I think the kindest thing I can say about this puzzle is that it was not my favourite ever IoS crossword. But much more importantly, what did you think? And can someone explain 7dn, please?
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Africans possibly roll round quiet setter
BUSHMEN
An insertion of SH for ‘quiet’ and ME for ‘setter’ in BUN.
5 Point at excellent rating held by tin soldier
CAPTAIN
PT for ‘point’ next to AI for ‘excellent rating’ in CAN for ‘tin’.
9 It’s not time to be angry about good description of wetland?
IRRIGATED
I think the setter is asking us to take the T out of IRRI[T]ATED and replace it with a G for ‘good’.
10 Could hear small child
MIGHT
A homophone of MITE. Are MIGHT and COULD interchangeable? Just about: ‘I might be wrong/I could be wrong.’
12 Philosopher’s car which can supply power
MILLWHEELS
A charade of MILL (John Stuart) and WHEELS
14 196 enter shambolically, following Scottish drunk about to get into touring party
FOURTEEN SQUARED
If ever there was a meaningless surface and a random clue, this is surely it. FOURTEEN SQUARED is indeed 196. FOU is French for ‘crazy’ and also, apparently, a Scottish dialect word for ‘drunk’ (no, I hadn’t either). This is followed by RTEEN (an anagram, ‘shambolically’, of ENTER) and then an insertion of RE (‘about’) in SQUAD for ‘touring party’.
17 Battle over point with heartless bouncer too violent for 2?
CUBE ROOT OF EIGHT
I refer the right honourable ladies and gentlemen to my comment at 14ac. The CUBE ROOT OF EIGHT is indeed 2. FEIGHT is a ‘battle’ or FIGHT around (‘over’) E, which is a ‘point’ of the compass. CUBEROOTO is an anagram (‘violent’) of TOO and BOU[N]CER, with ‘heartless’ as the removal indicator.
21 Finish 2 men’s rotten gifts
ENDOWMENTS
A charade of END and (TWO MENS)* with ‘rotten’ as the anagrind. Why put ‘2’ into the clue when TWO would have worked just as well? Perhaps there’s a theme here that I’m missing and it’s something to do with the ‘2’ in 17ac.
23/11 Attacks amateur avarice, perhaps by sending books back
LAYS INTO
Another surface reading that didn’t hit the spot for me. It’s a charade of LAY, SIN and TO for a reversal (‘back’) of OT for Old Testament or ‘books’.
25 Government help to screw the poor finally
POWER
Finally, a relevant and meaningful surface. The last letters of helP tO screW thE pooR.
26 Passionate English laureate once half-stripped
EMOTIONAL
A charade of E, MOTION for Andrew MOTION, who was once Poet Laureate, and AL, which is what you would get if you stripped the outside letters from hALf.
27 Defends rejected guests I serve sandwiches
RESISTS
Hidden reversed in gueSTS I SERve.
28 Innocent-looking party employee starting to bring back the old Labour leader
DOE-EYED
Another multi-part clue that took some time to parse. It’s DO for ‘party’, followed by E for ’employee’ starting, then EY for a reversal of YE for ‘the old’, followed by ED for Ed Miliband, who is the current Labour leader. Too complicated for this puzzle, imho. And YE was never an old word for ‘the’, although it’s enough of an urban myth for Alchemi to include it in his clue. It was just þe, employing the Old English letter thorn, þ, and was still pronounced ‘the’. So try to find an alternative to YE OLDE COFFEE SHOPPE if you’re in need of caffeine.
Down
1 Court official‘s trouble, getting hit outside
BAILIFF
An insertion of AIL in BIFF for ‘hit’.
2 It could stick out to cry about retired person dropping article
SORE THUMB
An insertion of RET for ‘retired’ and HUM for HUMAN without AN, an ‘article’ in SOB.
3/15/24 Toiling away in shock piece of resistance to Hitler’s power
MAGINOT LINE
An insertion of (TOILING)* in MANE for ‘shock’ in the ‘hair’ sense.
4 Radical egg ceremony
NITRITE
A charade of NIT for ‘egg’ (think ‘nit nurse’) and RITE.
5 Hugs dead Liberal Democrat up in the sticks
CUDDLES
It’s D for ‘dead’ and LD for ‘Liberal Democrat’ reversed (‘up’) in CUES for ‘sticks’.
6 Uprising over where politicians live becoming power stations
PUMP HOUSES
A reversal (‘rising’) of UP followed by MP HOUSES, ‘where politicians live’. And PUMP HOUSES are ‘power stations’, apparently.
7 View held by ventriloquist voicing Brian Blessed
ANGLE
I’m sure this is very witty, but I have no idea what it’s about.
8 Agree to keep mixed suet and mint
NOT USED
Well, I suppose that ‘mint’ can mean NOT USED, so it’s (SUET)* in NOD.
13 Back line-up to get drawn with Sweden following talking-to
STERN WORDS
A charade of STERN for ‘back’, a reversal (‘up’) of ROW for ‘line’, D for ‘drawn’ and S for ‘Sweden’. But I don’t think I’ve ever used STERN WORDS to mean a ‘talking-to’. HARSH WORDS, perhaps, or just WORDS.
16 Somehow rang every 1970s bus driver seen on TV
REG VARNEY
(RANG EVERY)* with ‘somehow’ as the anagrind. If you weren’t alive or awake during the 1970s and didn’t watch On The Buses, then you would have struggled with this.
17 Revolutionary copyright is less expensive
CHEAPER
A charade of CHE, APE and R. A lift and separate clue.
18 Singular quality of old river boat
ONENESS
A charade of O, NENE for the river that flows through Peterborough and SS for ‘boat’.
19 Unconscious having perhaps caught disease
OUT COLD
A charade, and a reference to cricket. If you are ‘perhaps caught’ you are OUT. And COLD is, I suppose, a mild ‘disease’. Except if it’s a man-cold, in which case it’s a full-on, life-threatening disease which requires 24/7 care.
20 The first American Bob fought
TUSSLED
A charade of T for the first letter of ‘the’, US for ‘American’ and SLED for ‘bob’, as in ‘bobsleigh’.
22 French son gets lighter
DAWNS
Didn’t know REG VARNEY? Then if you didn’t know DAWN FRENCH you’d have struggled, like me, with this clue. Another charade, of DAWN and S.
Thank you to Alchemi for this morning’s puzzle.
Couldn’t parse 7dn either. 23/11 fooled me; I guessed RAMS INTO but couldn’t work out why. Now I know. Did wonder if there was some significance in the two mathematical long entries across.
If a vent tries to say Brian Blessed it comes out as Grian Glessed. Hidden in there is the word for view you have given as the answer.
Re 16 down.
And if you were alive and awake during the 1970s and did watch On The Buses, then you wouldn’t thank Alchemi for the unpleasant memories evoked. 🙂
Thank you, Conrad, for the elucidation of ANGLE. I will leave it to others to say what they thought of it.
I thought this was a nicely balanced puzzle inasmuch as there was something in there for everyone to gripe about. My biggest gripe was the memory of On The Buses, shared with Conrad Cork whose parsing of 7d was the same as mine. I couldn’t parse the FOU bit in the 196 one, although the mathematical stuff did make me think of Rachel Riley so no complaints there.
Thanks for explaining 7dn Conrad. I think that was a step too far for me.
I liked On the Buses, but I was young at the time.
Tough for a Sunday IMHO but I got there in the end, albeit with 14ac and 17ac going in from defintion alone. Well parsed, Pierre. I managed to parse all the others, including 7dn which I thought was quite clever. I’m with those who could have done without being reminded of REG VARNEY.
Joyce is very worried that one of her first ones in was Reg Varney! Luckily, (according to other commenters) it was only the name she remembered as she never watched the programme.
Bert managed to parse the Brian Blessed clue – but neither of us liked it,
We normally enjoy Alchemi but this wasn’t our favourite. Thanks anyway, and merci Pierre!
I think, some here are quite harsh on Alchemi.
Yes, 14 squared equals 196, and the cube root of 8 is 2.
But why should these (central) solutions have to mean more than they mean – I found it OK.
And why this focus on REG VARNEY?
Even I (“the foreigner”) had the solution rightaway.
From a cryptic POV nothing wrong with it, too.
Nice to see ‘tin soldier’ in 5ac.
Now that’s what I call “lift & separate” in the best Klingsor tradition (opposed to how Guardian solvers define it).
And Pierre, I don’t understand your comment on DOE-EYED (28ac): too complicated for this puzzle (iyho)? YE for ‘the old’ has been used ever since I’m doing crosswords so don’t blame Alchemi.
On the downside (yes, there is one), I think 9ac is poor (even hardly acceptable unless I don’t get it). And the ventriloquist of 7d should be banned from the stage, even if some of you liked it.
All in all, in my opinion, a good crossword which gave me more pleasure than some others, apparently.
We’re all different, aren’t we?
Surface shmurface. I usually take little notice of them anyway. I thought this was a perfectly good puzzle, though I couldn’t parse ANGLE and don’t care for that one clue. I think I agree with all of Sil’s specific comments.
I thought this puzzle was fairly awful too.
Some clues were very easy and some were just iffy to say the least.
fou is Scottish for drunk?
sybila @12
Yes, Chambers gives two definitions for the Scottish word ‘fou’ as an adjective, full and drunk. As a noun it is an obsolete Scottish word meaning a bushel.