A much tougher puzzle this week, I thought.
I found the right hand side particularly hard going, not least because I’d overconfidently entered THINGUMMYJIG at 1 across, making the long ones at 7 and 8 down impossible. Once that was spotted things finally fell into place, although I still can’t explain 7 down.
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | THINGUMMYBOB – THIN + GUMMY + BOB. |
| 10 | DRAINAGE – A in READING*. |
| 11 | OLIVE BRANCH – LO< + I’VE + BRAN + CH. |
| 12 | MAMMATUS – (M + MAT) in SUM<. |
| 13 | HAYLE – LAY* in HE. |
| 16 | OCCIPUT – (PI in [s]TUCCO)<. |
| 18 | PAREU – PARE + U. |
| 19 | SALSA – S in ALAS<. |
| 20 | PENSION – PENS + (0 in IN). |
| 23 | KIANG – A in KING. |
| 24 | HIPPURIC – HIP + PURI + C[oncocted]. |
| 25 | CONDOTTIERI – CON + DOTTIER + I. |
| 26 | RELIANCE – RE + (I in LANCE). |
| 27 | EXOPHTHALMOS – (HEALTH + SOM[e] POX)*. |
| Down | |
| 1 | TROCHOSPHERE – (R + POOCH*) in THERE. |
| 2 | HELIACAL – ACAI< in HELL. |
| 3 | NOVELIST – [laur]EL in (TV IS ON)*. The reference being to Thomas Hardy, of course. |
| 4 | URBAN – (NAB + RU)<. |
| 5 | MARMITE – ARM in MITE. |
| 6 | MIAMI – AIM< on M1. |
| 7 | BACTERIA BED – Barium, refined but not acceptable, and so on, turing up in part of sewage plant. |
| 8 | BEESTUNG LIPS – LUSTING* in BEEPS. |
| 9 | BICYCLE POLO – ((Y in CC in BILE) + POOL*. |
| 14 | BASIDIAL – BASI[c] + DIAL. |
| 15 | LEONARDO – LEO + NARDO[o]. |
| 17 | UPFRONT – U + PROF* + NT. |
| 21 | JUDAH – JUD + AH. |
| 22 | DITCH – D + ITCH. |
I think it may be BA and DEB(on)AIR ETC upwards.
The parsing of 7dn had defeated me, too, but that explanation works for me, so thanks all for that.