Good stuff as always, and a fairly steady solve that kept me going for a while.
I think I’ve been oustmarted by 11 across. I can see roughly what’s going on, but can’t help feeling I’m missing something.
*=anagram, []=dropped, <=reversed. Hover to expand abbreviations.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | RAMJETS – RAM + JE[s]TS. |
| 7 | URUS – UR + US. |
| 10 | ARMIPOTENT – (ITEM + NO PART)*. |
| 11 | EMMA – I think this is just saying that [l]EMMA would mean “argument”, but the wordplay seems odd to me: Argument occupying line at the start of this novel?. |
| 12 | TROUNCE – TR[y] + OUNCE. |
| 14 | LIMITS – MIT in (L + INS). |
| 15 | PROFIT CENTRE – PRO + FIT + CENT + RE. |
| 16 | VACUOLE – (A + Cu) in VOLE. |
| 20 | ASTILBE – B[lossom] in A STILE. |
| 21 | DISPATCH BOAT – (BOTH PICS + DATA)*. |
| 23 | LEARNT – RN in LEAT. |
| 25 | CEILING – IE< in CLING. |
| 26 | DITA – DIT + A. |
| 27 | OHNOSECOND – (HE SOON)* + COND[o]. There’s no sign of it in my Chambers, but a quick internet search confirms that it’s failry widely used. |
| 28 | NONG – N in NOG. |
| 29 | REPLACE – REPLA + CE. |
| Down | |
| 1 | REEL – RE[v]EL. |
| 2 | ADMIRITIVE – MIR in (A + DATIVE). |
| 3 | MAMMOCK – (A in M twice) + MOCK. |
| 4 | EMOTIONALISM – [n]OTIONAL in MIMES*. |
| 5 | SPRUCES – (CUR in SEPS)<. |
| 6 | GO OVER THE TOP – GO OVER + THE TOP[s]. |
| 7 | U-TURNS – UT + URNS. |
| 8 | REND – [t]REND. |
| 9 | STELENE – TELE in (Sn + E). |
| 13 | CORYBANTIC – (CITY CARBON)*. |
| 16 | VIDICON – VIDI + CON. Specifically a Roman emperor, I guess. |
| 17 | LATINER – TIN in REAL<. |
| 18 | FLORIDA – (O[range] + RID) in FLA[p]. |
| 19 | EPILOG – I in (EP + LOG). The reference to Poe just means this is an American spelling. |
| 22 | JINN – J + INN. |
| 24 | TAPE – TAP E. Tap E would be the one you’d come to once you’d dealt with Taps A to D. |
I thought I understood 11ac in the white heat of solving, but I’m not so sure now.
Could quite see 8dn, and guessed RENT but couldn’t parse it.
16dn is surely a reference to Caesar’s V”eni, vidi, vici”.
Recall this took me a bit longer than some Beelzebub’s of late. Finished sometime Sunday evening, but I can’t remember when.