It’s hard to describe this puzzle as anything other than vintage Beelzebub.
I managed about two thirds unaided before turning to Chambers to confirm things like YELLOW meaning “sensational”, and TELEGA. Finally a bit of shameless searching was required to find words such as NOIL, but all in all a very enjoyable solve.
As is almost traditional now, the wordplay for one escapes me, so I’ve reproduced the clue at 27 across.
*=anagram, []=dropped, <=reversed.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | SAMOSA – (AM in SOS) + A[nnual]. |
| 5 | RUSTIC – RUST + IC. “Rustic” for “clown” was new to me, but it’s right there in Chambers. |
| 10 | SEMESTRAL – TERMS* in SEAL. |
| 11 | INDIRECT – (DIRE + [traffi]C) in INT. |
| 13 | NOIL – N + OIL. |
| 14 | FRIED – FRIE[n]D. |
| 15 | UNAFFILIATED – U + NAFF + I + DETAIL<. I do enjoy the longer charade-type clues. |
| 16 | YELLOCH – YELLO[w] + CH. As I mentioned, “Yellow” for “sensational” was another new one, confirmed once again by Chambers. |
| 20 | TRICEPS – P in (TRICE + S). |
| 23 | POPOCATEPETL – POP + (ER in (TO PLACE)*). |
| 25 | RUANA – U in RANA. A woollen outer garment from South America. |
| 26 | AREA – RE in AA. |
| 27 | DIANODAL – Passing through point of intersection in dimension, God turned and left. |
| 28 | ANHEDONIC – (HE + DO) in CINNA<. The catchily-named Gnaeus Cornelius Cinna Magnus was a conspirator against Augustus Caesar. By complete coincidence, I’m drinking a bottle of beer named “Caesar Augustus” as I type this. It’s pleasant enough, but perhaps not one to go out of your way for. |
| 29 | DZEREN – ZER[o] in DEN. |
| 30 | TELEGA – LEG in TEA. Oddly, people seem to think that “tea” as an actual meal is a Northern thing. Whilst I do self-identify as Northern, I was born in Devon and had Southern parents, and we always had tea in the evening. |
| Down | |
| 1 | SKIN UP – KIN in SUP. Something these young folks do, presumably. |
| 2 | MEDIAE – (I'[v]E MADE)*. A voiced consonantal stop, but a term that never once came up in the four years I spent studying for an MA in Linguistics! Entirely solvable from wordplay, though. |
| 3 | SERIF – [clo]SE RIF[t]. The “projection of character” definition is particularly nice. |
| 4 | AMELIORATION – (LIAR ONE TO AIM)*. |
| 5 | RECALCITRANT – RE + (ARTICL[e]< in CANT). |
| 6 | STORAGE – OR in STAGE. |
| 7 | TRAITS – TR + [w]AITS. |
| 8 | CLODDY – DD in CLOY. |
| 9 | ANONYMOUS – (MAN SO YOUN[g])*. |
| 12 | BEEFSTEAK – (FEE< + S + T) in BEAK. |
| 17 | LOONIER – LOO + REIN<. |
| 18 | SPREAD – PRE in SAD. |
| 19 | APACHE – H in APACE. |
| 21 | PERDUE – PE + R + DUE. |
| 22 | ALALIA – (I in ALL) + A. |
| 24 | ERNIE – [g]E[a]R [o]N [h]I[r]E. The Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment is the machine that chooses the winning Premium Bond numbers. “He” lives in Blackpool if I remember correctly. |
A week later, I can’t remember having too many problems with this, but I did parse 27ac. The definition is “passing through point”. D for Dimension, Adonai, a Hebrew word for God reversed, L for left.
Well, I never would have found “Adonai” even if I’d had another week. Many thanks once again, DM.
Although I’m an atheist, when I was much younger I discovered Leonard Bernstein’s strange version of the Mass. Bernstein was Jewish, so when it came to the Sanctus, he set not only the Latin text but the Hebrew version too: Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, Adonai ts’va ot. For some reason, that word “Adonai” has stuck in my memory for over forty years.
Odd how memory works.