(Apologies for being later than usual with this blog – partly because the online version of the puzzle came much later than usual, thus conflicting with the other to-dos I had today, and partly the ensuing battle with the puzzle.) I see that I missed Magwitch’s debut on a Tuesday last month. Perhaps just as well, because I struggled with this one after putting in the easy answers. The NE corner was the last to be filled, and, with no cheat button, I had to seek external aid – for which I’m grateful – for the last one. Thanks to Magwitch for, to me, a different kind of Tuesday blogging experience. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Police follow detailed programme undisturbed (6)
PLACID : CID(Criminal Investigation Department, a branch of the police force) placed after(follow, in an across clue) “play”(a performance;a programme on stage or over the radio/TV) minus its last letter(detailed).
4 Cornwall tolerates summer visitors (8)
SWALLOWS : SW(abbrev. for “south west”, in which part of England Cornwall is situated) + ALLOWS(tolerates).
Answer: The European and North American varieties of birds which annually migrate from the southern into the northern hemisphere in summer to breed.
9 In action, Royal troop shows a lack of energy (6)
TORPOR : Anagram of(In action) [abbrev. for “Royal” + TROOP].
10 Bolt after shadows in a state of panic (8)
TAILSPIN : PIN(a bolt for fastening parts together) placed after(after) TAILS(shadows;follows, as a PI might).
Answer: A sudden collapse or fall into confusion or panic, like what an aircraft might literally do.
12 Photo catching Libyan leader in death leaves nothing to the imagination (8)
EXPLICIT : [ PIC(abbrev. for “picture”;a photo) containing(catching) the 1st letter of(leader) “Libyan ” ] contained in(in) EXIT(act of leaving the scene, the ultimate of which is death).
13 I act by instinct towards the west’s festival (6)
DIWALI : Reversal of(towards the west, in an across clue) [ I + LAW(an act passed by government) + ID(in psychoanalysis, that part of the unconscious mind that’s the source of primitive instinct).
Answer: Like its other name, “Divali”, a contraction of “Deepavali”, the Hindu “festival of lights”. For a while, I was trying to fit “Divali” in.
15 Start to copy last month’s fad (4)
CULT : The 1st letter of(Start to) “copy” + ULT(abbrev. for “ultimo”;the month preceding the present one).
16 Commercial gathering held in private room built as an annexe (5,2)
ADDED ON : AD(short for an “advertisement”;a commercial) + [ DO(a social gathering;a function) contained in(held in) DEN(a private room one can retreat to) ]
20 Develops good arguments at university (5,2)
GROWS UP : G(abbrev. for “good”) + ROWS(arguments) + UP(at university;participating in university’s activities).
21 Make contact with almost everyone (4)
EACH : “reach”(make contact with, figuratively or literally) minus its first letter(almost).
25 Picked up faulty rental (6)
LEARNT : Anagram of(faulty) RENTAL.
Answer: Picked up information, eg. from the grapevine.
26 Hint of popular new university closing with nothing (8)
INNUENDO : IN(popular;in fashion) + N,U(abbrevs. respectively for “new” and “university”) + END(the closing;the conclusion) plus(with) O(the letter representing 0;nothing).
28 Dog found by the line is mine (8)
COLLIERY : COLLIE(any of a breed of dogs developed for herding sheep and cattle) placed before(found by, in an across clue) RY(abbrev. for “railway” eg. the Birmingham to Peterborough Line).
Answer: A coal mine.
29 Just over half of conmen grass (6)
BAMBOO : The first 6 out of 11 letters of(Just over half of) “bamboozlers”(conmen;tricksters).
Answer: Any of tropical or semi-tropical grasses, looking more like trees than grass.
30 Believe setter is based in Maryland, say (8)
ESTIMATE : I’M(contraction of “I am”;setter is, self-referentially) contained in(based in) E.STATE(abbrev. for an Eastern State of the USA, an example of which;say, is Maryland).
Answer: To form an opinion of;to believe, as in “I estimate that my chances are …”.
31 Undoubtedly shows up in lecture all year (6)
REALLY : Hidden in(shows up in) “lecture all year “.
Down
1 Long-suffering invalid practically propped up by vitamins (8)
PATIENCE : “patient”(one who receives medical attention and nursing care, an extreme case of which is an invalid) minus
its last letter(… practically) placed above(propped up by, in a down clue) C,E(two of the vitamin compounds).
Defn: As a noun.
2 Top classes well behaved over exercise suddenly (8)
ABRUPTLY : A,B(the two top classes;the best and the next best in quality or rank) + RULY(orderly and well-behaved, a back-formation from “unruly”) containing(over, as in “covering”) PT(abbrev. for “physical training”;physical exercise) .
3 Double-edged weapon, pre 1st century (6)
IRONIC : IRON(from “shooting iron”, a pistol or revolver; or even a sword) placed above(pre, in a down clue) IC(looks like 1C;abbrev. for the 1st century).
5 Abandon a new child (4)
WEAN : Double defn: 1st: To abandon;give up former habits, pursuits, etc.; and 2nd: Scottish and Northern English dialect for an infant. Kept trying to use N=new.
6 My sweet girl or boy? (8)
LOLLIPOP : Cryptic defn: Reference to the song “My Boy Lollipop” (“…You’re as sweet as candy…”) successfully covered by Millie (Small) in 1964. The song was originally written as “My Girl Lollypop”, hence the reference to “girl or boy”. (I think this is what the setter intended.)
7 Twist maybe or, so it’s said, early parts of fandango (6)
ORPHAN : Homophone of(so it’s said) the 1st 2 syllables of(early parts) “of fandango “. “of” doing double duty? Is there an alternative pronunciation, “fern-dang-go” instead of “fan-dang-go”?
Answer: An example of which;maybe, was Oliver Twist, the Charles Dickens pitiful character.
8 Bright day left one burnt at the end (6)
SUNLIT : SUN(abbrev. for “Sunday”, the day of rest for some) + L(abbrev. for “left”) + I(the Roman numeral for “one”) + the last letter of(at the end) “burnt “.
11 Starts to operate without safeguards when pursuing current openings (7)
WINDOWS : The 1st letters, respectively, of(Starts to) “operate without safeguards ” placed below(when pursuing, in a down clue) WIND(an air current).
14 Bona fide information leads to turn in direction (7)
GENUINE : GEN(informal term for information, from “general information”) placed above(leads to, in a down clue) U(the 180 degree turn) + IN + E(abbrev. for “east”, the direction).
17 I scorn my corrupt old boy network (8)
CRONYISM : Anagram of(corrupt) I SCORN MY.
18 Pick on outspoken supporter of Chinese general (8)
HANNIBAL : Homophone of(outspoken) “nibble”(to pick on;to take small repeated bites, slowly) placed below(supporter of, in a down clue) HAN(the principal ethnic group in China).
Answer: Carthaginian general, considered one of the greatest military commanders in history, who fought the Romans, notably enlisting elephants into his army.
19 Bible study circle get holy conversion (8)
THEOLOGY : Anagram of(conversion) [O(the letter that looks like a circle) + GET HOLY].
22 Extremely civil European receives one with honour – nothing new here! (6)
CLICHE : [ The 2 outermost letters of(Extremely) “civil ” + E(abbrev. for “European”) ] containing(receives) [ I(the Roman numeral for “one”) + CH(abbrev. for Companion of Honour, an, well, honour) ].
23 Used to beat mattress after changing the cover (6)
MALLET : “pallet”(a straw-filled mattress – not very comfortable, I’d say) with its first letter replaced by “m”(after changing the cover).
Answer: A short-handled hammer with which to beat or drive in a chisel, wedge, etc.
24 Kind of noise with an echo (6)
HUMANE : HUM(a low continuous sound;noise) plus(with) AN E(the letter represented by “echo” in the phonetic alphabet).
27 Regularly start out for a jog (4)
TROT : The 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th letters of(Regularly) “start out “.
Thanks scchua. I parsed 21a as you did, except it’s REACH minus its first letter, which is a rather unusual interpretation of “almost”.
Thanks Andrew, blog corrected – I must have subconsciously recalled the usual interpretation.
The toughest of all today’s cryptics. Thanks to Magwitch and scchua. I liked 6d originally but now I can’t get the song out of my head so I have gone off it a bit !!
Thanks Magwitch for the puzzle and scchua for the blog.
7dn: I took this as OR plus homophone of FAN(dango).
Thanks scchua and Magwith.
I had WEAN as an anagram, with “abandon” as the anagrind.
I also parsed CLICHE differently – with = c and h = honour.
Now I’m not sure about either.
Thanks for the blog and the comments. I really admire what the bloggers do.
As a relatively new setter it is helpful to get feedback on level of difficulty. Colin (the crossword editor for those who don’t know) has already asked me to think about making future offerings less difficult!
On 1ac I had in mind “plan” rather than “play” as a synonym of “programme” but I think that “play” works just as well.
I had intended Pelham Barton’s explanation of 7dn.
Best wishes to you all
Magp (aka Magwitch)
Magp @6: Thanks for dropping in. I cannot now remember whether I thought of PLA(n) or PLA(y) when solving 1ac: as you say, it works with either.
Muffyword @5: I like your parsing of WEAN: I was struggling with the same double definition as scchua had, but it does not quite work for me. I also had CLICHE the same way as scchua, and still prefer that.
Delighted that you popped in, Magwitch. I didn’t complete, but that’s because we haven’t had time yet to parse your brain circuits. Please don’t follow Colin’s advice just yet — we’ll get used to you.