No nasty surprises from Falcon this morning; a nice neat puzzle, spoiled only slightly by some weak charades and a couple of questionable synonyms. And I learned a new word, which is always a nice treat before breakfast on a Thursday.
ACROSS
1. See 23dn
6. DESIGN Deign [condescend] incorporating s(econd)
9. CARAFE Cafe [restaurant] incorporating a r(ed)
10. RECREANT Anagram of enter car to give a word meaning in a state of surrender, cowardly or, colloquially, ‘yellow’ – a new word for me, this one
11. VETO Vet [check] + (Volv)o to give a ‘red light’ in the sense of a stoppage or no-go signal
12. INNKEEPERS In + n(orth) + keepers [minders]
14. PRAISE BE Raise [mother (verb)] within Pb [chemical symbol for lead] + (hom)e
16. NOTE Reversal of Eton [college]
18. FUND Fun [play] + d(iamonds) for a ‘kitty’ or fund of money
19. OUT THERE Out [not here] + there [in that place] to give a colloquial phrase meaning outrageous or avant garde
21. EDWARD LEAR Edward [one of numerous English kings] + Lear [Shakespeare’s king of the Britons] to give the celebrated nonsense-poet
22. NIGH Nigh(t) [evening]
24. IRISH SEA Anagram of is I hear incorporating s(on) to give the location of (the Isle of) Man
26. ABLOOM A + boom [period of growth] incorporating L [pounds]
27. SPOT ON Spoon [‘a wooden golfing-club having a slightly concave head’ – OED] incorporating T(roon)
28. See 7dn
DOWN
2. WHALE Sounds like wail [cry]
3. STAR OF INDIA Star [celebrity] + of India [from Asian country]: a rather weak charade to give a golf-ball-sized sapphire
4. ONE-LINER One [individual] + liner [ship]
5. STRANGE TO RELATE Anagram of latest generator [see 8dn] to give an old-fashioned expression for something odd or inexplicable
6. DOCKET Dock [put together] + E(nglish) + t(eam)
7, 28. SEE EYE TO EYE See [judge] + eye to eye [at close quarters, perhaps in the sense of ‘eyeball to eyeball’ or ‘nose to nose’]: a charade of slightly questionable synonyms to give the phrase meaning ‘agree’
8. GENERATOR Anagram of garret one
13. PUNCHINELLO Punch [humorous magazine] + in + (H)ello [glossy celebrity magazine] to give the commedia dell’arte clown
15. ROUND TRIP Round [cycle] ‘supported’ by trip [make a mistake]
17. STARGAZE Star(kers) [(stark) naked] + gaze [look]
20. EDISON Reversal of No [number] + side [team] to give the famous US inventor
23, 1. GOODY TWO-SHOES Anagram of why goose stood – I’d never heard of the nursery tale, but of course I knew the phrase
25. SIT Synonym for ‘model’ or ‘pose’ hidden in NapleS ITaly
10a was a new word for me too, but with the checking letters, there was not much else it could be.
Thanks to Falcon for the pleasant, straightforward puzzle, and to Ringo for the review.
Many thanks Ringo & Falcon this was a breeze although RECREANT was also new to me … it sure is nice whan a guess turns out to be correct.
Of course, having got all the intersecting letters it could not have been anything else. Or could it?