The usual mix from Rufus today – some excellent, some not quite so good.
Solving time – a little under 8 minutes
ACROSS
1 MA(CAB)RE
5 STOKER – shame the setter didn’t find a way of linking MACABRE and BRAM STOKER?
10 BOARDS – very good
12 JULIUS CAESAR – an excellent cryptic definition!
15 BIRTH-RIGHT – liked this one too
20 ASTRINGENT – (strain)*-GENT
22 DISAGREEMENT – D-(meetings are)*
26 LEAD ON – another good ‘un
29 INNINGS – I can see what Rufus is trying to do, but this is just too much like a straightforward definition – the first thing that popped into my head was sport, and not the theatre, so INNINGS was the first word that came immediately to mind.
DOWN
2 (<=AC)-IN – nice surface
3 B(OR)OUGHS
4 ENNUI – (nun i.e.)*
6 THOR-A-X
7 KERBSTONES – another example of a good CD
8 RES(TRAIN)TS – one for the grammarians – Can “reserve”=RESTRAINT be pluralised?
11 ESTHER – (there’s)*
13 EBB AND FLOW – like 29ac, I just don’t think this is cryptic enough
14 BRIDESMAID – whereas this one was excellent
18 IN UNISON – IN (unions)* – I’m not sure that “agreement” and “in unison” are synonymous, the former being a noun and the latter an adverb
21 IGNORE – (region)* – a nice, albeit simple, anagram
23 MAORI – (Moira)* – followed by another
I admit to being baffled by Boards for 10A. Does it have some special theatrical meaning other than the stage itself?
Directors make up boards of companies.
10ac: This was an answer I didn’t get, but it’s a double definition. The BOARDS is a term (not in Chambers) for the theatrical stage. Directors are members of a company BOARD. Nice clue, typical Rufus.
Does anyone know if Rufus also sets for the Telegraph? Today’s Telegraph crossword has *exactly* the same clue as 9ac in this puzzle (at 5dn) – word for word the same.
Yes, if you click on ‘Setters’ above you’ll see that he also compiles for The Telegraph.