(Please click here for this same blog but with a picture quiz added. Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.) This, I recalled, required more than one sitting to crack. Thanks to Kairos. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Carpet material with border included (9)
REPRIMAND : [ REP(a corded fabric of various materials) + AND(with;together) ] containing(… included) RIM(border;edge).
6 Paper‘s operator (5)
TIMES : Double defn: 1st: The English daily newspaper; and 2nd: The mathematical operator of multiplication.
9 Fancy ring seen by artist (7)
CHIMERA : CHIME(the ring;sound produced, as by a bell or bells) plus(seen by) RA(abbrev. for a member of the Royal Academy of Arts).
Defn: As a noun, a wild and unrealistic dream or idea.
10 Small beer producer’s not a menace (7)
SCOURGE : S(abbrev. for “small”) + COURAGE(the famous English brewery) minus(not) “a “.
11 Quartet composer holds back material for another group (5)
OCTET : Hidden in(holds) reversal of(back material) “Quartet composer “.
12 Rough man in Hamburg reportedly makes upholsterer’s material (9)
HORSEHAIR : Homophone of(… reportedly) “hoarse”(rough-sounding the voice of one with a sore throat) + “Herr”(the form of address for a man in Hamburg, Germany).
13 Hit show loses money – it’s paid to those not acting? (6,3)
STRIKE PAY : STRIKE(to hit) + “play”(a stage show) minus(loses) “l”(£, symbol for the British currency unit).
Defn: …, ie. actors taking part in industrial action.
15 Seeing that old Liverpool player follows Shankly’s tip (5)
SINCE : INCE(Paul, former footballer who played for Liverpool) placed after(follows, in an across clue) the 1st letter of(…’s tip) “Shankly“. Bill Shankly was of course Liverpool’s manager, but he died long before Ince joined.
16 Charm’s beginning to wear off in Berkshire town (5)
ASCOT : “mascot”(a person, animal or thing considered to bring good luck to eg. a sports team) minus its 1st letter(…’s beginning to wear off).
18 Player returns with Romeo in small part for Empress? (5,4)
TAROT CARD : { Reversal of(… returns) ACTOR(a player on stage or in the movies) + R(letter represented by “Romeo” in the phonetic alphabet) } contained in(in) TAD(a small part;a bit).
20 Anne cured drunk with patient suffering (9)
ENDURANCE : Anagram of(… drunk) ANNE CURED.
23 Natural source of water from the east (5)
NAIVE : Reversal of(… from the east, in an across clue) ÉVIAN(Évian-les-Bains in full, the source of the branded mineral water).
25 Square meal in Rome? (7)
RAVIOLI : Cryptic defn: The Italian pasta that is square shaped.
26 One who withdraws from rugby manoeuvre (4,3)
DROP OUT : Double defn: 1st: As one word, one who withdraws from, say, school prematurely, or from conventional society; and 2nd: With a hyphen, in rugby, a drop kick taken by the defending team to restart play.
27 Make mincemeat of Eliot’s argument in review (5)
WORST : Reversal of(… in review) [ T.S.(initials of Eliot, the English poet) + ROW(an argument, especially a noisy one) ].
Defn: To trounce;to thrash in a competition.
28 Veronica went into rocket (9)
SPEEDWELL : Cryptic defn: To go rapidly;to rocket like, well, a rocket, that can cryptically be described as to “speed well”. Edit. note: Thanks to Kairos for the intended parsing: PEED(went, in the rest room) contained in( into ) SWELL(to rocket;to increase a lot and quickly).
Answer: Another name for the flowering plant, Veronica.
Down
1 Head of college dropping bottom side … (5)
RECTO : “rector”(the head;principal of a college) minus its last letter(dropping bottom, in a down clue).
Defn: The page on the right-hand side of a book in a left-to-right language.
2 … a peripheral Provençal team (7)
PRINTER : PR(abbrev. for Provençal) + INTER(short for the Italian football team, Inter-Milan).
Defn: … device for your computer.
3 Woolly tie I’d knit is uninteresting (9)
IDENTIKIT : Anagram of(Woolly) TIE I’D KNIT.
Answer: From the method of using a set of transparencies to put together a composite face, something which is composed of various copied elements, without any true identity, and thus, uninteresting.
4 Humiliate American leader’s party (5)
ABASH : The 1st letter of(… leader) “American ” + BASH(a party).
5 Some French on about welcoming Sergeant on board ship (9)
DESTROYER : [ DES(French for “some”) + reversal of(… about) RE(on the subject of;with reference to) ] containing(welcoming … on board) TROY(Frank, the sergeant in Hardy’s Far From The Madding Crowd).
6 Struggle to find time for good figure of speech (5)
TROPE : “grope”(to struggle to find;to have difficulty searching, as if in the dark) with “t”(abbrev. for “time”) replacing(for) “g”(abbrev. for “good”).
Defn: Words or expressions used in a figurative sense, such as a metaphor.
7 Endless dark and drizzle brings disease (7)
MURRAIN : “murk”(dark;gloomy) minus its last letter(Endless) plus(and) RAIN(drizzle).
Answer: Any plaguelike disease in cattle, such as anthrax.
8 Lead shape – a red shape (9)
SPEARHEAD : Anagram of(shape) A RED SHAPE.
13 Surrey opener’s boast about anxiety for one out in the field (9)
SCARECROW : [ The 1st letter of(… opener) “Surrey ” + CROW(to boast;to brag) ] containing(about) CARE(anxiety for your or someone’s welfare).
14 What a pretentious Radio 3 presenter would do? (3,2,4)
PUT ON AIRS : Cryptic defn: Reference to BBC Radio 3, a station whose staple is highbrow classical music, and to any of its presenters who would literally put on (broadcast over the air) classical airs. Which, if taken figuratively, would make him/her a pretentious ass.
15 Hard material Sir Henry for one first demonstrated? (9)
SATINWOOD : WOOD(a famous example; for one, was Sir Henry, English conductor, famous for conducting the London Proms) placed below(first …, in a down clue) [ SAT IN(past tense of “sit in”;to participate in a demonstration;an act of civil disobedience, involving sitting).
Answer: The hard wood from the tree of the same name.
17 Rogue state body (7)
CADAVER : CAD(a rogue;a scoundrel) + AVER(to state;to declare as true).
Defn: … of a dead person.
19 Fat Teletubby introduced to crazy aides (7)
ADIPOSE : PO(one of the Teletubbies from the BBC children’s television series) contained in(introduced to) anagram of(crazy) AIDES.
Defn: … stored in animal tissues.
21 Rubbish written about old square in Settle (5)
ROOST : ROT(rubbish) containing(written about) O,S(abbrevs. respectively for “old” and “square”).
Defn: … in for the night, like birds do.
22 Supply opponents with just deserts (5)
ENDUE : E,N(abbrevs. for players in opposing partnerships in bridge) plus(with) DUE(just deserts;what you deserve, good or bad).
Defn: To endow;to provide with.
24 Applaud excursion to Luxembourg (5)
EXTOL : EX(abbrev. for “excursion” – I’m hard-pressed to find an example, “ex. fare”?) + TO + L(International Vehicle Registration code for Luxembourg).
(Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)
13A I think refers to any body of people not “acting” (in their profession) by virtue of their being on strike, not specifically actors.
19D Adipose is an adjective meaning fat or fatty, so the definition is “fat” as an adjective. Adipose tissue contains fat, but not “adipose”.
Thanks for the parsing of 21D, which went over my head and was entered from the crossers.
Thanks to Kairos and scchua.
13A: I agree that strike pay applies to anyone not working, in a sense, not acting – but I thought that “not acting their jobs” sounded odd as a synonym for “not performing/doing their jobs”. So instead I zeroed in on actors, in keeping with the surface of the clue (“hit show..”).
19D: Collins (but not Chambers) gives “adipose” as both an adjective and a noun.
I found this on the tricky side for an IoS puzzle, but it was good fun and I got there in the end. TAROT CARD went in from the checkers and I only parsed it post-solve. I had the most trouble in the NE and finished with the MURRAIN/SCOURGE crossers.
I, too, had to come back to this a couple of times during the week, but I did finish it eventually, unlike the previous week. Took me ages to parse 15dn.
@2scchua – I can see I shall have to import a copy of Chambers, as this seems the invariable response to queries of this kind. I can’t find it as a noun in my dictionaries and I have the impression that Chambers now incorporates incorrect usage with alacrity as though it were standard; that is, it gives in rather easily.
@gwep – hang on until the end of the week before ordering a BRB – the next edition is apparently due out on Friday.
@6crypticsue
BRB?
gwep – the BRB is what Chambers Dictionary is known as because it is a Big Red Book!
A new edition of Chambers! That’s good news. I’ve used the last one so much, the boards have fallen off.
My thanks to scchua for the usual quality review and to all who have commented.
(i reprint 3/9/18) yes tricky but a nice couple of got-it! moments – especially 18a and 28a – but have to admit my Sgt Troy was from Midsomer Murders and not Thomas Hardy – wouldn’t be surprised if that’s where his name came from…