[If you’re attending York S&B please see comments 32&33] - here
Nice workout from Falcon, thanks to whom for setting an approachable Friday grid. Progress was initially sketchy but became steady after getting a few big clues in (especially 5d )
| Across | ||
| 1 | FELT TIP PEN | Writer considered advice accompanying enclosure (4-3,3) |
| FELT (considered) TIP (advice) PEN (enclosure) | ||
| 7 | STOP | Finish second best (4) |
| S (Second) TOP (best) | ||
| 9 | BANG | Kick out guru’s initial report (4) |
| BAN (kick out) G (guru’s initial) | ||
| 10 | AMALGAMATE | Compound in Malaga demolished by friend (10) |
| Anagram of MALAGA (demolished) by MATE (friend) | ||
| 11 | FALTER | Female to change flag (6) |
| F (Female) ALTER (change) | ||
| 12 | RAILROAD | Complain next to bar about article 18 (8) |
| RAIL (complain) ROD (bar) about A (article) – Refers to the solution for 18d, which also means the same as 12ac | ||
| 13 | TENTACLE | A nettle waving about caught arm (8) |
| Anagram of A NETTLE around C (Caught) | ||
| 15 | TIER | Row in Italian river, avoiding middle (4) |
| TIbER (Italian river, avoiding middle) | ||
| 17 | EDEN | Former PM, first to enter study (4) |
| E (first to enter) DEN (study) – Anthony Eden | ||
| 19 | CHAINSAW | Power tool was returned after row (8) |
| CHAIN (row) SAW (was, returned) | ||
| 22 | WATERLOO | Transport to a lower station (8) |
| Anagram of TO A LOWER | ||
| 23 | DAMSON | Fuming about boy in fruit tree (6) |
| 25 | CONSCIENCE | Conservative on discipline and morals (10) |
| C (Conservative) ON SCIENCE (discipline) | ||
| 26 | DATA | Information – a small amount sent over (4) |
| A TAD (a small amount, sent over – reversed) | ||
| 27 | ONCE | Formerly working with church (4) |
| ON (working) CE (church) | ||
| 28 | EAR TRUMPET | Hearing piece produced by organ and wind instrument (3-7) |
| EAR (Hearing piece) TRUMPET (organ) | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | EMANATE | Eastern sea creature shedding tail in spring (7) |
| E (Eastern) MANATEe (sea creature, shedding tail) | ||
| 3 | TIGHT | Awkward drunk (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 4 | IN A TRICE | One certain to reform very quickly (2,1,5) |
| I (One) anagram of CERTAIN | ||
| 5 | PRAIRIE SCHOONER | Pioneer’s wagon – plain sailing in it? (7,8) |
| Cryptic clue, plain in the clue refers to a prairie (schooner is a boat / sailing ref) and this was used as a mode of transport in the old west .. | ||
| 6 | NOGGIN | Drink in a mug (6) |
| double definition (mug refers to the head) | ||
| 7 | SAMARITAN | One giving roadside assistance? Versatile AA man’s beginning to repair it (9) |
| Anagram of AA MANS R (beginning to repair) IT | ||
| 8 | OUTRAGE | Eccentric hoarding silver? Shock horror! (7) |
| OUTRE (Eccentric) containing (hoarding) AG (silver) | ||
| 14 | TENNESSEE | Williams, say, showing remarkable net sense by middle of set (9) |
| Anagram of NET SENSE by E (middle of set) – referring to the American Playwright | ||
| 16 | LANDSEER | Sibyl supporting dock painter (8) |
| SEER (Sibyl) supporting LAND (dock) – Edwin Landseer, Brit painter from the 1800’s. | ||
| 18 | DRAGOON | Watchful woman filled with love for cavalryman (7) |
| DRAGON (watchful woman) around O (filled with love) | ||
| 20 | APOSTLE | A job extremely lucrative for James, perhaps (7) |
| A POST (job) LE (extremely lucrative) | ||
| 21 | PLAICE | Location, reportedly, for flatfish (6) |
| Sounds like PLACE (location) | ||
| 24 | MADAM | How one may address a woman from the north or the south? (5) |
| Cryptic clue, N or S referring to a palindrome | ||
*anagram
23a Actually it is DAM+SON. ‘Dam’ is a form of ‘damn’ or ‘damned’ (Chambers).
Re 23a: I would slightly alter Rishi’s parsing – I think it is a reversal of MAD (fuming about) + SON.
Thanks Turbolegs and Falcon. I liked the DRAGOON/RAILROAD pair.
Thanks Rishi / Muffy .. I am inclined to go with the latter explanation at #2.
Cheers
TL
A pleasant breeze: thanks, Falcon. I especially admired 7dn. Thanks too to Turbolegs.
Thanks Turbolegs. I agree with Muffyword above.Nice puzzle.