Nice and varied, not too hard or easy, just right for a Sunday. Thank you Poins.
| Across | ||
| 1 | BANISH | Drive away from party around half nine (6) |
| BASH (party) containing NIne (half of) | ||
| 4 | DEFUNCT | Handy to keep foreign article on computer programming language becoming obsolete (7) |
| DEFT (handy) contains (to keep) UN (the French, foreign article) on C (computer programming language) | ||
| 9 | UNDERLINE | Stress caused by row with subordinate (9) |
| LINE (row) following (with) UNDER (subordinate) | ||
| 10 | OWNED | Days after, wife is snatched by one possessed (5) |
| D (days) following (after) W (wife) inside (is snatched by) ONE | ||
| 11 | CLEAR | Disappear completely (5) |
| double definition | ||
| 12 | LOSE HEART | Become despondent as Bethany would if husband left (4,5) |
| H (husband) is the middle letter (heart) of betHany | ||
| 13 | ROPES IN | Enlists most of the others without work at home (5,2) |
| RESt (the others, most of) containing (without) OP (opus, work) then IN (at home) | ||
| 15 | TENDER | Kind offer (6) |
| double definition | ||
| 17 | PTOSIS | Piece of inexpensive padding surprisingly stops condition affecting eyelid (6) |
| Inexpensive (piece of, first letter) inside (padding) anagram (surprisingly) STOPS | ||
| 19 | REGULAR | Pull over into a position behind according to established practice (7) |
| LUG (pull) reversed (over) inside REAR (a position behind) | ||
| 22 | CAPARISON | About to find Juliet’s suitor against rich clothing and ornaments generally (9) |
| CA (circa, about) PARIS (Juliet’s suitor) then ON (against) | ||
| 24 | INLET | Opening line in popular film (5) |
| L (line) in IN (popular) ET (film) | ||
| 26 | ROOMY | Having ample space for my little bounder at first (5) |
| MY following (with…at first) ROO |
||
| 27 | ESOTERICA | Highly specialised publications in German removed from various categories (9) |
| anagram (various) of CATEgORIES missing G (German) | ||
| 28 | DISTEND | Penniless pickpockets are inclined to exaggerate (7) |
| DIpS (pickpockets) missing P (penniless) then TEND (are inclined) | ||
| 29 | ATTEST | Where cricket fans may be seen to demonstrate (6) |
| AT TEST (where cricket fans may be seen) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | BOUNCER | Working on Bruce’s delivery (7) |
| anagram (working) of ON BRUCE | ||
| 2 | NUDGE | Gentle reminder from Georgia after horse gets upset (5) |
| GE (Georgia) following DUN (a horse) reversed (upset) | ||
| 3 | SURPRISES | Astonishing events almost certain to have rebels coming under pressure (9) |
| SURe (certain, almost) then RISES (rebels) under P (pressure) | ||
| 4 | DEEP-SET | Went back to find plant embedded firmly (4-3) |
| PEED (went back) with SET (plant) | ||
| 5 | FROTH | Fellow novelist’s worthless ideas (5) |
| F (fellow) and ROTH (Philip Roth, novelist) | ||
| 6 | NONPAREIL | Sarkozy’s denial about being in trouble after opening of proceedings is without equal (9) |
| NON (Sarkozy’s denial, no in French) then RE (regarding, about) inside (being in) AIL (trouble) following Proceedings (opening letter of) | ||
| 7 | TO DATE | The aim of Flirtbox members until now (2,4) |
| double definition | ||
| 8 | FILL IN | Occupy one’s spare time making punch (4,2) |
| double definition | ||
| 14 | PUT-UP JOBS | Submit posts revealing prearranged conspiracies (3-2,4) |
| PUT UP (submit) and JOBS (posts) | ||
| 16 | NEGLIGENT | Inattentive when seconds away from breaking linnet’s egg (9) |
| anagram (breaking) of LINNET’s EGG missing S (seconds) | ||
| 18 | SUSPEND | Stay with American writer in South Dakota (7) |
| US (American) PEN (writer) in SD (South Dakota) | ||
| 19 | RANDOM | Managed to meet months after party by chance (6) |
| RAN (managed) with (to meet) M (months) following DO (party) | ||
| 20 | RETRACT | Go back on rickety crate carrying rebel leader to Thailand (7) |
| anagram (rickety) of CRATE containing Rebel (leading letter) and T (Thailand) | ||
| 21 | ACARID | Help to accommodate retired motorists with tick for example (6) |
| AID (help) contains (to accommodate) RAC (motorists) reversed (retired) | ||
| 23 | RHYME | A feature of sonnets by Frost say (5) |
| sounds like (say) rime (frost) | ||
| 25 | LOIRE | Learning about Italy’s principal river (5) |
| LORE (learning) contains (about…is) Italy (first letter, principal) | ||
definitions are underlined
I write these posts to help people get started with cryptic crosswords. If there is something here you do not understand ask a question; there are probably others wondering the same thing.
I’ve learnt three new words today – PTOSIS, CAPARISON and ACARID. The first two took a while to figure out as I tried in vain to work in ‘stye’ and ‘romeo’, respectively.
I liked the wordplay in the solution of LOSE HEART. Not convinced that ‘punch’ is a synonym for FILL IN though. Perhaps someone can give an example to illustrate?
Thanks Poins and PeeDee.
Enjoyed this. Didn’t know ACARID or PTOSIS and admit to cheating to get the latter. Favourites were 10a and 12a. Thanks to all.
@1. “Fill in” is English slang for hit or punch.
Found this more difficult than most Sunday puzzle. Some quite tough clues, PTOSIS, ACARID, perhaps 1D another Aussie reference, with 26A.
26A A young kangaroo is a joey. The “little” in the clue refers to the little word for kangaroo.
Sent from Adelaide.
Thanks to Poins and PeeDee
Wondering when Georgia is GE rather than GA (as per usual in crosswords and abbr for US state)
In my ignorance of most things Shakespearean, I was also thrown by ‘Paris’ as ‘Juliet’s suitor’ but had come across CAPARISON before which helped. I’d never heard of ACARID or the ‘exaggerate’ sense of DISTEND but the wordplay was pretty clear for both. OWNED was a bit tricky and I liked FILL IN, as in ‘fill ‘im in’ which I remember being shouted by a well-lubricated supporter standing next to me at the football years ago.
Thanks to Poins and PeeDee
compus @5 – I just wrote in GE for Georgia without thinking. I will go back and think again for a bit.
Hello copmus @5 and PeeDee,
In case no-one else responds before me, GE is the international licence plate country code for the country Georgia. I asked the same question myself here a while ago. Variety is the spice of life don’t you think?
gwep @4 – I was thinking of Roo, a young kangaroo from Winnie the Pooh. I’m sure you are right in your explanation, much more direct and to the point.
Thank you WordPlodder @8, you saved me a trip to the dictionary!
Re Shakespeare: luckily both of my daughters have been studying Romeo and Juliet at school this year so I have been hearing all about it. I had never read the play through before and was surprised how violent and funny it is. A tragedy for sure, but sometimes it seemed to be almost verging on a black comedy.
Nice and pretty tough, I thought. Started at a brisk pace but soon slowed down and was finally beat by a few in the SW. Fave clue for me was the clever 12a so thanks to Poins for the puzz and to PD for the blog.
Thanks trenodia @3. I’ll add that to my Britspeak dictionary.
copmus @5, PeeDee @7 and WordPlodder @8 – GE is the two-letter ISO code for Georgia (GA is Gabon). Another familiar use of this is in internet domains (.ge).