Lorraine: Sorry everyone have to admit Nick done the crossword for me this week due to distressing news on Saturday, so it is down to Nick to comment.
Nick: Nice to see after our marriage that ‘bride’ and ‘groom’ has somehow been incorporated in this weeks offering 😉
Legend to solution comments:
* = anagram.
< = word reversed.
| Across | |||
| 1. | Swap made by singular magician (6) | ||
| SWITCH | S+WITCH | ||
| 4. | Time reportedly taken by boy to find a spice (8) | ||
| TURMERIC | homophone: TERM+ERIC | ||
| 10. | Flower girl used by setter, perhaps (3,6) | ||
| DOG VIOLET | cd | ||
| 11. | The Parisienne cut fur for part of collar (5) | ||
| LAPEL | LA+PEL(t) | ||
| 12. | Jack, an unprincipled person (5) | ||
| KNAVE | dd | ||
| 13. | Left a depressed NI town (9) | ||
| PORTADOWN | PORT+A+DOWN | ||
| 14. | Extras trained by French city police force (5,7) | ||
| TEXAS RANGERS | (EXTRAS)*+ANGERS | ||
| 18. | Former PM hides from view in Tyneside town (5,7) | ||
| NORTH SHIELDS | NORTH+SHIELDS: Unfamiliar Prime Minister Fred North | ||
| 21. | Quick survey made by small company on passable English river (5,4) | ||
| COOKS TOUR | CO+OK+STOUR | ||
| 23. | Temporary accommodation, very large, in decay (5) | ||
| ROOST | OS in ROT | ||
| 24. | One about to marry duke in area of northern France (5) | ||
| BRIDE | D in BRIE | ||
| 25. | Typically, one gets hold of a very English newspaper (2,7) | ||
| ON AVERAGE | A+V+E+RAG in ONE | ||
| 26. | File official list (8) | ||
| REGISTER | DD | ||
| 27. | A boy is becoming a handsome young man (6) | ||
| ADONIS | A+DON+IS | ||
| Down | |||
| 1. | Kudos involved, connected with first to unravel puzzle (6) | ||
| SUDOKU | (KUDOS)*+U | ||
| 2. | With it, aim between the posts (2,4) | ||
| IN GOAL | IN+GOAL | ||
| 3. | Game in which spies sneer alarmingly (7,8) | ||
| CHINESE WHISPERS | (WHICH SPIES SNEER)* | ||
| 5. | Perfect state (5) | ||
| UTTER | dd | ||
| 6. | Fellow counsel, Ferdinand, merely fudged (2,7,6) | ||
| MY LEARNED FRIEND | (FERDINAND MERELY)* | ||
| 7. | Reprimanded, salesman travelled constantly (8) | ||
| REPROVED | REP+ROVED | ||
| 8. | Settler on island collected by horse (8) | ||
| COLONIST | ON+IS in COLT | ||
| 9. | Sloppy friends turned up to race (8) | ||
| SLAPDASH | (PALS)< +DASH | ||
| 15. | Something eaten brought up, we hear, after whiskey (3,5) | ||
| RYE BREAD | RYE+ homophone: BRED | ||
| 16. | Fire engulfing new pub and food outlet (5,3) | ||
| SNACK BAR | N in SACK+BAR | ||
| 17. | Smartening up man getting married in Ghana’s capital (8) | ||
| GROOMING | GROOM+IN+G | ||
| 19. | Prepare major for field (6) | ||
| DOMAIN | DO+MAIN | ||
| 20. | Quickly disposing of note causing emotional tension (6) | ||
| STRESS | (mi)STRESS; Reference Mistress Quickly | ||
| 22. | Invigorating air round area (5) | ||
| OZONE | O+ZONE | ||
Thanks for the great blog, really enjoyable puzzle with STRESS last to be understood, as you have explained it. I think 10A has a wordplay element too with DOG = setter, perhaps, and VIOLET = girl
Lorraine/Nick, to make you feel less lonely at this place …. 🙂
Just like nmsindy I had some trouble with STRESS [that is, with the explanation of the word … :)] – so thank you for that!
My Clue of the Day was undoubtedly TEXAS RANGERS (14ac).
Beautiful construction annex construction.