This seems to be the first occasion on which I’ve blogged an Alchemi puzzle. I must admit I found it fairly challenging, requiring a few sittings thoughout the week. The explanation for 3dn still escapes me.
There’s a small Nina here, in that the setter’s pseudonym appears in the unchecked squares in the third row. I couldn’t see any more than that, but may have missed something.
| Across | ||
| 1 | STARTING | Carol eats pie, showing surprise (8) |
| TART in SING | ||
| 6 | STIFFS | Bodies quarrel in vacuous sessions (6) |
| TIFF in S[ession]S | ||
| 9 | OTTAWA | City’s old power unit going into reverse has radioactive core (6) |
| Old + WATT< + [radio]A[ctive] | ||
| 10 | SUMMONED | Mum’s worried about emergency doctor initially being sent for (8) |
| MUMS* + ON + E[mergency] D[octor] | ||
| 11 | CLIMACTIC | Cold inside – to do with the weather reaching a culmination (9) |
| Cold in CLIMATIC | ||
| 12 | HEDGE | Man would shortly get trimmed at barrier (5) |
| HE‘D + GE[t] | ||
| 14 | PYRE | Some jittery people back centrepiece of funerary rite (4) |
| [jitt]ERY P[eople]< | ||
| 16 | REGENERATE | Stir green tea without hesitation to promote new growth (10) |
| ER in (GREEN TEA)* | ||
| 18 | ANALYTICAL | Being logical, I call at any trouble (10) |
| (I CALL AT ANY)* | ||
| 21 | CODA | Company lawyer’s finale (4) |
| COmpany + District Attorney | ||
| 23 | GUEST | Visitor’s sudden blow gathering energy (5) |
| Energy in GUST | ||
| 24 | EYESTRAIN | Note agreement to practise for unpleasant condition (9) |
| E (one of several musical notes) + YES + TRAIN | ||
| 27 | FILIPINO | Islander one to go mad about current number (8) |
| (I in FLIP) + I (the symbol for current) + NO | ||
| 28 | XANADU | Be leaving bandeaux around old Chinese summer capital (6) |
| [b]AND[e]AUX*. A familiar term, but one I hadn’t ever troubled myself to find the meaning of. Apparently it was “the summer capital of Kublai Khan’s Yuan Dynasty in China”. | ||
| 29 | SHOGUN | Paper-wrapped pig for dictator (6) |
| HOG in SUN | ||
| 30 | FINISHED | Complete flipper I get rid of (8) |
| FIN + I SHED | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | TOTALLY | Entirely high in play (7) |
| TALL in TOY | ||
| 3 | REALM | Details oddly missing in marine kingdom (5) |
| You’ll have to help me out here, kind readers | ||
| 4 | INACCURATE | Unreliable clergyman supports setter asking permission to do a headstand (10) |
| (CAN I)< + CURATE | ||
| 5 | GASHING | Cutting crew smothering quiet one (7) |
| (SH + I) in GANG | ||
| 6 | SAME | Identical Welsh politician in the Home Counties (4) |
| Assembly Member in South-East | ||
| 7 | ISOMETRIC | Somewhat wearisome trick-or-treaters of similar dimensions (9) |
| [wear]ISOME TRIC[k] | ||
| 8 | FREIGHT | Surprising her with gift that’s carried by rail and road (7) |
| (HER + GIFT)* | ||
| 13 | ANGLO-SAXON | Earthy language used by Independent puzzler working around western county (5-5) |
| (GLOS in ANAX) + ON. The GLOS is an abbreviation for Gloucestershire | ||
| 14 | PEA | Sound of bells cut short by pulse (3) |
| PEA[l] | ||
| 15 | ENLISTING | Nurse inclined to be joining up (9) |
| Enrolled Nurse + LISTING | ||
| 17 | ERA | Time exhibition’s beginning, with support of artist (3) |
| Exhibition + Royal Academician | ||
| 19 | NOURISH | Feed new leader around teatime when chief finally leaves (7) |
| N[ew] + [f]OURISH | ||
| 20 | CRY WOLF | Raise false alarm about railway going over rising water current (3,4) |
| Circa + RY (abbreviation for railway) + FLOW< | ||
| 22 | DEIRDRE | Woman got up when queen forgot her lines (7) |
| (Elizabeth Regina + DRIED)< | ||
| 25 | RUNES | Nurse baffled by old characters (5) |
| NURSE* | ||
| 26 | LION | Touring rugby player picks up new lubricant (4) |
| (New + OIL)* | ||
* = anagram; < = reversed; [] = removed
HI Simon
For 3dn: EAL (even letters of Details) in RM (marine)
Just couldn’t get 26dn. I’d heard of the Lions, but I’d been successfully misdirected into thinking that “lubricant” was the definition. (Apart from that, I found this considerably easier than most of the weekly puzzles this week, and finished the rest of the puzzle in an hour or so last Sunday night.)