A delightful, well-constructed entry-level puzzle from Everyman, with a variety of devices and everything clearly clued.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Greek character, say, heading off to change
MUTATE
A charade of the Greek letter MU and [S]TATE.
4 A late drink that may go to one’s head?
NIGHTCAP
A dd cum cd.
10 A lubricant cools it, a drop of radiator fluid
CASTOR OIL
(COOLS IT A R)* with ‘fluid’ as the anagrind.
11 Oscar goes to silent film
DUMBO
A charade of DUMB and O for the phonetic alphabet Oscar to give us the Disney film released 72 years ago.
12 I deliver cards for model
IDEAL
I DEAL.
13 Chosen Oxford college, reportedly in photographs
PICTORIAL
A homophone (‘reportedly’) of PICKED ORIEL, and a good homophone at that.
14 Most of film fitting in pocket
MISAPPROPRIATE
A charade of MIS[T] and APPROPRIATE.
18 Drop rest on creepy-crawly
TRAP-DOOR SPIDER
I got the SPIDER bit straight away, but TRAP-DOOR required the crossing letters. A TRAP-DOOR is a ‘drop’ and the SPIDER is the rest used in snooker on which the player places his cue when access to the white ball is impeded. If you are arachnophobic, do not click here. Otherwise have a butchers: all god’s creatures have a certain beauty. Except slugs, of course.
20 Girl declared an impostor
CHARLATAN
Another good homophone clue: a charade of CHARLAT (sounds like CHARLOTTE) and AN.
22 Steps taken by one graduate skipping dessert
RUMBA
I liked this one: it’s RUM BA[BA].
24 Hyperion, for example, Italian cast in bronze
TITAN
Hyperion was one of the 12 Titans in Greek mythology. An insertion of IT in TAN.
25 Irishman returned book purchased by post
MAIL ORDER
A reversal of LIAM for your archetypal Irishman and ORDER for ‘book’.
26 Had nice spread, a ranch
HACIENDA
(HAD NICE)* plus A. ‘Spread’ is the anagrind. A HACIENDA is strictly an ‘estate’, but it could be used for ranching, so the clue is fair enough.
27 A small seabird behind
ASTERN
A charade of A, S and TERN. Might have seen this one before.
Down
1 Held in stomach is mostly a show of masculinity
MACHISMO
Hidden in stoMACH IS MOstly.
2 A test involved a small sample only
TASTE
(A TEST)*
3 See you, likewise, led astray over star
TOODLE-PIP
Well, my trusty SOED has: ‘Pip: an excellent thing or person, a fine example of a thing’. Which although new to me, could certainly define ‘star’. So it’s a charade of TOO (‘likewise’), (LED)* and PIP. It’s a very dated – and odd – expression and there’s an interesting article about its derivation here. (This site is excellent, btw, and I would recommend signing up to their weekly newsletter if you’re interested in words.)
5 Acting as guardians, arranged oral inspection
IN LOCO PARENTIS
Well-spotted anagram by Everyman. (ORAL INSPECTION)* for the legal Latin phrase meaning ‘in place of a parent’.
6 After end of March, uncommonly dry round spa resort
HYDRO
A charade of H, (DRY)* and O for the setters’ shorthand for ’round’. Well, O is round, isn’t it?
7 Carried out first of chairs left out around centre of chamber
COMMITTED
A charade of C for the first letter of ‘chairs’ and an insertion of M for the middle letter of chaMber in OMITTED.
8 Dog lead for dachshund found in Dorset resort
POODLE
An insertion of D for the first letter of Dachshund in POOLE.
9 Reliable policeman on foot, extremely even-handed
COPPER-BOTTOMED
A charade of COPPER, BOTTOM and ED for the outside letters of Even-handeD.
15 Mocking actors in Indian dress, cold
SARCASTIC
An insertion of CAST in SARI followed by C.
16 High-handed and indifferent? Not very
IMPERIOUS
IMPER[V]IOUS. Clever clue with a lovely surface.
17 Test ladder in rehearsal
TRIAL RUN
A charade of TRIAL for ‘test’ and RUN for the ladder ladies get in their tights
19 Type of egg dish
SCOTCH
Unless I’m missing something, this just seems to be a rather weak cd. Happy to be corrected.
21 Cut? Clean wound
LANCE
(CLEAN)* To make the anagrind work, I think you’d have to pronounce it as the past tense of WIND, rather than what you’d incur in battle.
23 Departs in military aircraft erks initially fly
MIDGE
Another cleverly-constructed surface. An insertion of D in MIG (fighter aircraft) followed by E for the first letter of Erks. Erk is a word: it means an aircraftsman of the lowest rank and will be coming to a puzzle near you soon when the setter doesn’t fancy moose.
Super stuff from Everyman, which I enjoyed solving and blogging.
I liked 15d, 13a, 20a, 16d, 3d and my favourite was 22a RUMBA.
New word for me was COPPER-BOTTOMED = reliable.
Thanks for the blog, Piere. I didn’t know how to parse 18a.
Thanks, Pierre, like Michelle I needed your help with parsing 18a.
I thought 14a was particularly good.
20a Charlat sounds like charlotte? Not where I come from. The former is lat as rhymimg with hat and the latter is lot as rhyming with hot.
19d A scotch egg is a pub delicacy with hard boiled egg covered in minced pork and bread crumbs -hence an egg dish and to scotch something is to mess something up which is the same as dishing something.
Thanks Pierre
Thanks for the blog, Pierre.
A nice puzzle – I too liked the clue for IMPERVIOUS and also 26ac, because I think Americans call a ranch a spread.
Hi Bamberger
I know several Charlottes and I never pronounce the second syllable of their name to rhyme with ‘hot’ [nor the middle syllable of ‘charlatan’ to rhyme with ‘hat’]. I’m sitting here saying to myself, ‘I gave Charlotte an apple’ and, ‘He’s an utter charlatan’ – and they sound just the same to me. 😉
I meant IMPERIOUS, of course.
Took a little longer than usual I found, but most enjoyable.
In military (American?) slang, a four-star General would be said to have four pips.
Thanks Everyman and Pierre.
A scotch egg is your leg too, don’t forget.
Perhaps I didn’t explain myself clearly for CHARLATAN: CHARLAT of course only sounds like CHARLOTTE when it’s in CHARLATAN, but the homophone clue is still perfectly fair. Not sure what legs have to do with it, though, Paul …