This was a really enjoyable puzzle for me – not too easy as to be over quickly, and not too difficult as to require long pauses. On the other hand, progress was smooth and even right through. Thanks, Gurney. Definitions are underlined in the clues. [[The pictures at the bottom have unidentified links to the puzzle. Please enclose any comments on them in double brackets. Thank you.]]
Across
1 Struggles in Beds or originating further north? (4,2,3,5)
WARS OF THE ROSES : Cryptic defn: Reference to beds of roses; and the white and red roses symbolic of the 2 sides in the Wars, the Houses of York and Lancaster respectively. Their dukedoms, even though they were not centred around York and Lancaster, were certainly north of Bedfordshire (Beds).
10 Sponsor changes sides causing great annoyance (5)
ANGER : “angel”(a sponsor who provides financial backing) with “l”(abbrev. for the left side) replacing “r”(abbrev. for the right side) (changes sides).
11 Not wishing to see cattle run wild (9)
RELUCTANT : Anagram of(wild) CATTLE RUN.
12 Singer seen entering Columbus in a train (7)
SINATRA : Hidden in(seen entering) “Columbus in a train “.
Answer: Frank or lesser known daughter, Nancy, or even Junior.
13 Statesman unfortunately cut philosopher short (7)
ALASKAN : ALAS(unfortunately, as in “alas, they missed the last bus”) + “Kant”(Immanuel, German philosopher) minus
its last letter(cut … short).
Answer: A man (or woman) from the US State of Alaska.
14 He takes potential hit, left uncovered (5)
THIEF : Anagram of(potential) HIT + “left” minus
its 2 outermost letters(uncovered).
16 Agitator’s game dog barking, I see (9)
DEMAGOGIC : Anagram of(barking) GAME DOG + IC(“I see” in text messages).
Defn: With the apostrophe, pertaining to or related to an agitator.
Answer: Descriptive of one who gains political power or popularity by appealing to the prejudices and emotions of the crowd, as in “demagogic speech”.
19 Show great vigilance using just one vowel, we hear? (2,3,4)
BE ALL EYES : Homophone of(we hear) “be all I’s”(be just that one vowel).
20 Tried to pass again on weekend day? (5)
RESAT : RE(on;about, as in “the lecture was on biology”) + SAT(abbrev. for “Saturday”;one of two weekend days).
Answer: Again sat for an exam, which one failed in a previous attempt.
22 Craftily lie low at length building source of riches (3,4)
OIL WELL : Anagram of(Craftily) LIE LOW plus(at) L(abbrev. for “length”).
25 Express no view on seaman’s blemish (7)
ABSTAIN : AB(abbrev. for “able-bodied seaman”) + STAIN(a blemish;a mark).
27 Adaptation of “Messiah” interrupted by Queen (easily shocked) (9)
SQUEAMISH : Anagram of(Adaptation of) MESSIAH
containing(interrupted by) QU(abbrev. for “Queen”).
28 Matching furniture is delightful, we’re told (5)
SUITE : Homophone of(we’re told) “sweet”(delightful;pleasing).
29 Recollected Nixon’s ad associated with oil men – it divided America (5-5,4)
MASON-DIXON LINE : Anagram of(Recollected) [NIXON’S AD plus(with) OIL MEN].
Answer: Named after 2 Britons, astronomer Charles Mason and surveyor Jeremiah Dixon, who marked it following resolution of a border dispute between then British colonies in America.
Down
2 Republic where a painter entertains man at home (9)
ARGENTINA : A RA(a member of the Royal Academy of Arts) containing(entertains) [ GENT(short for “gentleman”) + IN(at home;not out) ].
3 Fish sailors from the south catch quietly (5)
SPRAT : Reversal of(from the south, in a down clue) { TARS(nickname in general for sailors) containing(catch) P(abbrev. for “piano”;musical direction to play quietly) }
4 Showing presumption in favour of fighting, Duke disheartened lady (9)
FORWARDLY : FOR(in favour of;not against) WAR(fighting) + D(abbrev. for “duke”) + “lady” minus
its 2 inner letters(disheartened).
5 Greeting Lord’s American girl (5)
HILDA : HI!(an informal greeting) + LD(abbrev. for “lord”) + A(abbrev. for “American”).
6 Archer novel covers German source of power (9)
RECHARGER : Anagram of(novel) ARCHER placed above(covers, in a down clue) GER(abbrev. for “German”).
7 Husband in bed in basic accommodation (5)
SHACK : H(abbrev. for “husband”) contained in(in) SACK(slang for “bed”, as in “what time in the evening do you hit the sack?”).
Answer: Together with “up” it also means to be in bed together, especially not with your husband (or wife).
8 Reproduced exactly including a brown colour that’s very bad (7)
SATANIC : SIC(in brackets, it indicates that some text is an exact reproduction of what was written or has been quoted verbatim, regardless how strange or incorrect it is) containing(including) [A TAN(light brown colour) ].
9 Dog, British, that’s worth having (6)
BASSET : B(abbrev. for “British”) + ASSET(something worth having).
15 Wand revealing transient light? (5,4)
FALSE DAWN : A reverse clue: Anagram of(FALSE) DAWN = “Wand“.
17 Mistakenly omit such a large elegant growth (9)
MUSTACHIO : Anagram of(Mistakenly) OMIT SUCH A.
18 Development over time, say, up at Waterloo perhaps (9)
GESTATION : Reversal of(up) EG(abbrev. for “exempli gratia”;for example;say) placed above(at, in a down clue) STATION(an example of which;perhaps is Waterloo, Central London).
19 Crowd upset over defeat but better period results (7)
BLOSSOM : Reversal of(upset) MOB(an unruly crowd) containing(over) LOSS(a defeat).
Answer: A flourishing period, presumably better, as in “the plant is in blossom”.
21 Met climbing vehicle? (6)
TANDEM : Reversal of(climbing) Met, ie. “T” AND “EM”.
Answer: A carriage drawn by two horses in file, or a bicycle for 2.
23 King in line? Yes in Paris followed by son (5)
LOUIS : L(abbrev. for “line”) + OUI(“yes” in the local lingo in Paris) placed below(followed by, in a down clue) S(abbrev. for “son”).
Nice surface, as there have been King Louises of France, succeeded by their sons, in some cases, named King Louis themselves.
24 Man from Lombardy upland is good Italian first of all (5)
LUIGI : First letters, respectively, of the words in(first of all) “Lombardy upland is good Italian “.
Another nice surface as Luigi might be the name for a (good) man from Lombardy, Italy. A humble blogger’s thought: As the answer is a variant of Louis, there might be a case here for ellipses connecting the 2 clues.
26 Fibre from Israel a sister brought up (5)
SISAL : Hidden in(from) reversal of(brought up () “Israel a sister “.
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Thank you scchua for your usual nice blog and Gurney for an enjoyable puzzle.
[[The third picture is Mia Farrow, one-time wife of Frank Sinatra. The last picture is Walter Matthau, who must have played a thief in at least one picture, if not a Louis or Luigi.]]
Thanks to Gurney for the puzzle and scchua for the blog.
[[Maureen Stapleton #4 and Walter Matthau #8 were in Plaza SUITE. Kathleen Turner #2 was in The WAR OF THE ROSES.]]
Cheers…
[[A little further research reveals that Matthau played a THIEF in at least Gangster Story, Charade, and, possibly, a A Very Moral Theft. He was also in California SUITE.]]
[[Hi declanor and grandpuzzler, you’ve given me (in addition) some links I hadn’t thought of. Hint: the ones I’m thinking of are 4 in number, shared by the 8 pics, in fact there’s a meta-link with 21down.]]
Thanks, scchua, for the excellent blog.