Excellent puzzle as ever from Dac – I found it on the easy side, 17 mins
* = anagram
ACROSS
1 S NATCH (naturally = of course)
4 KNOCKER’S
9 TOAST boY
10 SW1 M(WE)AR(ket) Victoria Station is in SW1 area of London
11 SUTRA Hidden reversal
12 WOODSTOCK
13 DOUBLE SHARP Good misdirection with definition ‘accidental’ (a shoulder b p)*
17 USE YOUR LOAF
20 LES DENNIS (in N S Leeds)*
22 ELITE Double definition type = a typewriter typesize
23 Graham GREENE ST (stumped, cricket)
24 EG O (IS) T eg = say OT = Old Testament (collection of ancient books)
25 N (INTEND)O
26 PER (a) NOD
DOWN
1 SE(Team) ASIDE Excellent clue, seamless join at reserve/team and great surface.
2 A CAN THUS
3 C AT BALL OU OU = Open (or Oxford) University
5 NEW POTATOES (a stew pot one)*
6 Albert CAMUS Campus less p
7 E RE NOW Renow(n)
8 S H (R) IKE
12 WESTERNISED (Re-edits news)*
14 PORBEAGLE (barge pole)*
15 DO MINION
16 AFFECTED Double definition
18 FLAG ON
19 (E)ASTERN
21 ERNIE Alternate letters in “hears noises”
Got there eventually – and certainly not in 17 minutes – but several tough ones for me. North west corner proved tricky, because I had TAMALE for 9ac. It’s a mexican hot snack (apparently) and seemed to fit well: ta=cheers; male=boy in the end.
Enjoyable puzzle.
I have to say that, especially after Dac’s recent 4-letter word nina, I was a bit worried until I got 9 ac.
I thought maybe all across answers were going to be euphemisms…
sorry.
i had toasts for 9 ac thinking that toastie is the snack and toasty the adjective for cosily warm. a snack could be more than 1 piece of toast and toast+ boy=son=s. did anyone else think the same? hope so because i’ve not been doing the crossword for so long and finishing one gives me a rosy glow.
I don’t think 9ac could be toasts, Pennes. Toasts is not a hot snack (it might be hot snacks) and the movement from boy to s seems pretty thin whereas ‘boy in the end’ for y is clear.
6ac was a problem — I got Camus but couldn’t see why: a university is not a campus. There are universities that don’t have campuses. But a small blemish (I think) in a typically excellent offering. So many elegant clues.
I’m afraid I can’t agree with comment 4, Wil. I would have thought it myself instinctively but Collins says CAMPUS = the grounds and buildings of a university.