Nice and straightforward. Thanks, Sleuth.
| Across | ||
| 1 | COUNCIL OF WAR |
Military conference crucial now most of foe has regrouped (7,2,3)
An anagram (has regrouped is the indicator) of crucial, now and the first two letters of foe |
| 8 | INSULIN |
A lot of abuse associated with popular hormone (7)
INSUL (all but the last letter of insult, plus IN (popular) |
| 9 | CHINDIT |
Old fighter’s language in court (7)
HINDI inserted into CT, an abbreviation for court |
| 11 | INEXACT |
Approximate tax since last of accounts is missing unusually (7)
An anagram (unusually) of tax and ince (since without s, the final letter, or last, of accounts) |
| 12 | TOTEMIC |
Exotic item in bed recalled – like a ritual object? (7)
An anagram (exotic) of item, inserted into a reversal (recalled) of cot, or bed |
| 13 | DENCH |
Actress taking part of downtrodden character (5)
Included in the last two words of the clue. If this was the Guardian crossword she would be an actor. |
| 14 | BLUE RINSE |
Smart Conservative getting note in promotion (4-5)
BLUE or conservative plus RISE (promotion) with N for note inserted. |
| 16 | FIRMAMENT |
Strong chaps in a tournament principally, site for stars? (9)
FIRM (strong) plus A plus T (the first, or principal, letter of tounament) with MEN (chaps) inserted |
| 19 | RECTO |
Minister clipped page (5)
Rector without its final letter (clipped) |
| 21 | NOSTRUM |
Tours arranged in New Mexico for quack medicine (7)
An anagram (arranged) of tours inserted into NM, the abbreviation for New Mexico |
| 23 | REPROOF |
Carpeting concerning expert, old fellow (7)
RE (concerning) plus PRO (expert) plus O for old and F for fellow. |
| 24 | ERITREA |
A monarch getting flag put back in African state (7)
A plus ER (British monarch) plus TIRE (flag), all reversed (put back) |
| 25 | NOMADIC |
Roving dog, manic, not good for training (7)
An anagram (for training) of dog minus the letter g (not good) and manic |
| 26 | MIDWESTERNER |
Man hosting weird teens stupidly is Kansan, maybe (12)
MR (abbreviation for mister, a man, with an anagram (stupidly) of weird teens inserted |
| Down | ||
| 1 | CISTERN |
British islands behind part of ship and tank (7)
CI (the Channel Islands) plus STERN, the rear (behind) part of a ship |
| 2 | UNLEASH |
Free land initially in a French wood (7)
L (the first letter of land (land initially) inserted into UNE (a in French) ASH (wood) |
| 3 | CONSTABLE |
Beat might encapsulate such an artist (9)
A constable patrols (or at least PC Dixon used to) his beat. Ther’s no doubt a name for this type of clue but it’s obvious anyway. |
| 4 | LICIT |
Allowable petition lacking in this way (5)
Solicit (petition) without so (in this way) |
| 5 | FRITTER |
Fatty food more suitable around back of bar (7)
FITTER (more suitable) surrounding R, the final (back) letter of bar |
| 6 | ABDOMEN |
A black day, portent for part of body (7)
A plus B for black, plus D for day plus OMEN (portent) |
| 7 | CIVIL DEFENCE |
CID mixed with vile criminal in wartime force (5,7)
An anagram (mixed) of CID and vile plus FENCE, a slang term for a person who knowingly buys and sells stolen goods. Pedants might dispute the definition, as civil defence also deals with non-wartime contingencies. |
| 10 | TICKET OFFICE |
Instant coffee? It is free in part of stadium (6,6)
TICK (instant) plus an anagram (free) of coffee and it |
| 15 | UTTERANCE |
Outright expert penning new saying (9)
UTTER (outright) plus ACE (expert) surrounding N for new. |
| 17 | ROSSINI |
Composer enthralled by cross in Ireland (7)
Contained in the last three words of the clue |
| 18 | AIRCREW |
Fine Republican with, perhaps, eight high-flying staff? (7)
AI (first rate, or fine) plus R for Republican plus CREW (of a racing eight in rowing) |
| 19 | REPOMAN |
Creditor’s agent managed to seize record order (7)
RAN (managed) seizing EP, a vinyl record format and OM, abbreviation for Order of Merit |
| 20 | CHOWDER |
Food with wine turning up is thick soup (7)
CHOW (food) plus a reversal (turning up) of red (wine) |
| 22 | MEANS |
Humble son getting resources (5)
MEAN or humble plus S for son |
In 14A has Sleuth confused “Blue Rinse” meaning (in a slightly derogatory way) “old” with “Blue Stocking” which does mean smart?
Percy – we’d have associated blue rinse with middle-aged and conservative rather than smart, and most dictionaries agree, but Collins has it as “denoting or typifying an elderly, well-groomed, socially active, and comparatively wealthy woman, esp one with conservative views” and Chambers has something similar, so we suppose it’s OK.
Thanks Sleuth and D&L
Nice, but am afraid that I didn’t find it straightforward. Didn’t previously know CHINDIT and it seemed to take a long time to break into the bottom left corner. Some lovely misdirection -spent ages looking for something Japanese at 26a.
Had INSULIN early on but couldn’ parse it for a while. Liked ERITREA and AIRCREW.
Finished in the SE corner with MEANS, REPOMAN and CHOWDER the last three clues
Thanks D&L and Sleuth.
A nice gentle stroll through Crossword-land with the only hold-up being the need to check RECTO in my dictionary (my new word for the day).
I too had a question mark over BLUE RINSE for SMART but if Chambers says OK then we lesser mortals can surely not disagree.
I’m still just under a week behind and so far this (last week) has been fairly gentle in both the FT and Guardian. Bet it won’t last!