A generally entertaining puzzle; I learned a few new words today. I’m sure I’ve missed the boat entirely on 6 down; any comments are welcome.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | OBSOLESCENT OB (old boy=former pupil) SOLE (only) SCENT (trace) |
| 7 | PIT dd |
| 9 | GOUDA GO (spread) U (acceptable) DA (District Attorney=attorney) |
| 10 | SCINTILLA *(LILAC ISNT) |
| 11 | NEGOTIATE OT (Old Testament=books) I in NEGATE (deny) |
| 12 | MATCH dd |
| 13 | SLEEP IN [Robert E.] LEE (general) in SPIN (trip) |
| 15 | TROT TORT (wrong) reversed |
| 18 | PAID P (parking) AID (subsidy) |
| 20 | CLEMENT ELEMENT with C (Cuba) replacing the initial E for Spain. Collins gives, as a definition of ELEMENT, “a group that is part of a larger unit” |
| 23 | ARRAN ARRAN[T] (notorious). Arran is an island off the coast of Scotland. |
| 24 | SERVITUDE *(DRIVES UTE) |
| 26 | INANIMATE *(MAINTAIN) + E[arl] |
| 27 | CHINA CHIN (feature) A (American) |
| 28 | SOT hidden |
| 29 | FORBEARANCE BEAR A N (tolerate a knight) in FORCE (power) |
| Down | |
| 1 | ORGANIST *(ROASTING) |
| 2 | SMUGGLER L (money) in SMUGGER (more self-satisfied) |
| 3 | LEAST S (point of the compass) in LEAT (race). LEAT and RACE can both mean a water channel. I found this difficult to parse; I spent some time wondering whether the point of the compass was E but could not find a common definition for LAST and RACE. |
| 4 | SUSTAIN US (crossword setters) in STAIN (disgrace) |
| 5 | EVIDENT ID (identification) in EVENT (proceeding) |
| 6 | TOTEM POLE A humorous definition (BRAVE STAFF). The wordplay appears to be TO TEMPO (measure) L (large) E (force), but I am unsure about this. In particular I’m not sure why TEMPO would be measure or E would be force, but I don’t see an alternative reading. |
| 7 | PELOTA LOT (set) in PEA (seed) |
| 8 | TRASHY ASH (tree) in TRY (experiment) |
| 14 | PLAINTIFF PLAIN (comprehensible) TIFF (argument) |
| 16 | DELUSION *(USED LOIN) |
| 17 | STEERAGE STEER (livestock) AGE (time) |
| 19 | DESPAIR DES (some, French) PAIR (couple) |
| 20 | CORTEGE *(GET) in CORE (centre) |
| 21 | CARIES C (key) ARIES (sign) |
| 22 | ERRANT RE (soldiers) reversed + RANT (tirade) |
| 25 | INCUR IN (trendy) CUR[e] (therapy endlessly) |
Hi Agentzero
Your parsing of 6dn is correct. In music, measure = strict time and tempo = time. E is the symbol for electromotive force.
Thouroughly enjoyed this – thought 20a and 6d were very good.