Generally easy though the definition in 18ac might have confused some solvers, as might the wordplay in 20dn for those who haven’t met this usage before.
I rather liked the two long anagrams in 4dn and 9dn but found most of the puzzle too easy to provide much satisfaction though, with the possible exception of 18ac and 20dn, it would be ideal for those relatively new to the world of cryptic puzzles.
| Across | ||
| 1 | PORT SAID | PORT (fortified wine) SAID (remarked) – this Mediterranean city |
| 5 | HAGGIS | [Edinburg]H A G (good) GI’S (soldier’s) – this Scottish dish |
| 10 | KNOW-ALL | K (king) NOW (at the moment) ALL (everyone) |
| 11 | O’CONNOR | *(CROON ON) – Sinéad O’Connor |
| 12 | NAÏVE | NA[t]IVE (cut out time in local) |
| 13 | OUT OF TUNE | OUT OFT (rarely at home) UNE (a Parisienne) |
| 14 | FOOTPLATEMAN | PLATE (collection {in church}) in FOOTMAN (servant) |
| 18 | NEW BRUNSWICK | NEW (young) B (bishop) RUN (proceed quickly) S (small) WICK (Scottish town) – definition NB, this Canadian province |
| 21 | MENDICANT | MEND I CANT (declaring inability to rehabilitate) |
| 23 | INEPT | PEN (writer) reversed in IT |
| 24 | CHAPLIN | PL (place) in CHAIN (series) – this old comedian |
| 25 | EPISODE | EP (record) I’S (one’s) ODE (poem) |
| 26 | LIE LOW | I (one) EL (the Spanish) in LOW (small) |
| 27 | TSUNAMIS | *(MUST AS IN) |
| Down | ||
| 1 | PEKING | KIN (family) in PEG (fix) |
| 2 | ROOKIE | ROOK (piece {chess}) IE (that is) |
| 3 | STAGE DOOR | STAGE (part) DOOR (opening) – this film |
| 4 | ILL-GOTTEN GAINS | *(NOT LEGISLATING) |
| 6 | ALOOF | A FOOL (goose) reversed |
| 7 | GIN RUMMY | GIN RUM (a couple of drinks) MY – this card game |
| 8 | SERGEANT | SERGE (strong cloth) ANT (worker) |
| 9 | HOSTILE WITNESS | *(WISHES TO LISTEN) |
| 15 | TACTICIAN | homophone of ‘tack’ (course) TITIAN (artist) |
| 16 | INIMICAL | IN (elected) I (one) *(CLAIM) |
| 17 | SWAN LAKE | S (second) WAN (week) LAKE (an excess {eg wine lake}) – this ballet |
| 19 | REFORM | hidden in ‘scoRE FOR Musical’ |
| 20 | STRESS | [mi]STRESS (Quickly disposing of note) – Shakespeare’s inn-keeper Mistress Quickly |
| 22 | IGLOO | *(GO OIL) |
Many thanks Gaufrid & Falcon, this was very enjoyable.
I opted for STRESS in 20d although I failed to make the connection with Shakespeare’s mistress. I wonder: did Anne Hathaway ever find out about her?
Very enjoyable but not particularly difficult. Thanks to Gaufrid and Falcon.
Hi Gaufrid – thanks for the blog.
17dn: ‘wan = week’?? Isn’t it W[eek] AN?
Thanks Gaufrid
I found this one pretty easy – I had the first six across answers within a minute – but enjoyable nonetheless.
I’m with Eileen on 17d.
18a was my COD; the double ‘low’ in 26a was a bit disappointing.
Hi Eileen
You are correct. Whilst solving, after seeing WAN in the answer I misread ‘week’ as ‘weak’ (that’s what comes of using ‘toner save’ when printing the puzzle, the text is rather wan).