A Puzzle by Maitresse
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The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid
A warm welcome to Maitresse who makes her (I presume) debut in the NTSPP slot with a testing but accomplished and enjoyable puzzle. Many thanks.
Across
1a Grazed back and scratched head in trick to reduce tension (6)
DEFUSE: Grazed/munched rev. plus trick/ploy without the first letter.
4a Spice beginning to cloy - second curry almost returned (8)
CARDAMOM: Initial letter of cloy plus a reversal of a short moment and the name of a curry without its last letter
9a Shrink's group splitting church (6)
CRINGE: Group/band inside an abbreviated church
10a Shiny watch no good, Grandad? (3-5)
OLD-TIMER: A “shiny” colour? without the abbreviation for Good plus a synonym of (a) watch
12a Press one bumbling answer (8)
RESPONSE: PRESS ONE* (bumbling). Can't make much sense of the surface read here.
13a Tedious work crucial, we're told, to make pasty (6)
CHALKY: A homophone (we're told) of a tedious job and a synonym of crucial
15a Lively debate with uncle about source of taste that's impossible to identify (12)
UNDETECTABLE: DEBATE UNCLE* (lively) around the initial letter of taste
18a Dubious woman acted out over working with one in Hamlet, perhaps (12)
DEMIMONDAINE: A rev. (over) of “acted out” (silently) plus the usual preposition for working plus the letter indicated by one inserted into the nationality of Hamlet
21a Drum and bass group, for example (6)
SCHOOL: A collective noun for something of which a drum and a bass are an example. Very smart.
22a Officer in South-East after lost boy - ignoring odds, means to check canal? (8)
OTOSCOPE: An informal police officer inserted into SE (the hyphen is unnecessary) following lOsT bOy (ignoring the odds). The canal here isn't a waterway
24a Heartless mutineers reeling in old academic? (8)
EMERITUS: MUTI(n)EERS* (reeling)
25a Gumshoe's measure of Fergal O'Shea (6)
GALOSH: Hidden (measure of)
26a Endless Monster Energy unloaded from box for Kerry, say (8)
DEMOCRAT: Monster/fiend without the last letter plus box/carton without the abbreviation for Energy. I can see why the setter has used Kerry but it's a little obscure and dated.
27a African parrot circling New York before end of migration (6)
KENYAN: A large parrot around abbreviated New York plus the final letter of migration
Down
1d Proper doctor welcoming green locums periodically (8)
DECOROUS: Abbreviated doctor around a prefix to which the colour green is associated plus lOcUmS.
2d Contrast fine sauce with last of flavourless fish (4,4)
FLIP SIDE: The abbreviation for Fine plus sauce/cheek plus final letter of flavourless and a 3-letter fish
3d Reorganised Zone I: cat, dog, fish, bull? (4,2,3,6)
SIGN OF THE ZODIAC: ZONE I CAT DOG FISH* (reorganized). The solution is synonymous with a bull.
5d Well penned by Beryl Bainbridge in retrospect (4)
ABLY: Amusingly hidden and reversed in the name of the author
6d Blot on landscape: semi-detached slum mostly collapsing (5,3,7)
DUTCH ELM DISEASE: SEMI-DETACHED SLU(m)* (mostly collapsing) I think the definition is a bit of a stretch here.
7d Indistinct sound from poor maiden ousting husband (6)
MUMBLE: Poor/ lowly with the abbreviation for Husband replaced with that for Maiden
8d More possibly affected in case of murder (6)
MARTYR: A word that could mean affected or pretentious inserted into the outer letters of MurdeR. “More” here is cleverly a proper noun.
11d Medium pressure on Sarkozy having been cleared now (7)
PSYCHIC: The abbreviation for Pressure, the outer letters of SarkozY (having been cleared) plus now as an adjective rather than an adverb. Perhaps not the best to use outer letters in the wordplay in consecutive clues, particularly as we have the same device in 20d too.
14d Passed on, skirting extravagant dance (7)
GAVOTTE: Passed on/donated around an abbreviated extravagant
16d Craft learned behind bars? (8)
MIXOLOGY: Cryptic definition, the bars here being in pubs etc
17d Interminable show covering hospital overwhelmed by money raised? (8)
TELETHON: I think this is a clue as definition where we have a synonym of show/reveal without its last letter (interminable) plus a reversal of (paper) money around the abbreviation for Hospital. The whole clue could be a loose definition.
19d Rise when clubs close (6)
ASCEND: When/at that time plus the abbreviation for Clubs plus close/finish
20d Something to cough up? Pin money primarily after pouch emptied (6)
PHLEGM: Pin in the sense of a member plus the initial letter of Money all following PoucH (empty)
23d Kermit maybe - not Grouch - repelled Animal (4)
PUMA: A group of which Kermit was a part (hence the indefinite article) reversed without a synonym of grouch/strop (ignore the false cap). Animal is cleverly another character in the show.
Congratulations Maitresse on your promotion to the NTSPP and thank you for the crossword which I solved while waiting for lunch to cook
Lots to enjoy; I particularly liked 21a
Thanks in advance to Stephen
Crikey, Maitresse, I found this much, much tougher than your Rookie Corner puzzles. I assume CS must have been using a slow cooker for her lunch preparation!
However, I did enjoy the challenge, although I can’t parse 17d. I also found a small number of the surfaces to be a little clunky, especially 26a.
The “homophone” in 13a doesn’t work for me, and I am not fully convinced that “now” in 11d is synonymous with “chic”.
I entered “vinology” as my answer to 16d but, as I wasn’t sure that this was right, I revealed the letters only to find out it was wrong.
My favourite of many ticked clues was 21a.
Well done and thank you, Maitresse. Please keep the puzzles coming but can I make a plea to dial back a little on the difficulty level in future?
I had VINOLOGY too, but wasn’t convinced it was right as I think that craft is better learned in cellars rather than behind bars.
Thanks Maitresse and congratulations on your elevation. I agree with RD on two points – tougher than your RCs and the synonymity of now/chic in 11d. I also considered (John) Kerry is a little past his ‘sell by date’ for use as the particular indicator.
I did need a little e-help to get over the finishing line especially for the 18a ‘dubious woman.’
Smiles for 4a, 13a, 7d, 14d, and 23d.
Thanks again and a third agreement with RD’s plea on future puzzles.
Thanks very much everyone for the warm welcome to the NTSPP series and particular thanks to Stephen for the review. I really appreciate all the feedback, especially on the difficulty level which is something I’m really working on currently! My next puzzle is already in the NTSPP queue, but I’ll do my best to make the one after that a bit more accessible…
PS In 23D Animal is capitalised because he’s also a character in the same group as Kermit.
animal840
Thanks for the explanation re 23d…..I clearly need to brush up on my American puppet shows. I’ll alter the hint. Well done again on your splendid debut.
A most enjoyable NSTPP debut from Maitresse. There was perhaps an echo of our setter’s pseudonym in my LOI, 18a. Not a word that I knew but I did manage to unravel it from the crossers and wordplay, and it merited a spot on my Across podium. It was joined there by 4a and 13a – a homophone that did work for me
My Down podium places went to 6, 8 and 20. The wordplay order for 7d didn’t seem quite right, but maybe I missed something…? I think I have the correct synonym for ‘show’ in the 17d &lit, but I’ll see if StephenL concurs. The two long anagrams were nicely constructed, with 6d getting the nod for podium place. The anagrind used in 12a brought a smile 
Thanks and congratulations to Maitresse, and I will look forward to Stephen’s review.
7d – yep, I missed something. Thanks, Stephen!
Much enjoyed over lunch and beyond! Thank you, Maitresse. We did need to check a couple of answers as we couldn’t parse them even though we thought we had the correct answer – 13a and 11d. 18a was a new word as was 16d but e help got us what was needed – we think! Favourites were 1a, 21a and 6d. We look forward to to your next one and to Stephen’s review.
Certainly had us working very hard, but such a joy to slowly work out all the complex wordplay. A special treat was finding the parrot in 27a which the setter Notabilis would also appreciate.
Thanks Maitresse.
Tough in places so that I needed help, but satisfying all the same. Thanks, Maitresse and Stephen.