Apologies for the delay in posting. I couldn’t finish the puzzle in my lunch hour as I normally do.
I found this extremely challenging. Words beyond my vocabulary (SKIDDOO, EDENTATE, to name two), coupled no doubt with the Friday-the-13th effect that put me in bad form.
There’s lots of intricate wordplay, and very interesting surfaces throughout. I haven’t fully worked out 10A, 18A, 22D yet. Help is welcome.
Across
1 MUSICALE MALE (boy or man) around US [n]IC[e]
5 SORBET ORB (globular shape) in SET (solidified)
10 TONE ARM
11 OUTFALL (A LOT FLU)*
12 LET ON [evi]L ETON (public school)
13 TIN OPENER IT< N[ippiness] OPENER (batsman)
14 BANDIED ABOUT BAND (group) IE (that is) DAB (expert) OUT (removed)
18 FAMILY DOCTOR FAMILY (kindred) DOCTOR?
21 PHOTOSTAT P (THATS TOO)*
23 AZURE Z (double-bend) in A URE (river)
24 SKIDDOO [game]S KID (child) DO (party) O (over)
25 ABILENE (LINE)* in ABE (Lincoln). Abilene is a city in Texas.
26 EXETER E X (cross) ETE (summer in French) R (right). ‘see’ = cathedral in the wordplay.
27 EDENTATE (ATTENDEE)* With _D_N____ in this slot, I entered ADYNAMIC and wasted many minutes in the bottom-right corner.
Down
1 METTLE sounds like ‘metal’ &lit
2 SONATA A TAN (brown) OS (word of Latin origin, meaning bone)
3 CHAIN MAIL (ANIMAL ITCH)* – T. I saw this anagrammed to ‘chain mail’ early on, but thought it didn’t fit the definition – I’m used to thinking of ‘chain mail’ as the spammy ‘forward to 7 people or else…’ email. Later looked up to find that ‘chain mail’ is a type of armour, made of small metal rings chained together.
4 LIMITED EDITION (LINE ID OMITTED)* around I
6 ON TAP NT (books) in OAP (pensioner)
7 BRAINBOX BRA IN BOX Amusing cryptic definition, which reminded me of the often-quoted classic “Bust down reason?” for BRAINWASH.
8 TOLERATE LOT (set) reversed, (EATER)* Very nice.
9 BONNIE SCOTLAND (COLD NATION BENS)* &lit. I knew the Laurel and Hardy film, but had to look up the meaning of ‘bens’ to fully appreciate this beautiful clue.
15 AVOCATION A V (very) O (old) CAT (pussy) I O (love) [woma]N. Fine-grained charades tend to get unwieldy, but not this one. All of it comes together into a clever surface.
16 OFF PISTE OFFE[r] (short proposal) around PI (very holy) ST (saint)
17 IMMOBILE I’M + O B[oy] in MILE (walking distance)
19 EUREKA EA (each) around UK (the country) around RE (about)
20 SEVERE EVER (always) in SE (London’s main commuter zone)
22 OLDIE?
Hi shuchi
10a is a cd. A tone arm is the device on a record player that holds the cartridge and swings across the record.
18a A tricky one this! 4 is ‘limited edition’ which gives ‘ed’. Remove this from ‘kindred’ and you are left with ‘kin dr’ or ‘family doctor’
22d There is a saying about ‘old soldiers never die’. Remove the edges from ‘soldier’ and you are left with ‘oldie’ (senior).
Thanks for the blog Shuchi, I got 18A and 22D but I am also hoping for some enlightenment
I think a Tone Arm is the swinging arm on a record player which holds the stylus
Sorry Gaufrid, got sidetracked while typing my reply so missed your post
Thanks Gaufrid. I can always count on you to fill in the gaps.
18a is very clever!
Thanks, Shuchi – and Bradman. I enjoyed this a lot.
I liked the wordplay in 27ac [‘lackadaisical’ is a lovely word!] and, yes, 18ac is very clever. 9dn was just superb!
[I’ve seen something like 7dn quite recently but it’s still good for a smile.]
Hats off to Bradman!
A puzzle awash with guile and wit.
Like Eileen, I thought 9dn a hoot.
Only 20dn struck me as being awkward.