Well it’s Everyman, there’s rarely much to say about these rather fine, if easyish crosswords
There were one or two unusual defintions to my mind but that’s the game.
Thanks Everyman once again
Across
1 Instant, kind behaviour that’s become habitual (6,6)
SECOND NATURE
SECOND (instant) & NATURE (kind, type)
9 Discover Romeo after church in a spot (9)
ASCERTAIN
C.E. & R(omeo) inside A STAIN
10 Rule in theatre ignored (5)
REIGN
Hidden answer
11 Twisting, turning borders filled by artist (6)
SPIRAL
R.A. inside LIPS reversed
12 Concrete chips lay all over the place (8)
PHYSICAL
Not perhaps the most obvious synonym for concrete but [CHIPS LAY]* all over the place
14 Accost with objection to new outlet (10)
BUTTONHOLE
BUT (objection) & TO & N(ew) & HOLE (outlet)
15 Deer with singular designation (4)
STAG
S(ingular) & TAG (designation)
17 Stick around in between acts (4)
CANE
Reversed (around) hidden (in) answer
18 Free issue about revolutionary film (10)
EMANCIPATE
PIC(ture) reversed inside EMANATE (issue)
20 Officer in authority loosens administrative areas (8)
COUNTIES
C(ommanding) O(fficer) & UNTIES
21 Familiar with outside broadcast? Not I (4,2)
USED TO
I removed from [OUTS(i)DE]* broadcast. Nicely misleading clue
24 Cause irritation, not having right joint (5)
ANKLE
R(ight) from (r)ANKLE
25 Renewed aim to stir followers (9)
IMITATORS
[AIM TO STIR]* renewed
26 Time in farm is for working, producing soft cheese (7,5)
FROMAGE FRAIS
AGE (time) in [FARM IS FOR]* working
Down
1 Great batsman with plan, in luck, has scrambled a run (6,9)
SACHIN TENDULKAR
INTEND (plan) inside [LUCK HAS]* scrambled & A & R(un). Nicely fitting surface to the answer
2 Spice in club, for example, half of amount, minute (8)
CARDAMOM
CARD (a club say) & half of AMO(unt) & M(inute)
3 Clever invention finally put away (4)
NEAT
End of (inventio)N & EAT (put away)
4 Drama ending in afternoon tea left worker perhaps unconcerned (10)
NONCHALANT
NO (japanese drama) & end of (afernoo)N & CHA for tea & L(eft) & ANT the typical worker in crosswords
5 Hard to break belief in force (6)
THRUST
H(ard) inside TRUST (belief)
6 Substance of dune in shifting action drags bucket down (4,4,3,4)
RAIN CATS AND DOGS
SAND (what a dune is made of) inside [ACTION DRAGS]* shifting
7 Approve route through mountains (4)
PASS
Double definition
8 Area with a lounge roughly parallel (8)
ANALOGUE
A(rea) & [A LOUNGE]* roughly. Again not the most obvious definition
13 Group after fancy exercises sobbing (10)
WHIMPERING
WHIM (fancy) & P.E. & RING (group)
14 Support heartless fraud with impertinence (8)
BACKCHAT
BACK (support) & a heartless CH(e)AT
16 Capital son holds in family account initially (8)
KINSHASA
S(on) HAS (holds) in KIN (family) & A(cccount)
19 Outpouring from saint with quantity of paper (6)
STREAM
ST (saint) & REAM (paper)
22 Exile got upset, missing regular characters (4)
OUST
Alternate letters of gOt UpSeT
23 Very loud appeal raised in quarrel (4)
TIFF
FF (very loud musically) & IT (eg sex appeal) reversed or raised in a down clue
My favourites were SACHIN TENDULKAR, NONCHALANT, BUTTONHOLE.
Thank you Everyman and flashlng.
Thanks, Everyman and Loonapick. It took quite awhile for me to work out SACHIN TENDULKAR – I knew it was an anagram but once I figured it out the rest of the puzzle fell easily. The only other clue I had to pause on was FROMAGE FRAIS – not a cheese I’ve encountered before and, being an anagram, I had to check my hunch on how to spell it.
Thank you Everyman and flashling.
My cricketing knowledge stops with Garfield Sobers and Geoffrey Boycott, although I have heard of Ian Botham, so I had trouble getting SACHIN TENDULKAR and had to google. The clue for him and those for SECOND NATURE and FREE were my favourites.
Cookie@3: same here, except I was unable to find the answer by googling. Rather annoying as it was the only one I couldn’t complete.
I too had never heard of the cricketer which would make me a heretic in some people’s eyes but I somehow found his name without much trouble. I particularly liked the clever clue for USED TO.
Once again, this puzzle was easy to start and took quite a while to complete. It’s supposed to be easy but I rarely find it so. It’s always entertaining though so thanks to flashling (don’t know where Loonapick came from) and Everyman.
On the hard side for Everyman I thought. Vaguely knew the cricketer but not how to spell his name, so that one took a while. Elsewhere never really seemed to gain much traction, but got there in the end.
Tough one …….I struggled all day with this puzzle. ( ascertain , emancipate and Kinshasa stumped me ! )
I thought it was hard too, but eventually got all except 3 d neat. Don’t think ‘clever’ = ‘neat’ does it? Yes I did know the cricketer and have watched him play on TV.
Anyone heard of the Lions? Or Team NZ? Or the America’s Cup? Well all of NZ have and will be glued to the TV tonight and tomorrow morning.
A toughie. I too struggled. Guessed a few but could not parse. EMANCIPATE and OUST were two of them.
Go the ABs. Don’t care much for yachting.
Enough of the easy I say! Some very challenging but well constructed clues. Particularly liked buttonhole as was looking for anagrams all over the place but there were none. Re the game; breathing a bit easier now after a very tense first 60 minutes. Thanks to all.
Dipped out on Counties (put courtier) and thought 18A about revolutionary film made it finish ca te. At that point the sailing came on and brain turned to mush. The Americans look to have definitely picked up some speed. This is going to be nail biting.