(Please click here for this same blog but with a picture quiz added. Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.) I was held up in the NW corner because of the tricky 2 down. Thanks to Poins. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Lead singer‘s piece on promenade (8)
FRONTMAN : MAN(any of the pieces used in board games, such as chess) placed after(on) FRONT(land along a seashore or large lake, such as a promenade).
5 Correspond with Grant (6)
ACCORD : Double defn: 1st: To be in agreement with; and 2nd: To give to or bestow upon.
9 In a position of agreement over English department being biased (3-5)
ONE-SIDED : [ ONSIDE(to be on or taking the same side as another, and working towards the same goal) containing(over) E(abbrev. for “English”) ] + D(abbrev. for “department”).
10 Bishop interrupting warning from prince consort (6)
ALBERT : B(abbrev. for “bishop” in chess notation) contained in(interrupting) ALERT(a warning).
Defn: … to Queen Victoria.
12 Delight in unreliable tale about Xavi’s debut (5)
EXALT : Anagram of(unreliable) TALE containing(about) the 1st letter of(…’s debut) “Xavi“.
13 Form of mature dab seen in outline faintly (9)
ADUMBRATE : Anagram of(Form of) MATURE DAB.
Defn: As a verb.
14 Fabricated lies implicating politician of humble origin (6)
SIMPLE : Anagram of(Fabricated) LIES containing(implicating) MP(abbrev. for a Member of Parliament, a political representative).
16 Slag off copper reversing in traffic (7)
TRADUCE : Reversal of(… reversing) CU(symbol for the chemical element, copper) contained in(in) TRADE(traffic in goods and services).
Defn: …, which is slang for “to abuse;malign”.
19 Popular book, needing no introduction, includes account which is not quite accurate (7)
INEXACT : IN(popular;in fashion) + “text”(book, such as one studied in school) minus its 1st letter(needing no introduction) containing(includes) AC(abbrev. for “account”).
21 Out of sorts around start of partial fast (6)
SPEEDY : SEEDY(sickly;out of sorts) containing(around) the 1st letter of(start of) “partial“.
23 Weaving tires poor Bottom (9)
POSTERIOR : Anagram of(Weaving) TIRES POOR.
25 Running through Belper’s entertaining in itself (3,2)
PER SE : Hidden in(Running through) “Belper’s entertaining“.
26 Unknown novelist gets an award (6)
RANDOM : RAND(Ayn, Russian-born American novelist) plus(gets) OM(post-nominals for a recipient of the Order of Merit awarded by the monarch).
Answer: …, as in “some random guy off the street”.
27 Withdrawal of support before race leads to bitter criticism (8)
DIATRIBE : Reversal of(Withdrawal of) AID(support;assistance) plus(before) TRIBE(a group of people sharing a common history, descent, culture, territory, etc.;a race).
28 Substitute essentially uninterested took a seat close to Benitez (6)
ERSATZ : The 2 central letters of(essentially) “uninterested ” + SAT(took a seat) + the last letter of(close to) “Benitez“. A credible footballing surface.
29 Rescue in River Tees ultimately going wrong (8)
RETRIEVE : Anagram of(… wrong) [ + “Tees” minus its last letter(ultimately going) ].
Down
1 The finest ingredient in a cake by the sound of it (6)
FLOWER : Homophone of(… by the sound of it) “flour”(ingredient in a cake).
Answer: …;the best example or representative, as in “the flower of our youth”.
2 In force by 74 in the Borders (9)
OPERATIVE : OPERA(answer to 7 down) + [ IV(Roman numeral for 4) contained in(in) the 1st and last letters of(… Borders) “the” ].
3 Suggest abandoning hospital after soldiers defect (5)
TAINT : [ “hint”(to suggest;to allude to) minus(abandoning) “h”(abbrev. for “hospital”) ] placed below(after, in a down clue) TA(abbrev. for the Territorial Army).
Answer: …;a flaw, as in “a taint on his reputation”.
4 Mean to find a way to overcome anger (7)
AVERAGE : AVE(abbrev. for “avenue”;a broad street) placed above(to overcome, in a down clue) RAGE(anger).
6 Observe general grabbing unruly child after church (9)
CELEBRATE : [ LEE(Robert E., general in the American Civil War) containing(grabbing) BRAT(an unruly;spoilt child) ] placed below(after, in a down clue) CE(abbrev. for the Church of England).
Defn: … a special day or event with festivities.
7 Norma for instance lifted endless marijuana over time (5)
OPERA : Reversal of(lifted) [ “pot”(slang for marijuana) minus its last letter (endless …) ] placed above(over, in a down clue) ERA(a long period of time).
Answer: An example of which;for instance is Norma by Vincenzo Bellini.
8 Comic verse featuring races for horse and bird (8)
DOTTEREL : “doggerel”(comic verse) with(featuring) TT(abbrev. for for the Tourist Trophy motorcycle races on the Isle of Man) replacing(for) “gg”(representation of “gee-gee”, informal term in children’s usage or in racehorse betting).
11 Project involving son only (4)
JUST : JUT(to project from a flat surface) containing(involving) S(abbrev. for “son”).
15 Finished very tired (6,3)
PLAYED OUT : Double defn.
17 Fragments of diner menu found in handbag (9)
UNDERMINE : Anagram of(Fragments of) DINER MENU.
I’m not sure of the equivalency between definition and answer. One is to attack and weaken forcefully and ruthlessly, and the other is to do the same but gradually or insidiously.
18 Spread of Dutch language hindered by island people at first (8)
DISPERSE : D(abbrev. for “Dutch”) + { ERSE(the Scottish or Irish Gaelic language) placed below(hindered by, in a down clue) [IS(abbrev. for “island”) + the 1st letter of(… at first) “people” ] }.
20 Shorten dress (4)
TRIM : Double defn: 1st: … by cutting, as with your hair, say; and 2nd: To add a decoration to, say, a Christmas tree.
Answer: One of those Janus words.
21 Guess I’m upset by opening of scene set in stable (7)
SURMISE : [ Reversal of(… upset) I’M plus(by) the 1st letter of(opening of) “scene ” ] contained in(set in) SURE(stable;secure).
22 Greene novel in Welsh (6)
RENEGE : Anagram of(… novel) GREENE.
Defn: To fail to honour a promise or agreement.
24 Catches Carol with head of Sociology (5)
SONGS : SONG(an example of which is a carol) plus(with) the 1st letter of(head of) “Sociology“.
A rather weak clue, I thought. Hesitated with the answer, trying to find the catch to the wordplay.
25 Safe for fellow touring Thailand (5)
PETER : PEER(an equal, as in a “fellow student”) containing(touring) T(the International Vehicle Registration code for Thailand).
Defn: … for keeping valuables in.
(Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)
Enjoyable enough way to spend an hour or so on a Sunday afternoon. I wasn’t aware of ‘catch(es)’ as a noun to mean SONG(S), nor of ‘handbag’ (and its Mrs. T origin) as a verb. Chambers does give UNDERMINE as a synonym by the way. No real stand-outs for me, but I liked DOTTEREL and ERSATZ.
Thank you to Poins and scchua.
Thanks Schua and Poins. Like Wordplodder there were a few we were unsure of akthough we guesed correctly about the link between handbag and Maggie Thatcher.
Held up by FRONTMAN and rather clever OPERATIVE.
Thanks to Poins and scchua.
Having looked up Chambers I can agree with EXALT (I thought it should be EXULT) for ‘delight (in)’ but I would say it’s stretching things a long way to equate RANDOM with ‘unknown’ – it was the novelist who was unknown to me. And I had PHASED OUT for 15dn; no wonder I couldn’t parse it even though it fitted.
Thanks, though, Poins and scchua.