Turbolegs is on holiday at the moment and when he emailed to say that he hadn’t been able to complete the puzzle and his blog before embarking on a long car journey I was already in the middle of reinstalling software and Windows updates onto my laptop which I had reset back to its factory condition prior to upgrading to Windows 10. Therefore if there are any typos in the following it is down to my trying to do two entirely different activities at the same time.
All straightforward, with one new word (for me) at 19dn, apart from 23ac which I’ve been unable to parse unless there is an error.
Across
1 Bits of work? Fellow needs rest after struggling (8)
CHAPTERS – CHAP (fellow) plus an anagram (after struggling) of REST
6 Old city region in South Africa (6)
SPARTA – PART (region) in SA (South Africa)
9 Be awkward, creating drama at university (4,2)
PLAY UP – PLAY (drama) UP (at university)
10 Changing when a bell’s sound goes round a gym (8)
ADAPTING – A DING (a bell’s sound) around (goes round) A PT (gym)
11 Removing drink without showing signs of sorrow (8,2)
SWEEPING UP – SUP (drink) around (without) WEEPING (showing signs of sorrow)
12 Before noon must be attended by a hospital nurse (4)
AMAH – AM (before noon) A H (hospital)
13 Bones in back beginning to ache (6)
STERNA – STERN (back) A[che] (beginning to ache)
15 What will pass straight through in difficult time (8)
ROUGHAGE – ROUGH (difficult) AGE (time)
18 A hundred people in a hurry – dangerous types in stampede? (8)
CRUSHERS – C (a hundred) RUSHERS (people in a hurry)
20 Get rid of an article that will go black in time (6)
BANANA – BAN (get rid of) AN A (article)
21 River penetrating excellent area (4)
ACRE – R (river) in (penetrating) ACE (excellent)
23 Headless dictator in present rule (10)
DOMINATION – I think there might be an error here unless I’ve missed something. The only parsing I can come up with is [a]MIN (headless dictator {Idi Amin}) in DONATION (present) but that gives two Ns not one.
25 As one against, try to show disdain (8)
CONTEMPT – CON (as one against) TEMPT (try)
26 Inclined to give emphasis (6)
ITALIC – a (not so) cryptic def.
27 Nurse dealing with bodily tissue (6)
TENDON – TEND (nurse) ON (dealing with)
28 Wild tigers beside railway office (8)
REGISTRY – an anagram (wild) of TIGERS beside RY (railway)
Down
2 Various characters from the old war stand up (4,5)
HOLD WATER – an anagram (various characters from) THE OLD WAR
3 One gets money and power, yes, before ending in woe? (5)
PAYEE – P (power) AYE (yes) [wo]E (ending in woe)
4 Make clear new place with Exit (9)
EXPLICATE – an anagram (new) of PLACE EXIT
5 Shock when little man is knocked over and sat upon by animal (7)
STAGGER – STAG (animal) REG (little man) reversed (is knocked over)
6 Note / Becky, the social climber? (5)
SHARP – double def. – the second a reference to the anti-heroine in Vanity Fair
7 Ruler preceded by classical stars in fur (9)
ASTRAKHAN – ASTRA (classical stars) KHAN (ruler)
8 Seaweed on a garment at the seaside? (5)
TANGA – TANG (seaweed) A
14 Observed engineers going with haste to seal off court (9)
RESPECTED – RE (engineers) SPEED (haste) around (to seal off) CT (court)
16 A foreign Baron dying becomes aloof (9)
UNBENDING – UN (a foreign) B (Baron) ENDING (dying)
17 Boatman working in old region (9)
GONDOLIER – an anagram (working in) of OLD REGION
19 Moving upstream in need of a load-carrier (7)
SUMPTER – an anagram (moving) of UPSTRE[a]M (upstream in need of a) – a packhorse or mule
22 Stuffy / place at the heart of the diocese? (5)
CLOSE – double def.
23 Wicked type taking Maureen into lair (5)
DEMON – MO (Maureen) in (taking … into) DEN (lair)
24 Vehicles rattling northwards (5)
TRAMS – SMART (rattling) reversed (northwards)
Thanks, Gaufrid.
I parsed 23a in the same way as you, but had completely failed to notice that gave me an extra N.
Oh dear, sorry! Bradman
I’ll post an alternative to the crossword editor
Very forgivable, Don. thats two enjoyable puzzles in a row (in different papers)
Thanks Bradman and Gaufrid
Enjoyed this – easier in a sense that there were not the usual number of obscure words, but still with enough of a challenge in the derivation of the answers.
I noticed the surplus N at 23a – and good to see Bradman’s acknowledgement here.
Finished with CRUSHERS (after changing REFLECTED to RESPECTED) and SHARP (who I hadn’t heard of before, not having read or seen ‘Vanity Fair’)
Many thanks Geoff for covering for me. For those who havent been there yet, Iceland is an absolute must-visit for nature lovers and people who love driving. 🙂
Cheers
TL
Thanks Gaufrid and Bradman.
Sumpter was a new word for me too. I did toy with ‘stumper’ for a while – same anagram fodder – as someone that ‘stumps up’ (carries the burden of payment) but it didn’t feel quite right. And then I dragged the name Sumpter from the back of my mind (wasn’t there an actor of that name?), and checked out the dictionary.
Last one in was Close. Great clue once I twigged.
Glad you had a nice time in Iceland. My experience of that country was limited to 24 hours out of a 36 hour business trip to Wahington DC some years ago. But that, like the extra floor on a sky-scraper, is another stor(e)y!