Well it’s Punk so expect a bit of unusual clueing and a smidgeon of ribaldry.
Actually relatively light on the smut, having seen American Pie some years ago I was expecting something themed but alas no.
Across
7,25 Film and song in cinema are contrived, it’s good to admit (8,3)
AMERICAN PIE
PI (good, although I’ve never seen it used that way outside of crosswords) in [CINEMA ARE]* contrived
8 Black piece in stream (5)
BROOK
B(lack) & ROOK (chess piece)
10 Seeing the most intimate parts of biopsy, potentially tricky (5)
OPTIC
The middle – most intimate bits of – biOPsy potenTially trICky. Tricky indeed
11 Reddish-brown kitty in the city (9)
LIVERPOOL
LIVER (reddish brown colour) & POOL (kitty)
12,15 Ronseal city? (3,7)
NEW ORLEANS
an anagram i.e. NEW RONSEAL*
15 See 12 across
13 Criminal surrender, at being detained (5,6)
UNDER ARREST
[SURRENDER AT]* criminally
17 Fitted in test, partner with brace that’s curved and goes all the way round? (7)
ORBITAL
BIT (a partnet to brace as in bit and brace) in ORAL (test)
19 Where darts players might aim quickly (2,3,6)
AT THE DOUBLE
Double def
22 Burst, from either bank? (3)
POP
Palindrome hence from either side/bank
24 Escape attack from the rear, soldier almost getting caught (9)
DISAPPEAR
Most of SAPPE(r) in RAID reversed
26 Washer only partially fitted I believe should be taken back (5)
BIDET
Hidden reversed in fitTED I Believe
27 Sucker for a bit of luck (5)
FLUKE
Double def
28 Top Liberal boarding vessel (8)
PINNACLE
L(iberal) inserted into PINNACE (a small boat)
Down
25 See 7 across
1,8 Drinking area exciting or so banal (6,3)
SALOON BAR
[OR SO BANAL]* is excited
8 See 1 down
2 The wisest of the wise holding a presentation (8)
BESTOWAL
A inserted into the BEST OWL
3 Put off, university principal overwhelmed by furious dancing? (10)
DISCOURAGE
U(niversity) in DISCO RAGE
4 Legendary footballing authority obtained money by extortion (6)
FABLED
The F.A. & BLED
5 Second pink, blue or black? (6)
MOROSE
Blue or Black as in moods, MO (second) & ROSE (pink)
6 Very thin steaklet almost completely cooked before end of meal (8)
SKELETAL
Most of STEAKLE(t)* cooked & end of (mea)L
9 Cook too much food, revolting portion being served up (6)
OVERDO
Hidden reversed answer in foOD REVOlting
14 Pronouncement of papal edict that’s binding? (6,4)
RUBBER BAND
Popes have said condoms i.e. rubbers were banned…
15 Intermittently, son of Judah has to remove hat (2,3,3)
ON AND OFF
ONAN (seed spilling son of Judah) & DOFF (remove hat) Cue memories of the Two Ronnies singing So Doff, So Doff, Sod off your hat I pray…
16 One making one’s mark in Berlin, perhaps? (6)
SCORER
Double def, re composer Ira Berlin
18 Packeted fuses in component of an audio system (4,4)
TAPE DECK
PACKETED* is fused
20 Cleaner putting foot in bucket, put out (6)
TISSUE
Foot of (bucke)T & ISSUE (to put out)
21 Setter’s comment is Dickensian (6)
BARKIS
Barkis is a cart driver in David Copperfield. A setter’s (dog’s) comment is a BARK & IS from the clue
23 Something to take out on the green party leader, say (6)
PUTTER
Leader of P(arty) & UTTER (say)
I continue to be flummoxed by clues that make “pi” synonymous with “good”. Piety has nothing to do with goodness in my vision of the world. I’m just going to have to keep a special crosswords-only rule in the back of my head somewhere to cope with clues like 7A. However, failing to understand the clue did not inhibit solution. I didn’t understand 20D Tissue, either, my last answer, but that was plain lack of imagination rather than fundamental philosophy. I loved 14D Rubber Band for its conflation of misplaced piety, politics and pronunciation! That was a good laugh, thanks, Punk, and thanks too to flashling for filling in the gaps. And 21D Barkis brought chuckles too!
Good clean fun from Punk. Well, mostly clean. Like Emrys, I smiled at RUBBER BAND, and I also liked AMERICAN PIE. Can you believe Don McLean will be 70 in October?
He was always being asked: ‘What does American Pie mean?’ and his stock answer became ‘It means that if I want to, I’ll never have to work again.’ But he’s still gigging.
Enjoyed this one. Thanks to Mr Fireworks for blogging.
The usual enjoyable puzzle from Punk IMHO. OPTIC was one of my last ones in, but I stupidly saw the last three letters of the answer coming from potenTIally and triCky, and I was wondering how it could be clued so loosely. I can be a right muppet sometimes.
Good fun, bit of smut, loved RUBBER BAND. The “scorer” in 16D is Irving Berlin.
I found the bottom left corner of this held me up. There were several I guessed and I couldn’t see 16dn, even though I thought of Irving.
But I did like 14dn.
Count us as another pair who enjoyed 14d.
Never heard of BARKIS before and ended up going onto Crossword Solver just to get a letter hint. We sometimes wonder why an obscure word (in our opinion) is used when a more common one would fit and it’s not needed for a theme or nina.
Thanks Punk and flashling
BARKIS obscure? You cannot be serious! ‘Barkis is willing’ was known to me as a catchphrase from my early teens, when we read a number of Dickens’s novels at school (and at home, in those days when we made our own entertainment).
It’s ‘Barkis is willin’. He’s the persistent suitor of Clara Peggotty, David Copperfield’s former nurse. I use the phrase in e-mails to frustrate people when I agree to do something, once they have got used to my alternative: ‘Wilco’.