Quite an easy crossword that I finished in just ten minutes. A beginner-level puzzle with simple words and uncomplicated and rather familiar wordplay.
Across
1 TUMBLE DRIER – tumble, Dr., i.e., R – charade :: I would hyphenate this word. I find that it is indeed so in Chambers as well as COD.
7 PAM – p, a.m. – charade
9 LARGO – r in lago (anag. of ‘goal’) – partial anag., container-contained
10 SUPPORTER – sup, porter – charade
11 RIGMAROLE – rig, ma, role – charade
12 MANGO – man, go – charade
13 TILLAGE – anag of ‘leg’, ‘tail’ – anag.
15 SITE – si (rev. of ‘is’), te – charade
18 USED – U.S., Ed. – charade
20 MASSAGE – mass, age – charade
23 CORGI – cor, G.I. – charade
24 ARRESTING – two def. :: “surprising” does not appear to be quite an apt def. for the reqd. word
26 AGREEMENT – anag. of ‘green meat’ – anag.
27 REIGN – re, ign (anag. of ‘gin’) – charade
28 RON – from ‘wRONg’ – hidden :: ‘group’ dangles after the hidden fodder; “Boy is in the wrong”, while being idiomatic, would obviate the extra word, I think.
29 TIDDLYWINKS – tiddly, winks – charade
Down
1 TOLERATE – to(lera)te – anag. of ‘earl’ in ‘tote’ – partial anag, container/contained
2 MARIGOLD – mar, I, gold – charade
3 LOOFA – rev. of ‘a fool’ – reversal
4 DISROBE – Di’s, robe – charade
5 IMPRESS – I’m, Press – charade
6 ROOMMATES – anag. of ‘same motor’ – anag.
7 POTENT – anag. of ‘top ten’ – anag.
8 MARROW – R in anag. of ‘a worm’ – anag.
14 ABSTINENT – ‘tin’ in ‘absent’ – container/contained
16 TAHITIAN – ta, hit, Ian – charade
17 LEGGINGS – anag. of ‘g, g, single’
19 DEAD END – charade :: this and 19d below, employ obvious word divisions
20 MARITAL – (On edit) anag. of ‘martial’ – anag.
21 ECLAIR – I in ‘eclar’ (anag. of ‘clear’) – partial anag, container/contained
22 DRY RUN – charade
25 SHREW – shrew(-d) – deletion (tail off)
Agreed – no challenges here.
Even by Highlander’s generally Telegraph-ic standards, this one was a cinch.
I appreciate the need for beginner-friendly puzzles, but since when does easy necessarily equate to unimaginative? Too many of the clues here seem to be “cryptic” only insofar as they contain some wordplay with a simple definition tacked on. It all seems too mechanical, or gives the impression of having been dashed off in a hurry.
A pity, given that they is no shortage of able wannabes out there who would likely never dare to submit a clue like 20D.
What was the clue for 20D? The explanation seems to be saying that the answer was marital, an anagram of marital (!)
Sorry! It should have been ‘anag.’ of ‘martial’. The clue was: “Martial variety of marriage (7)”. Don’t ask me about other varieties of marriage!