Unusually with Everyman, there are one or two clues I can’t quite parse, and a couple of (for me) doubtful definitions. I found this tougher than usual for that reason.
| Across | |||
| 1. | Ambassador visiting Caribbean island with 27’s mother (6) | ||
| HECUBA | I’m not sure about this one. The island is CUBA, of course, but why does HE=’ambassador’? | ||
| 4. | In the dark I allow doctor to come in (8) | ||
| IGNORANT | Insertion of NO (‘doctor’? – any suggestions?) in I GRANT | ||
| 9. | Even bits of nuts, lime, bananas, may make up a breakfast dish (6) | ||
| MUESLI | * U+S (even letters of ‘nuts’)+LIME | ||
| 10. | Rapidly cut film sequence involving upper-class Veronese family (8) | ||
| MONTAGUE | MONTAGE round U | ||
| 12. | One may not get a fair deal from me (9) | ||
| CARDSHARP | cd. | ||
| 13. | Having original of Sunflowers in gallery causes a sensation (5) | ||
| TASTE | S(unflowers) in TATE  |
||
| 14. | Cheat merchant after large drink (6-6) | ||
| DOUBLE DEALER | DEALER (=’merchant’) after DOUBLE | ||
| 18. | Common soldier is in play (7,5) | ||
| PRIVATE LIVES | PRIVATE + LIVES (=’is’)  |
||
| 21. | Prize in a lottery rejected (5) | ||
| AWARD | A+reversed DRAW | ||
| 22. | Strengthen control by coercion (9) | ||
| REINFORCE | REIN+FORCE | ||
| 24. | Newspaper round at home? (8) | ||
| BULLETIN | BULLET+IN I’m not sure about ’round’=BULLET. It feels more like a series of them IMO. | ||
| 25. | Badger, tough short brute (6) | ||
| HARASS | HAR(d)+ASS Nice misdirection – it’s a good description of the little fellows
|
||
| 26. | Oat-pipes, remarkably suitable (8) | ||
| APPOSITE | * OAT PIPES | ||
| 27. | Bully boy (6) | ||
| HECTOR | Double definition | ||
| Down | |||
| 1. | Murder in institution probed by one with police? (8) | ||
| HOMICIDE | Insertion of I+CID in HOME | ||
| 2. | Terribly cruel act seen in black and white (5-3) | ||
| CLEAR CUT | * CRUEL ACT | ||
| 3. | British also developed a missile (5) | ||
| BOLAS | B+* ALSO This one took me a while to see, as I didn’t equate them with a ‘missile’, but I suppose they could be considered as such | ||
| 5. | RAF officer in class with ship’s commander (5,7) | ||
| GROUP CAPTAIN | GROUP+CAPTAIN | ||
| 6. | Oxford University athlete, awfully shabby (3,2,4) | ||
| OUT AT HEEL | * OU+ATHLETE Not an expression I’m familiar with, and although Chambers Online confirms its existence, it gives no definition. Perhaps it’s the same as ‘down at heel’. | ||
| 7. | Almost all of state capital is imposing (6) | ||
| AUGUST | AUGUST(a), state capital of Georgia, if I remember rightly. | ||
| 8. | Ancient city in Egypt he besieged (6) | ||
| THEBES | Hidden in ‘EgypT HE BESieged’ | ||
| 11. | Pass duke speedily (4,4,4) | ||
| HAND OVER FIST | HAND OVER+FIST(=’duke’, apparently, in old slang) | ||
| 15. | There may be sensationalism in lady’s initial undress, I suspect (9) | ||
| LURIDNESS | L(ady’s)+* UNDRESS I | ||
| 16. | Gloomy, unused actors (8) | ||
| OVERCAST | OVER (=’unused’? In what context?)+CAST | ||
| 17. | Fools brought before stipendiary, primarily, or judge (8) | ||
| ASSESSOR | ASSES+S(tipendiary)+OR | ||
| 19. | Greek character one of three adults ejected from dance (6) | ||
| LAMBDA | LAMB(a)DA The Greek letter ‘l’ | ||
| 20. | Whack barrier round front of pub (6) | ||
| WALLOP | WALL+O+P(ub) | ||
| 23. | Celebrity pots first of reds in a game of snooker (5) | ||
| FRAME | R(eds) in FAME | ||
That is a really nice blog, Stella!
As to 1,4 and 24 (all across):
– in 1ac ‘Ambassador’ is His Excellency ( = HE )
– the ‘doctor’ in 4ac is Dr No of James Bond fame, but I’m not sure whether it is fair to clue him in ‘lower case’
– according to Chambers a ‘bullet’ can be a little ball, something round (like in Microsoft Word, for example – thát thing).
Thank You & Everyman.
Thank you Stella.
I agree with your concerne re 6a. That is not the expression I am familiar with. I also appreciate the comments from Sil@1 re Dr No. I would have thought upper case necessary there.
Apart from that, a nice straightforward puzzle.
Thank you Stella, for a colourful blog.
I too remember finding this a bit harder than usual too – the phrase at 6dn I certainly have never heard of, but Everyman likes to clue some ‘quirky’ phrases, I’ve noticed.
For your query at 16dn, it’s OVER in the sense of ‘left over’, ie unused. ‘There’ll be some spag bol over for tomorrow.’
My favourite was FRAME – simple, but a lovely surface.
Good puzzle, thank you to Everyman.
An entertaining puzzle as usual from Everyman and a lovely blog Stella
The OED defines ‘bolas’ as ‘A missile used by the Patagonians and other S.American people …’
I don’t have a problem with ’round’ equating to ‘bullet’, though strictly speaking a round of ammunition comprises both the bullet and the explosive cartridge that propels it.
Thanks Stella for the great blog,
Yes, Everyman does seem to have got slightly more difficult recently and like with most crosswords, I always struggle over the last few. My favorite clues were IGNORANT (very misleading) and HAND OVER FIST. Regarding this clue, someone inviting a fight might say “put your dukes up” meaning fists. Also, OUT AT HEEL is indeed the same as ‘down at heel’ although I’ve never heard it used.
Thanks Everyman for your consistently entertaining puzzles.
Well done Stella; nice pictorial blog. I liked your LAMBaDA link – good clue too.
Thanks Everyman; I had to look up FIST=duke – never heard of that. I, too, had never heard of OUT AT HEEL, rather than down at heel. Pleasant enough Sunday stroll.
Thanks all for your comments, and for clearing up my doubts 🙂
Returning to the bullet = round point, coincidentally I have just been reading an account in today’s Observer of the assassination of Osama Bin Laden by the Americans: “He[Bin Laden]was shot twice, one round to the larger target, the chest, and one to the head.”