I think Partick Thistle is the only Scots reference in this puzzle. Of course, my Caledonian theory might be completely incidental but it gives me a goal each week. Overall, pretty easy cluing and familiar vocabulary but, as always, sensible and meaningful surfaces.
Across
| 5 | LAP,TO,P – my last clue: rather sad since I’m writing this on a LAPTOP. |
| 9 | LUC[k],ID – “chance” is LUCK and presumably “virtually” is used to indicate “almost all” – I think the clue would have been better both cryptically and surface-wise as “Clear chance, virtually all I had”. |
| 10 | TOWN-CRIER – (tricorn we)* — not a bad clue; cryptic def of “bellman” and a guy wearing a tricorn is the image I conjure up in my mind’s eye of a TOWN-CRIER (carrying a bell). |
| 14 | SIDE,REAL – def is “of stars”. Incidentally given the fame of Real Madrid, familiarly just Real, “team” could also indicate REAL! |
| 18 | CUCK=”cook”,OO |
| 20 | CLARENCE, D,ARROW – well known (American lawyer) for being on the right side in the Scopes evolution trial. Turns out that CLARENCE is a type of carriage and “quarrel” is a type of (crossbow) ARROW. Couple of red-herrings here: DA is an American “lawyer” and ROW is a “quarrel” of course. |
| 23 | IN,T(ROVER)T – ROVER is a type of “car” and heart of “BriTTany” is TT. |
| 24 | E,LAND – nice economical charade |
| 25 | E(ME)NDS – another nice economical clue with a consistent surface. |
Down
| 2 | MACBETH – (match, be)*. Nicely misleading surface (games rather than dramatic). |
| 3 | MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD – cryptic def (“Central square?”). This term appears frequently in cryptics – possible because of its length and its popular letters. |
| 6 | AT CLOSE=locates*, QUARTERS – another economical clue with a fine surface. |
| 7 | THIS,TLE=let* – our Scots clue: Partick THISTLE is a Glaswegian football team I think. |
| 13 | SUB,SCRIBE – SUB as in SUB-editor. |
| 15 | FE,S(C)UE – FESCUE is a type of grass that seems to only grow in cryptic gardens. |
| 17 | SE(A)TTLE – one of my last clues: extremely embarrassing since I lived there many years. |
| 19 | KNOW-A(L)L – L in (on walk)* |
| 22 | ADA,R – ADA’s our “girl” this time. |