I found this more challenging than the typical Cincinnus puzzle but just as enjoyable and satisfying. I failed to fathom the wordplay in one clue, 16A. I especially liked 9A, 10A, 2D and 23D.
Across
1. BADGERED – BADGE (mark) + RED (embarrassed)
5. PACKET – double definition
9. CAPITALS – capitals have capitals? Capital!
10. SCHEME – S[implisti]C H[om]E M[ovi]E
12. LINER – LINE (equator) + R (right)
13. RUBBED OUT – RUB (difficulty) + BED OUT (do some gardening)
14. ESTATE – double/cryptic definition
16. LAYOFFS – OFF (start) in LAYS (poems). (See comments below)
18. LINOCUT – [fal]L + IN (in) + O (love) + CUT (censored)
20. ARETHA – anagram of A + HEART
22. SICKENING – double definition
23. LAGOS – G (grand) in LAOS (country)
24. ECLAIR – double definition. For anyone who may not know, Jenny Eclair is a splendid comedienne often to be enjoyed on BBC radio.
25. MERCHANT – ME (note) + CH (church) in RANT (tirade)
26. STERNA – hidden word
27. ATOMISER – anagram of OR EMITS A
Down
1. BUCKLE – double definition
2. DAPHNIS AND CHLOE – anagram of CHOPIN HELD SAND A
3. ENTER – [r]ENTER
4. ENLARGE – anagram of GENERAL
6. ARCHETYPE – anagram of CAR + [smoot]H + ETYPE (Jaguar)
7. KEEP OFF THE GRASS – cryptic definition
8. TREATISE – anagram of ITS A in TREE (box perhaps)
11. ABEL – hidden word
15. ACCRETION – CRE[w] in ACTION (battle)
17. PLASTERS – PL[ain] + ASTERS (bloomers)
19. TAIL – homophone
20. AUGMENT – AUG (short month) + MEN (people) + T (time)
21. ISHTAR – IS (is) + H (hard) + TAR (sailor)
23. LOCUM – OC (officer) in LUM (chimney). “Lum” is, I believe, a well known Scottish word for chimney.
16a OFF (start, as in ‘the off’ or ‘they’re off!’) in LAYS (poems)
Thanks, Geoff!
I don’t agree that 7dn is a CD. Isn’t it a double definition, with ‘sign’ surreptitiously (and unsoundly?) slipped into each definition: ‘No smoking sign’, saying don’t smoke grass, and ‘sign seen in park’? The question mark really applies to the first one, arguably another weakness.
Wil, you have certainly prompted me to think about this clue much more deeply than I had. And, after that inner deliberation, I still want to see it as a cryptic definition. As a double definition it would be very flawed, for the reasons you point out, but I see no argument to its being a CD. I wonder about the capital S in “Smoking” but that is a trivial issue. I still say CD.
I think you’re probably right, Pete. The Azed attitude to CDs, which is basically that they shouldn’t exist, and which I rather agree with, encourages me to try to see the good (or at any rate not the bad, i.e. a CD) in clues, and this can be strained.