven pan (5)
ROAST The first letter of “Robuchon” followed by an oven (used in drying hops) gets a synonym of “pan” in the sense of “criticise severely”
24 Mitford-approved meat from eye parts? (5)
UVEAL The letter associated with people of whom the Mitford sisters approved followed by calves’ meat to get an adjective meaning pertaining to the vascular middle layer of the eye
25 Learner in military group not exactly bright (5)
UNLIT Insert the usual “Learner” into a four-letter military group to get an adjective that could be used to describe something not bright
26 Screw up and down? (5)
FLUFF Having spent ages trying to make this a palindromic “screw”, the penny finally dropped, even if the complete parsing hasn’t quite! The answer is what actors are said to do if they get their lines wrong. To me, the question mark suggests that “down” is a hint to an alternative description of the “Screw up” synonym. It could be taken as a double definition, although I’m not sure “down” in this sense is a strict synonym of the solution, which would justify the question mark.
Good afternoon. I thoroughly enjoyed this even if I had to use the dictionary. The anagrams were brilliant. 9d, 20a, 20d and 21a were my last solves. 2d is my COTD as I am currently in Germany. Thank you for the review and to the setter.
Lots of GK today from Donnybrook but all very fairly clued – thanks to Donnybrook for the entertainment and to Whybird for the review.
My ticks went to 1a, 12a, 16a and (my favourite) 26d.
I didn’t find this easy by any means, but managed to complete it.
I made a mess of 21a to start with, and was slow to parse 27a. Also Mitford-approved went over my head…
Favourite clue, 30a.
Thanks to Donnybrook and to Whybird.
A couple of new words for me at 11a and 6d but as our blogger says, fairly clued and gettable.
Some cracking clues, I liked Alf Garnet’s daughter in 28a, the Duke that was stuck up in 30a and the stuff that gets in yer belly button at 26d, which I had as a double definition, as down also refers to the fluffy bed cover filling.
Very enjoyable, my thanks to Donnybrook and Whybird.
Yes, I too had 26d as a DD, Frankie.
Great puzzle, a very satisfying challenge and a stimulating workout. I’ve never read 22a, so took the (biffed because I couldn’t be bothered to check the anagram) answer on trust, and 11a was only very faintly familiar and beautifully disguised; I did feel that ‘graduate’ was rather vague as definitions go.
Honours to 27a, 29a and 26d (huge clang as that one dropped!)
Many thanks indeed to Donny and to Whybird
A nice Toughie, one of those where it helped if you knew ‘stuff’. I took thought 26d was going to be a palindrome but once the penny dropped about the double definition, it became my favourite clue
Thanks to Donnybrook and Whybird
Has the parsing of 26d been fully resolved? I see it as a DD with the first being as described above and the second being the soft, fluffy sub-feathers of some waterfowl or very fine hair/fluff found covering some plants.
It looks like double definition is the dominant view so far, although we won’t know for sure unless Donnybrook enlightens us. I’m not convinced the solution and down are synonymous, and the ? isn’t needed for a straight double definition, but that’s not conclusive. Not that the fine detail really matters, Pop-pickers, it’s the “double allusion” that works.
Fluff and down are synonymous in the sense of the massed fine hairy structures found on a mature dandelion or similar.
That was very hard work for my old brain cells and Mr G was called on for help with several new words. A great sense of satisfaction when the finish line was eventually crossed but this was right at the limit of my solving abilities.
Top clues for me were 12,16&18a plus 26d with a mention for my young granddaughter in 27a.
Thanks to Donnybrook and to Whybird for the excellent review and the perfect illustration of 16a!
I was scurrying around the internet too to plug some gaps in my GK. Glad you liked the choice of Silver Fox!
With regard to the latest entry to the FAQ’s… #38.
A lurker is a hidden word clue in which the solution can be found in two or more consecutive words in the wordplay which constitute the fodder. The solution should begin within the first word of the fodder but not with the first letter of the first word.
Today’s 6d Claw embedded in Archelaus (5)
That might be what the FAQ says, Franco, but I think there’s nothing cast in concrete that requires a lurker to spread over 2 or more words – certainly I’ve seen single word lurkers in other cryptics.
It would be interesting to know whether the editorial “style guides” for the DT and other papers lay down specific requirements for lurkers: I do hope not, other than that if in more than one word they must be consecutive.
Struggled to parse 29a as I’d never heard of the stone tablet. 26d is a cracking clue. Thanks to Donnybrook and Whybird.
I’m not a big fan of “proper noun clues” and there were rather too many of them here. But that said there are different kinds of PNCs and 3d is one of the good ‘uns. 30a made me smile too.
For what it’s worth I took 26d to be a straightforward double def.
Thanks to DB and Whybird.
This was a very cleverly constructed puzzle which I felt was more suited to a Thursday than a Tuesday.I too was fooled by the clever deception of 26D so after the penny dropped it got my vote as favourite.
Thanks to Whybird for the helpful blog and parsing which explained my answers and to Donnybrook for the challenge.
Classic example of being on the right wavelength. We finished this in very short order and struggled to see how this could be anything stronger than **!
If you had ever accidentally ripped the zip out of a down sleeping bag like I did, you would have seen a surfeit of 26down. It defied all attempts to sweep it up as the merest approach sent it bob bob bobbing away. Every time I get the tent out I find a little bit more.
Thanks to Donnybrook and Whybird.
P.S. Whybird, if you put a page break between the preamble and the rest of the blog it will stop the spoilers appearing uncovered in the outgoing email.
Thanks SJB. I wasn’t aware that was happening, but I’ve done as you suggest. Let’s see if I remember next Tuesday…
Late posting today due to a family commitment. This was very enjoyable and all the bits of GK unknown to me were fairly clued.
26d was my favourite.
Many thanks to Donny and to Whybird.
11a was new to us and held us up considerably, so not a rapid solve for us. Favourite was 12a.
Thanks Donnybrook and Whybird.
Hadn’t envisaged this pre lights out solve taking anywhere near as long as it did. Completed (eventually) without a letter reveal but with a fair amount of GK checking with Mr G – the claw, the Greek god, the ear infection, the Keats poem & the boundary all needed confirmation. Never read OMF but saw the BBC adaptation & could recall who played the character though not his name. The SE last to yield – I too messed about down the palindrome blind alley at 26d & with George at 28a.
Tough for a Tuesday & for the likes of me but very enjoyable – 5,12,16&30a plus 15&26d particular likes.
Thanks to Donny & Whybird for the review
Dnf yesterday but the final corner went in easily this morning. If only I knew how to spell the third word at 12 it would have made solving 7d a lot easier! Thanks NY it was an absolute pleasure to solve it’s always good to learn new things and they were in abundance. Merci
to Whybird too, I needed you to explain 29a.