Some very good clues here. I wasn’t sitting in my usual place in peace and quiet when trying to solve this, and made poor progress with it. Only when I came home did it fall, and even then I had to ‘cheat’ once or twice. So it’s difficult, or perhaps it’s just me.
Definitions underlined, in maroon. Anagram indicators in italics.
It was such hard work that I breathed a sigh of relief at the end and didn’t look for anything. Perhaps if I’d looked for something a bit earlier I’d have found it easier, but in fact I suspect there is nothing to see. Nothing that I can see, anyway.
| Across | ||
| 1 | PUTRID | Rotten set free (6) |
| put [= set] rid [=free] | ||
| 4 | STRATEGY | Roam around to obtain backing for plan (8) |
| stra(teg)y, the teg being (get)rev. | ||
| 10 | ADUMBRATE | Outline a stupid valuation (9) |
| a dumb rate | ||
| 11 | VAPED | I left flat for ecstasy and inhaled a milder drug (5) |
| vapid with its i replaced by E | ||
| 12 | SEA LOCH | Whiskery swimmer with rueful expression in Scottish inlet (3,4) |
| seal och! — or is the definition simply ‘inlet’, and the och! a rueful expression in Scottish? Either seems possible. | ||
| 13 | HOLDALL | Manor House concealing antique piece of luggage (7) |
| h(old)all | ||
| 14 | INLAND REVENUE | Was the coast clear when it came to this body’s demands? (6,7) |
| CD: the Inland Revenue — HM Revenue and Customs — are in charge of the customs officers, the people who operate on the coast. I’m a bit vague about the actual details of it all but this may help. I think it’s ‘was’ because it’s no longer just called the Inland Revenue. | ||
| 17 | PRECONCEPTION | Position assumed when going to make a baby? (13) |
| 2 defs, one perhaps of pre-conception | ||
| 21 | CUIRASS | Sounds like strange rear plate (7) |
| “queer arse” or is it “queer ass”? Armorial breast plate or some such. My fear is that it really should be pronounced with the short a and that Morph has used the (horrible to me, at any rate) Americanism. | ||
| 23 | RIGHTLY | Bowled out with brilliance and with accuracy (7) |
| {b}rightly — what Morph means is ‘bowled removed from ‘with brilliance”, but some might say that the clue doesn’t quite say that | ||
| 24 | RUING | Feeling bad about head of government upon downfall (5) |
| ruin g{overnment} | ||
| 25 | UFOLOGIST | One’s a Space Invaders expert, it’s said – you get drift? (9) |
| “you follow gist” | ||
| 26 | MANATEES | Chap relaxed by sound of marine mammals (8) |
| “man at ease” | ||
| 27 | LYCEUM | My clue’s rubbish for classical school (6) |
| (My clue)* | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | PRAISE | Big up power lift (6) |
| p raise | ||
| 2 | TSUNAMI | Effulgent sun amid captivating natural phenomenon (7) |
| Hidden in EffulgenT SUN AMId | ||
| 3 | IMBROGLIO | A complicated situation, in my opinion, that’s glib or misguided to interrupt (9) |
| IM(brogli)O, the brogli being (glib or)* | ||
| 5 | THE THIRD PERSON | E.g. She, a gender-neutral thriller? (3,5,6) |
| ‘The Third Man’ becoming gender-neutral — a great film, but a novella originally by Graham Greene — however, the novella actually appeared after the film’s release | ||
| 6 | ANVIL | Italian villain’s hiding place for hard stuff to get hammered (5) |
| Hidden in ItaliAN VILlain, with a definition that is IMO just as good as the CD in 14ac | ||
| 7 | EXPLAIN | Justify old patent (7) |
| ex plain | ||
| 8 | YODELLED | Beginners in youth orchestra conducted head to head and sang (8) |
| y{outh} o{rchestra} del led — led = conducted, and it is placed twice, once reversed, so that the heads are together | ||
| 9 | BATHING COSTUME | Heading for beach, I must change to new outfit (7,7) |
| (b{each} I must change to)*, with &lit. characteristics | ||
| 15 | VAINGLORY | Victory, with India suppressed by British? Ruddy empty boasting (9) |
| V A(I)nglo r{udd}y | ||
| 16 | SPECTRUM | Sabbath guitarist’s mate hasn’t left band (8) |
| S p{l}ectrum — a plectrum is a guitarist’s mate I suppose — there seems to be no evidence of this being a standard term for a plectrum — thank goodness I wasn’t required to know about Sabbath (if such a band exists and is not called Black Sabbath) guitarists and their friends | ||
| 18 | EDITION | Publication of treason subject to beheading (7) |
| {s}edition | ||
| 19 | NITRITE | Salt egg with ceremony (7) |
| nit rite | ||
| 20 | SYSTEM | Ends of branches regularly block way (6) |
| {branche}s {regularl}y stem [= block] | ||
| 22 | ANGST | Worry violent rap style’s out of bounds (5) |
| {g}angst{a} | ||
*anagram
Loved this. Although you don’t explicitly say it in the blog, 14a is a play on ‘inland’ meaning ‘away from the coast’. I spent ages trying to parse 8d but the penny did drop eventually. I got fixated on ‘ed’ being ‘head’ for a while. My personal favourite was the beautiful anagram at 9d.
Thanks to Morph and John.
A lovely treat of a Morph crossword to brighten up a very foggy day. I’d agree with Hovis about the beautiful anagram at 9d
Thanks to Morph and John
Very fine puzzle and thanks John for parsing of Seal Och!And rest of blog.
Many thanks to both – a real treat.
12A is my favourite from a crossword I found tricky but worked through steadily. I needed one or two nudges, but would have scored at least a four on RBQ.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
Quite hard with the last few slow to give up their secrets. Had to dig deep for SPECTRUM and CUIRASS at the end.
Yes, I liked the &littish 9d too and any reference to ‘The Third Man’ is always welcome.
Thanks to Morph and John.
Top class stuff from Morph. Very entertaining. BATHING COSTUME, UFOLOGIST, SEA LOCH, CUIRASS and plenty more.
Agree with @1Hovis that it the wording questions if the revenue comes from “inland” locations, then are coastal locations free of demands.
When I had a few crossers, I confidently stuck in “island” as the first word, thinking “what else can it be”? Penny dropped eventually.
Thanks to Morph and John.
Not so much a puzzle of two halves but four quarters held together by the four long answers and solved roughly in the order NW, SE, SW, NE. Very enjoyable, though; favourites were SEA LOCH (not sure which word ‘Scottish’ refers to) and, for the Misleading Capitals, UFOLOGIST.
Thanks, Morph and John.
Amen for the 9d anagram. Liked the ufologist and the queer arse too. Lot of sound-playing clues, it seemed. Many thanks John & Morph.
No captcha! I can feel my little grey cells fading…
Kitty’s favourites were in THE THIRD PERSON and with the UFOLOGIST. Much enjoyed. Many thanks Morph and John.
I thought that 14A was a nod to Ken Dodd’s joke: I told the Inland Revenue I didn’t owe a penny because I lived near the seaside.
Real mixed bag for me. 3 words that I had to look up, 4 clues that I wasn’t very happy with, 1 answer that I couldn’t parse (15d) and 2 clues that earned big ticks – 1&17a.
Many thanks for the challenge, Morph, and thanks to John – particularly for the help on 15d.
Found the puzzle challenging but hugely enjoyable. Couldn’t see anything terribly wrong with clues, so I’d be interested to hear which ones troubled Jane. I couldn’t see too much wrong. Thanks to setter and blogger.