A medium-paced Beelzebub this week, I thought. Not too hard and not too easy, but with plenty to enjoy.
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | DUPE – P[ill] in DUE. |
| 4 | SKIATRON – (A in SKIT) + R + ON. Not, as it may sound, a machine to do your skiing for you, rather a particular type of direct-view bistable storage tube. Of course. |
| 10 | INEXTENSIBLE – (SIXTEEN* + B) in LINE*. |
| 11 | ERRORS – (R and R) separately in EROS. The “source of stage comedy” is obviously a reference to Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors. |
| 12 | TALA – (A + LAT)<. |
| 14 | PAELLAS – E in PALLAS. |
| 15 | BEDSWERVER – BED + W + (R in EVER). |
| 18 | ACERATE – ACER + ATE. |
| 19 | ON TRUST – [f]ONT + RUST. |
| 22 | ENTHRALLED – THEN* + (ALL in RED). |
| 23 | SONATAS – SO + SATAN<. A reference to the (as far as I can see, unattributed) claim that the devil has all the best music. |
| 25 | HOLM – H[arbour] O[n] L[ake] M[ichigan]. |
| 26 | MILICE – MIL[k] + ICE. |
| 27 | AFTERTHOUGHT – (TER[m] + THOUGHT) in (A + T). |
| 28 | GAUSSIAN – A in (AS USING)*. |
| 29 | THEE – THE[m]E. |
| Down | |
| 1 | DIET – E in DIT. |
| 2 | UNREEL – hom. of “unreal”. |
| 3 | PERIDOTE – DIRE< in POTE. |
| 4 | STRAWCUTTERS – (RAW + C) in STUTTERS. |
| 5 | INFARCT – [docto]R in IN FACT. |
| 6 | ASSEVERATION – (AVIATORS SEEN)*. |
| 7 | TITLE ROLE – (LITTLER O[n]E)*. |
| 8 | OLLAV – OL[d] + LAV. |
| 9 | NEASDEN – (D in EASE) in (N + N). |
| 13 | USERNAMES – N in MEASURES*. |
| 16 | RAYLEIGH – E in (RAY + LIGH[t]). Probably John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, but possibly his son Robert, also a physicist and a Rayleigh. |
| 17 | MOSS HAG – (SH in SA) in MOG. |
| 18 | ASHANTI – ASH + ANTI. |
| 20 | SEICHE – SEI + C + HE. |
| 21 | LOOFA – from ALOOF with the indefinite article, A, moved to the foot of the word. |
| 24 | FETE – from FEET, though slightly changed. |