The usual good Sunday stuff from Everyman. Took me a little while to get into this one; then it fell steadily.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Live dangerously in drama, possessing passion
PLAY WITH FIRE
A charade of PLAY for DRAMA, and WITH FIRE for ‘possessing passion’.
9 Shake about in vehicle
WAGON
A charade of WAG (think dogs) and ON.
10 Engage with article probing tax for holiday property
TIMESHARE
An insertion of MESH for ‘engage’ and A for ‘article’ in TIRE for ‘tax’.
11 Second flower, blue
MOROSE
A chrade of MO and ROSE.
12 One taken in by spy, easily influenced
PLIANT
An insertion of I in PLANT.
14 Mark stone used for paving
FLAG
A dd.
15 Security alert ordered after arrest, right away
COLLATERAL
A charade of COLLA[R] and (ALERT)*
17 Given scare, prepared for complaints
GRIEVANCES
(GIVEN SCARE)*
18 Bitter cold disrupting help
ACID
An insertion of C in AID.
20 Cat‘s energy captured by an artist
ANGORA
An insertion of GO for ‘energy’ in AN RA.
21 Waver, seeming to some extent reluctant
AVERSE
Hidden in wAVER SEeming.
24 Uncommon touch possessed by friend, one identifying perfume ingredient
PATCHOULI
An insertion of (TOUCH)* in PAL followed by I. A word I vaguely knew.
25 Creep in singular relationship
SLINK
A charade of S and LINK.
26 Important figure in row in field, good and gentle
LEADING LIGHT
An insertion of DIN for ‘row’ in LEA for ‘field’ and G and LIGHT for ‘gentle’, as in ‘light touch’.
Down
1 Puppet with hand on nose initially
PAWN
A charade of PAW and N. PAW for ‘hand’ is mostly informal: ‘keep your paws off those chocolates.’
2 Romantic comedy in stages said to go awry
AS GOOD AS IT GETS
(STAGES SAID TO GO)* for the 1997 rom-com.
3 Opening twist followed by cry of pain
WINDOW
A charade of WIND and OW!
4 Small drink before suggestion about record, nothing relevant
TO THE POINT
A charade of TOT and EP plus O in HINT.
5 Celebrity in spoof, a megastar
FAME
Hidden in spooF A MEgastar.
6 Firm, with failure coming up, pretty short of cents
RESOLUTE
A charade of LOSER reversed and [C]UTE.
7 Grasped actions involved in handling of information
DATA PROCESSING
(GRASPED ACTIONS)*
8 Dirty place left covered with grass, transformed
RESTYLED
An insertion of STY and L in REED.
13 Estrangement from country supporting a falsehood
ALIENATION
NATION under A LIE.
14 Dandies keeping style of T. Rex in bright lights
FOG LAMPS
An insertion of GLAM in FOPS. For those who are too young to remember, T Rex were a band in the ‘glam rock’ genre, led by Marc Bolan, who followed the advice of ‘live hard, die young.’
16 Across beach, run off to get galosh
OVERSHOE
A charade of OVER and SHO[R]E
19 Wide support for treacherous type
WEASEL
A charade of W and EASEL.
22 Enjoyable day in store
FUND
A charade of FUN and D.
23 Parody? Very poor, not new
SKIT
SKI[N]T
Many thanks to Everyman for this morning’s puzzle.
Thank you Everyman and Pierre.
I needed your help, Pierre, to parse FOG LAMPS and, like you, dug up PATCHOULI from the depths of my memory, the P at the beginning and I at the end of ‘pot-pourri’ having made this a difficult task. I guess the ‘Cat’ kept the birds away today…
Not the easiest Everyman, but not the most difficult we’ve had lately either. 24ac I’d never heard of, but was pleased to get from the wordplay, and a bit of luck. 🙂
Certainly not easy. If this is entrance level I’m a failure.
I agree Audrey. Certainly challenging enough for me!
In contrast I found this a reasonably steady as she goes job, other than the perfume thingy which I had to look up but mostly got ABM.
Judging by the dearth of comments the U.K. lot didn’t think much of this – shame, I rather enjoyed it. Maybe they are sulking still over Basher Ben and the Lions?
Thanks Everyman and Pierre.
Be careful what you wish for! only 6pm and kick off still a while away – – there is always a chance the Lions might wipe the kiwi winning smile off our faces this week. We dont think so but never say never
Really enjoyed this with plenty of mind bending clues.
enjoyed 1d
1ac when I finally got it, after what seemed like an eternity
thought 8d was just weird but enough to brighten up one of the drabbest days of the year
A mixture of rather easy and rather hard clues. Got it all out, without computer assistance, but it took a while. Could not parse “timeshare” (10 A) nor “fog lamps” (14 D) although I knew they were correct from the cross letters and the literal meaning. Thanks to Pierre for the enlightenment.