(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.) Perhaps a tad more difficult than the Jason puzzles I’ve blogged before. Thanks to Jason. Definitions are underlined in the clues. (I’m having intermittent Internet connection so I hope this goes through in time.)
Across
1 Gentle guy who nicks whisky finally? It doesn’t get to print (4,4)
SOFT COPY : SOFT(gentle) + COP(a policeman;one who makes an arrest;nicks) + the last letter of(… finally) “whisky “.
Defn: …, but is stored electronically.
5 Harpy is grabbing good food for Jock (6)
HAGGIS : [ HAG(harpy;a cruel ugly woman, alternatively, a demon, in Greek mythology) + ] contained in(grabbing) G(abbrev. for “good”).
Defn: …, the archetypal Scotsman.
9 One trying former African leader and ruler (8)
EXAMINER : EX-(prefix indicating former;once) + AMIN(Idi, once leader/dictator of Uganda) + ER(abbrev. from Latin for Queen Elizabeth).
Defn: …;testing your knowledge or a state of affairs through interrogation, observation, etc.
10 PC that is right for office equipment (6)
COPIER : COP(informal term for a PC;a police constable – long before the computer) + I.E.(abbrev. from Latin for “that is”) + R(abbrev. for “right”). Nice surface.
12 Immediately before parking and returning (9)
PRECEDING : P(abbrev. for “parking”) plus(and) RECEDING(returning;falling back;ebbing).
13 Putting name in where you write could be a bore (5)
GRIND : N(abbrev. for “name”) contained in(Putting … in) GRID(the network where you, the solvers, write the answers in).
14 Succeed with good fan (4)
WING : WIN(to succeed in getting) plus(with) G(abbrev. for “good”).
Answer: An object shaped to cause a current of air, as those on a bird, or a hand-held fan.
16 Incident is found in lyric poem (7)
EPISODE : IS contained in(found in) EPODE(a lyric poem).
19 Eg, a recital moved (7)
ARTICLE : Anagram of(… moved) RECITAL.
Defn: …, or “the” or “an” in grammar.
21 Writer finding time for himself, say (4)
POET : POE(Edgar Allan, American author, poet, etc) plus(finding) T(abbrev. for “time”).
Defn: An answer of which;say, is the writer, Poe himself. The clue also works with the defn. and wordplay switching roles.
24 Support British expert (5)
BRACE : BR(abbrev. for “British”) + ACE(an expert).
25 Wife, say, with elegance with whom you studied (9)
CLASSMATE : MATE(an example of which;say, is a wife) placed after(with;possessing) CLASS(elegance, as in “that girl has got class”).
27 Covering German’s informal game (6)
RUGGER : RUG(a piece of fabric used to cover) + GER(abbrev. for “Germany”).
Answer: An informal term for the ball game of rugby.
28 Supplement could be amazing drug (8)
MAGAZINE : Anagram of(could be) [AMAZING + E(abbrev. for the drug, “Ecstasy”) ].
Defn: A supplementary publication that comes with, say, your Sunday papers.
29 Copper to think highly of clergyman (6)
CURATE : CU(chemical symbol for the element, copper) + RATE(to think highly of).
30 Calm about a dead romantic song (8)
SERENADE : SERENE(calm;peaceful) containing(about) [A + D(abbrev. for “dead”) ].
Down
1 Dwarf mole finding shelter inside (6)
SLEEPY : SPY(an example of which is the mole who has infiltrated an enemy’s government or intelligence organisation) containing(finding … inside) LEE(shelter from the wind).
Defn: …, one of seven co-habiting with Snow White.
2 Marked agent gets round litigation (6)
FLAWED : FED(short for a federal law enforcement agent in the USA) containing(gets round) LAW(litigation, as in “they brought the dispute to law”).
Defn: … with a defect.
3 A herb from Switzerland I have (5)
CHIVE : CH(the international code for Switzerland) + I’VE(contraction of “I have”).
4 Looking closely at making a noble? (7)
PEERING : Cryptic defn: Whimsically, making someone a peer;a nobleman could be termed “peer-ing”.
6 This is next to a hypotenuse! (9)
ALONGSIDE : A + LONG SIDE(or longest side, of a right-angled triangle;the hypotenuse).
7 Place for rushing or riding excitedly (8)
GRIDIRON : Anagram of(.. excitedly) OR RIDING.
Defn: Field of play in American football, with a lot of rushing and tackling.
8 Office equipment is quiet and more revolutionary (8)
SHREDDER : SH(interjection urging for quiet) plus(and) REDDER(more red;revolutionary, leftist or radical).
11 Alternatively long-armed giant (4)
OGRE : The 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th letters of(Alternatively) “long-armed “.
15 Harsh line accepted by popular union (9)
INCLEMENT : L(abbrev. for “line”) contained in(accepted by) [ IN(popular;in fashion) + CEMENT(union – I’m not sure of “cement” as a synonym for “union”. The former is the substance that serves to bind or unite, or, as a verb, the act of doing so; whereas the latter is the result of binding together, and cannot be used as a verb.) ].
Defn: …, such as is the weather.
17 Vicious insult about King in command (8)
BARBARIC : BARB(insult) +A(abbrev. for “about”? – I presume this is an alternative to the Latin-based “c” or “ca”. Or there’s a typo?) + R(abbrev. for “Rex”, Latin for “king”) + I.C.(abbrev. for “in charge of”;in command).
18 US commando on street is an unknown bloke (8)
STRANGER : RANGER(a US commando) placed after(on, doesn’t quite work for a down clue?) ST(abbrev. for “street”).
20 Some see a cheat in every individual (4)
EACH : Hidden in(Some) “see a cheat “.
21 Helping with the introduction of California’s humour (7)
PLACATE : PLATE(a helping of food, as in “a plate of noodles”) containing(with the introduction of) CA(abbrev. for the US state of California).
Defn: … as a verb.
22 An island sheep upset a place to lie up (6)
MARINA : Reversal of(… upset, in a down clue) [AN + I(abbrev. for “island”) + RAM(a male sheep) ].
Defn: … your pleasure boat.
23 Welsh tranforming green energy (6)
RENEGE : Anagram of(tranforming) [GREEN + E(abbrev. for “energy” in physics) ].
Defn: To fail to fulfil an obligation;promise.
26 Most unfavourably comment on small behind (5)
SLATE : S(abbrev. for “small”) + LATE(behind;past the time due).
(Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)
My favourite was 6d. Otherwise all good.
Thx
No link to picture quiz, I don’t think!
almw3, having Internet connection problems with PC, but funnily not my iPad (which is not very user friendly for editing the blog). Still trying.
Great blog and parsing, Scchua. Thanks to you – and Jason.
The SE corner held me up a bit and PLACATE was my last entry.
Re 15&17dn, Chambers (2011) gives:
‘cement’ n a bond or union and ‘a’ abbrev: about
Thanks Jason and scchua
Was able to do this confortably in my lunch break. Last one in was RENEGE after spending a bit of time trying to find a Welsh boy / girl’s name from the fodder – eventually twigged with the right answer and the alternate welsh – very nice deception!
Struggled with WING for a long time in the final parsing checks to get the ‘fan’ definition of it – hadn’t seen that context of the word.
Also liked 6d.
Many thanks to Jason for an enjoyable solve and to Scchua for the blog. Scchua – for the definition for 5 across, I think you mean food for the archetypal Scotsman and not the Scotsman himself! 🙂
Jam Jar, we both agree…instead of typing the definition verbatim from the clue again, to save time I use ellipses, thus the defn. comment should be read: food for Jock, the archetypal Scotsman.