Tricky in only a few places, so perhaps a little on the easy side for a Paul. Thanks to Paul. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Punch things (7)
CLOBBER : Double defn: 2nd: One’s personal effects.
5 Second before day’s end took a heartbeat (7)
SYSTOLE : S(abbrev. for “second”) plus(before) the last letter of(…’s end) “day” + STOLE(took unlawfully).
9 Netting first of three, expensive back scored (5)
RATED : The 1st letter of(first of) “three ” contained in(Netting …) reversal of(… back) DEAR(expensive).
10 Tucking away feast, German mathematician demonstrating vulgar quality (9)
GAUDINESS : DINE(to feast) contained in(Tucking away …) GAUSS(Johann Carl Friedrich, German mathematician, and significant influence in many other scientific fields).
11 Dig in order to find plant (10)
FRITILLARY : TILL(to dig in soil preparatory to planting) contained in(in) FRIARY(the brotherhood;order of monks in a monastery).
12 Stop New York baseball team getting turned over (4)
STEM : Reversal of(… getting turned over) METS(professional baseball team based in New York).
14 Pictures in sacred city detailed for spiritual healer (8,3)
MEDICINE MAN : CINEMA(motion pictures collectively, as an art form or industry) contained in(in) “Medina”(sacred city containing the tomb of Mohammed) minus its last letter(detailed).
Defn: … amongst certain peoples, especially North American Indians, believed to possess supernatural powers.
18 14‘s heavy African freight? (11)
HIPPOCRATES : HIPPO(short for “hippopotamus”, a heavy African creature) + CRATES(freight;cargo stored in crates).
Defn: The Greek physician regarded as the father of medicine, or the answer to 14, MEDICINE MAN if you like.
21 A couple in the end misbehaving, all kicking off (4)
ITEM : The 1st letters, respectively, of(…, all kicking off) “in the end misbehaving “.
Defn: … romantically or sexually involved (with each other, I must add).
22 Stress fracture acute, can’t move in conclusion (10)
ACCENTUATE : Anagram of(fracture) [ACUTE, CAN’T + the last letter of(… in conclusion) “move “].
25 Dutch heart and soul in continental islander (9)
TASMANIAN : The central letter of(… heart) “Dutch ” plus(and) [ MAN(a soul;a person) contained in(in) ASIAN(descriptive of someone or something from the Asian continent) ].
Answer: …, from Tasmania, Australia.
26 Item handed over a century after the onset of battle (5)
BATON : [A + TON(slang for a score or achievement amounting to 100;a century, eg. a speed of 100 mph) ] placed after(after) the 1st letter of(the onset of) “battle “.
Defn: …, literally in a relay race, or figuratively from predecessor to successor.
27, 6 Yellow fleece, layer upon layer? (7,4)
CHICKEN SKIN : CHICKEN(a layer of eggs) + SKIN(a layer of tissue).
Answer: A term for goose bumps on ones skin;fleece you might say, as a result of say, fear;or being yellow;chicken.
28 More than one current meeting I cancelled, conference closes during tour (4,3)
TIDE RIP : [I + the last letters, respectively, of(… closes) “cancelled, conference “] contained in(during) TRIP(a tour of places).
Down
1 A service dividing the Church shows bottle (6)
CARAFE : [A + RAF(abbrev. for the Royal Air Force, a branch;a service of the British military) ] contained in(dividing) CE(abbrev. for the Church of England).
2 Get the better of the fool among us? That’s not right (6)
OUTWIT : Whimsically, the wit that is out (of our group), in contrast to(That’s not right) the “in fool”(the fool among us).
3 Morbid fascination ultimately ludicrous about low land in Cornwall (6,4)
BODMIN MOOR : Anagram of(… ludicrous) MORBID containing(about) [ the last letter of(… ultimately) “fascination” + MOO(to low, as a cow does) ].
4 August — that isn’t bitter, on the contrary (5)
REGAL : Reversal of(…, on the contrary) LAGER(a type of beer that isn’t a bitter, another type of beer).
5 Dinosaur slightly injured, shot (6,3)
SQUARE CUT : SQUARE(one who is very out of date;a dinosaur) + CUT(slightly injured, perhaps by a paper cut).
Defn: A batsman’s stroke in cricket.
6 See 27
7 Extra work messed up, remove it (8)
OVERTIME : Anagram of(messed up) REMOVE IT.
8 Relief to chew over source of life (8)
EASEMENT : EAT(to chew, and then swallow) containing(over) SEMEN(the milky fluid which contains spermatozoa, the male seeds which are a source of life when combined with female eggs – it appears that “semen” can now also stand for “sperm”, probably as a result of past widespread loose usage of the word).
13 Final entry in diary dated soon, Brexit primarily catastrophic (3,2,2,3)
AND SO TO BED : Anagram of(… catastrophic) [DATED SOON + the 1st letter of(… primarily) “Brexit” ].
Defn: …, a diary that is traditionally filled at the end of the writer’s day.
15 Leadership ends in power struggle, in a manner of speaking (9)
DIRECTION : The last letters, respectively, of(ends in) “power struggle ” contained in(in) DICTION(a manner of speaking;uttering one’s words and sounds).
16 Following one god, jerk admits crime (8)
THEISTIC : TIC(a jerk;a spasm of a muscle) containing(admits) HEIST(a robbery;a crime).
17 A child of the Fourth Estate endlessly partying in Zermatt, say? (5-3)
APRES SKI : A + PRESS(the Fourth Estate;the news media, specifically printed journalism) as an adjective of “kid”(a child) minus its last letter(endlessly).
Defn: Night partying in a ski resort, an example of which;say, is Zermatt in the Swiss Alps.
19 See 24
20 New brew in drink certainly secured (4,2)
SEWN UP : Anagram of(… brew) NEW contained in(in) SUP(to drink).
Defn: To get completely, as in “the deal was sewn up last week after long negotiations…”
23 Surrealist taking piece from pattern, striped (5)
ERNST : Hidden in(piece from) “pattern, striped “.
Answer: Max, artist of the Surrealism movement.
24, 19 Sinister affair that’s hypothetical (4,6)
DARK MATTER : DARK(sinister;evil in nature) + MATTER(an affair;a subject of concern, feeling or action, as in “matters of state”).
Answer: A form of invisible matter postulated to exist by inference from various gravitational effects in the universe.
Thanks Paul and scchua
I really enjoyed this (not always the case with Paul crosswords for me). Lots of my favourite sorts of clues, equally solvable top down or bottom up. Only FRITILLARY really failed in this, but it was so good that I will forgive it. Too many other fine clues to mention.
I parsed 2d as OUR TWIT (fool among us) with the R dropped.
….but I should make a special mention for “hippo crates”!
Yes, I loved the HIPPO CRATES. I think in 27/6 the cryptic definition is “layer upon layer” ie the skin on the actual chicken, and “yellow fleece” is the wordplay: cowardly + (sheep)skin.
Thanks for DIRECTION which I just couldn’t get to the bottom of, and thanks Paul for great puzzle.
Am I the only one who wrote in Chicken Sh*t just because it fitted and sort of parsed and it was a Paul?
Also parsed OUTWIT the same as Muffin.
Thanks Paul and scchua, an enjoyable end to the week.
Thanks scchua. FRITILLARY was second last in – I recalled it coming up here twice in November 2014. Of the three, this was neatest.
Should add: all three used the same till-in-friary device.
The parsing of 15 makes no sense to those of us with the paper version of the puzzle! For us the B comes from …’5th of October possibly’ Not good to have different versions of clues…
My LOI was SQUARE CUT – I spent ages thinking there must be a WINGED (for slightly injured) dinosaur in there somewhere. Some great clues as ever from Paul: favourites were SQUARE CUT, HIPPOCRATES, GAUDINESS and AND SO TO BED. I agree with Gladys @ 3 about the clue for CHICKEN SKIN. Many thanks to P and s.
There are occasional times when, as a relative novice, I come away a bit irritated that the setter has done everything possible to show that (s)he is cleverer than us by producing the most convoluted, over-complicated clues to make me feel stupid and them a bit smug.
It should, surely, be a pleasure to solve puzzle, with smiles, groans and some learning along the way.
Just like here. This was a wonderful puzzle with some that really made me smile and feel just a little clever.
Best of a fine crop were DARK MATTER, MEDICINE MAN and HIPPOCAMPUS. Also CHICKEN SKIN and SQUARE CUT which came gradually, emerging from the grid. Lovely word play in LAGER and RATED.
I came away with a smile and a sense of achievement. By Friday I’m normally lost.
Thanks aplenty to Paul and sschua
Many thanks to Paul and scchua.
My top favourite today has to be the wonderful HIPPO CRATES.
Thank you Paul and scchua
I solved but could not parse 21a for some reason – but I see now that it was very easy!
My favourites were HIPPOCRATES & APRES-SKI.
New words for me were Bodmin Moor, fritillary and systole, all of which were solvable due to the clear clues.
Many thanks Paul & scchua.
Agree with Muffin, the vast majority of these clues could be ‘solved’. I know that sounds a little inane in a crossword blog but all too often I find answers have to be guessed and then worked backwards to satisfy the clue construction.
Still chuckling about hippo crates and ‘a press kid’.
Missed the gag in OUTWIT and failed to see ‘man’ for ‘soul’ in TASMANIAN.
Thanks for the unfussy fun, Paul.
Nice weekend, all.
Thanks to Paul and scchua. BODMIN MOOR and SQUARE CUT were new to me, though the clues were clear, and I needed help parsing FRITILLARY (my last in). Very enjoyable.
I only knew fritillary as a butterfly, the plant was new to me as was Bodmin Moor.
“And so to bed” was often the closing phrase of England’s most famous diarist, Samuel Pepys.
Thanks Paul and scchua.
This was really fun, especially HIPPOCRATES, GAUDINESS and APRES SKI. I did not know the SQUARE CUT cricket stroke.
A lovely puzzle, even if perhaps a little easier than I expect from Paul. Favourites were HIPPOCRATES, CHICKEN SKIN, OUTWIT (which I also parsed as OU(r) TWIT”) and DARK MATTER.
Thanks, Paul and scchua.
I don’t see skin and fleece as synonymous. The fleece of a sheep is the woolly part, not the underlying skin. You can remove the fleece without harming the sheep; you cannot remove the skin without harm.
david @17, fleece and skin are synonyms for swindle.
I think that ‘fleece’ and ‘skin’ are verbs.
Thanks both. Still struggling with the parsing of 2d. Muffin’s explanation just about works, I suppose, as would ‘outwith’ minus the right hand letter (but it is a down clue). None of the versions is what you’d call felicitous. Although I liked 18 a lot (pace Paul Daniels RIP), as a mathematician, 10 was my favourite today.
Enjoyed this apart from 27/6 which seems to have 2 charades and no defn. As I had never heard of it and not in my dictionary, it felt a bit unfair.
david @17, the Golden Fleece was a sheepskin (still used in some countries, Iran for instance, to entrap gold particles when laid down in streams or riverbeds).
Thanks Paul and scchua,
@Westdale
My reading of 27/6 is that the definition is “layer upon layer” (i.e. a layer of skin upon an egg-layer) with wordplay being simple synonyms: “yellow” = CHICKEN and “fleece” = SKIN (the second pair both as verbs, as explained by Cookie & tyke @ 18 & 19).
Lovely puzzle.
Westdale @21, the def is ‘layer upon layer’ – rather cryptic for a def, but well within one’s expectations of Paul.
Good solid stuff this. We’re expected to know about baseball and cricket – there’s a spread of erudition for you.
An enjoyable puzzle – not too taxing, with good variety in the clues and some clever twists. I came here to check 15D (DIRECTION), but I should have seen the RE in DICTION straight away.
My favourites were 14A (MEDICINE MAN), 18A (HIPPOCRATES) and 13D (AND SO TO BED).
Like Doofs @4 I saw the funny side of CHICKEN S-I- in combination with the name Paul under the grid.
Like Cookie and Tyke, I saw ‘fleece’ and ‘skin’ as synonyms meaning swindle in 27A/6D.
Thank you Paul and scchua.
Had to laugh at 4 – a reversal of something defined by what it isn’t! Milk? Peanuts? Atomic Energy?? I personally needed a couple of crossers to see the answer. I wasn’t aware that “friary” could refer to the order as well as the building. It made for a very nice clue. 24/19 seemed strangely bland after all the rest.
14 reminded me of cinema trips as a kid. We always referred to it back then as “going to the pictures”.
Highly enjoyable. Thanks, Paul and scchua.
Well,I got CHICKEN SKIN from the wordplay but I didn’t- and don’t- see how this = yellow. I’m not convinced by the explanation in the blog. Still, there was HIPPOCRATES to brighten my day.
I don’t think this was vintage Paul but nice enough.
Thanks Paul.
Peter @27, see Gladys @3!
Various
I can see fleece and skin being OK as verbs, but that’s not what the blog says.
Paul showing how it’s done. Bravo.
28ac in the print edition ends not with ‘during tour’ but with ‘in error’. How on earth are we supposed to solve the clue when it is printed wrongly?
crissbencher @31
Quite! It’s annoying when that happens, and it shouldn’t happen. I almost always solve the print puzzle, but today I did the online one.
The TRIP going outside IDE is clued in one version as ‘error’ (therefore ‘in error‘) and in the other as ‘tour’ (therefore ‘during tour‘). To me they are equivalent and equally solvable. I’m not sure which of the two versions of the clue is supposed to be the corrected one.
David @29
I think Mitz @23 has dissected the clue for 27A/6D (CHICKEN SKIN) as it should be.
The original blog does not always get updated – I think that depends on the blogger.
crissbencher @31
What seems to happen is that sometimes setters come up with a revised clue which they or the editor prefer but too late to make it into the printed edition. As Alan Browne said @32, in this case both versions of the clue are valid, as “trip” can mean “error” as well as “tour”, so it isn’t really “printed wrongly”. It is only a problem for solvers who come to a site like this looking for an explanation, but such sites are just bonuses for solvers, not anything to do with the Guardian.
A fine puzzle from Paul. The puzzle of a craftsman.
Not too easy but not as difficult as some of his (welcome) recent offerings.
Of course my parsings for 2d and 27A,6D were the same as those mentioned in the comments as opposed to the blog. (they do make more sense after all)
(How could “chicken” = “yellow”? Perhaps if one added an = “cowardly” it would be obvious!)
The printed version of the puzzle must have been radically different from the online one as Brucedw@9 managed to fit in HIPPOCAMPUS at 18A 😉
Thanksto scchua and Paul
Usual good stuff from Paul, although lacking the trademark reference to bodily functions (other than 8d).
My only quibble is with 27,6 where both halves of the clue give a valid wordplay leading to the answer, but neither, in whole or in part, offers the definition.
Agree with brucedw’s assessment, a really good crossword,especially liked hippocrates
Great puzzle from Paul, and thanks to scchua for the blog
I thought “layer upon layer” in 27a could refer to a number of chickens, hence “chicken’s kin” making it a dd.
Also in 2d. I thought TWIT could be encased in OUR, a looseness for US, “that’s not right” removing the R: OUTWIT(R)
Golly Gosh – we must all be very different; I found this to be Paul at his least enjoyable. Nothing tricksy – more like a quiptic perhaps? Bit of a swift yawn. I appreciate we have different tastes but personally disappointed that this week two of my favourites feel simplified (this and Arachne).
I solve from the newspaper and actually THREE clues were different (and, if anything, easier) here than in print. 14ac, 28ac and 13dn. Is that a record I wonder? Perhaps we have a stand-in editor this week with an aversion to anything challenging…..?
(Still, I enjoyed Thursday’s Nestor in another place. Here, the Screw was fun and Arachne – had it not been offered up as Thursday fare – typically elegant. I thought Boatman was superb in parts.)
I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. I’m mainly posting in case any crossword editors should be lurking; I feel all views should be represented and I’d hate my battle against future cerebral deterioration to be stymied by a policy of down-dumbing.
Thanks S & B.
Nice weekend all!
Thanks scchua and Paul.
A Goldilocks Zone puzzle for me.
Tricky in parts, more straightforward in others. Readily solvable with the right sort of lateral thinking. And a bit of fun here and there.
Particularly enjoyed OU(R)TWIT and HIPPOCRATES.
Bottom half went in first, worked my way back up, and then it took a while to sort out the NE corner with SYSTOLE and EASEMENT (pause for giggle) the last two in.
Good stuff!
Thanks Paul and scchua
Didn’t find this as easy as many of the folk here – maybe still under the weather with a cold / flu – or maybe doing it whilst watching a movie about the K-19 nuclear submarine didn’t help. Enjoyed the struggle all the same.
There was a good variety of clue devices and new learning with BODMIN MOOR and FRITILLARY along with his trademark humour at 18a and 8d.
Like Hamish, finished in the NE corner with SYSTOLE and EASEMENT the last couple in.
It’s a pity that the original blog wasn’t updated to accommodate the more accurate parsing of CHICKEN SKIN and OUTWIT.