A very enjoyable puzzle, this one, I thought. Plenty of variation, one or two devilish (possibly too devilish) devices, and I even learnt a new word. Thank-you, Alberich.
ACROSS
1. TEMPLE MP [Member of Parliament, politician] + l [left] within tee [support (for a golf ball)] to give the wartime Archbishop of Canterbury
4. ISOBATHS Anagram of O [ring] hit bass
9. ADROIT A Droite [French for ‘on the right’, which is, of course, where the French drive] ‘de-tailed’
10. UNEDITED Anagram of I tend within U [university] ed [education]
12. PROP Pro [prostitute, hooker] + p(rovoke) to give a prop forward, a player who in rugby union plays alongside the hooker in the scrum
13. VOLLEYBALL Anagram of lovely (‘pie’ as an anagram indicator is new to me – as in ‘pie-eyed’?) + B [British] + all [everyone]
15. STATUS SYMBOL Anagram of a L(o)tus my boss t(ime)
18. LEADING LIGHT Headingley [Leeds sports stadium] minus hey within light [easy]
21. OBITUARIES Cryptic definition, alluding to the phrase ‘the quick and the dead‘
22. MARC Reversal of cram [stuff] to give the refuse left after grapes have been crushed
24. DIATRIBE Reversal of aid [help] + tribe [family]
25. LA-DI-DA DI [Detective Inspector, policeman] within Lada [widely-derided Soviet-era car]
26. EPISTLES (Adovat)e + st [stones, weight] within piles [haemorrhoids, medical complaint]
27. SHINTO Sh [(keep) mum] + into [enthusiastic about] to give the Japanese belief system
DOWN
1. TRAPPIST P [piano, quiet] within trap [mouth] + is + (shu)t; Trappist monks are associated with silence
2. MARJORAM Mar [spoil] + or [gold, yellow] within jam [preserve]
3. LAIC Hidden in reversal of soCIALism
5. SINGLE-MINDED Double definition, with ‘union’ referring to marriage
6. BUDDY HOLLY Cryptic definition of the rock-and-roll pioneer Charles Hardin Holley
7. TITIAN (En)ti(re) (na)ti(on) + a + n [new] to give the Venetian painter
8. SADDLE S(traight) + addle [confused – as in ‘addle-headed’]
11. CONSIDERABLE Con side [i.e. a team of cons – convicts – who might represent the notorious Dartmoor prison] + rab(b)le
14. BUREAUCRAT Reversal of rub + anagram of a curate
16. AGRARIAN Reversal of air [appearance] within a gran [an old lady]
17. STACCATO Reversal of Cats [musical] + Cato [Roman censor]
19. FONDLE Fond [affectionate] + l(ov)e
20. DIWALI I [one] + W [Welsh] within Dali [artist] to give the Hindu festival of lights
23. HASH Has [takes] + h [hard]
Re the AInd in 13a.
‘Pie’ is ‘type confusedly mixed’. And by extension it means ‘a mixed state’ or ‘confusion’.
Of course, we may not see much of it nowadays. But in the era of linotype setting, I have seen ‘pie’ in the galley occasionally.
Thanks for the blog, Ringo.
I always enjoy Alberich’s crosswords. Today’s was easier than usual I thought.
I’m no French expert but I think in 9ac ‘a droite’ is “detailed” to give ADROIT.
Thanks Alberich for an enjoyable crossword – although I am not a fan of grids with isolated corner sections – and Ringo for the blog.
9ac: I had this the same as mike @2.
21ac: I think this should say “shouldn’t include you” rather than “won’t include you”. The cricket commentator Rex Alston’s obituary appeared in the Times while he was still alive. Apparently, when he rang the paper up to complain, he was asked “Where are you ringing from?”
16dn: This is Air reversed within [keeps up] a gran.
20dn: Note the way that Alberich has clued this to force the spelling DIWALI rather than DIVALI. This would matter less if the answer had been checked as D-W-L-.
Thanks, all, for the corrections and clarifications.
Pelham: I’ve amended that oversight in 16dn. – thank-you.
Mike: again, thank-you – I studied Spanish, rather than French, at school, so I often find myself somewhat at sea whenever ‘in Paris’-type clues appear…
What the hell is Isobaths
Hi clueless
Isobath – “A contour line connecting points of equal underwater depth” (Chambers).