A neat crossword with terse, well-written clues.
It was themed around courses, which can be used in many contexts e.g. educational, culinary and sporting, all of which got a mention here. 23 was the only clue which rather lost me and I hesitated for a long time to put in the answer because of the slightly unusual spelling.
| Across | ||
| 1 | SAMPLE | Second generous specimen (6) |
| S(econd) + ample | ||
| 4 | TEACHERS | Course providers train cats here (8) |
| (Cats here)* | ||
| 10 | LASAGNA | Obsessive about fuel being put back in dish (7) |
| (Anal around gas) all rev | ||
| 11 | SPEAKER | 8, including top parliamentary official (7) |
| Ser(ies) (answer to 8 abbrev) around peak | ||
| 12 | ALPS | Range of advanced recordings (4) |
| A(dvanced) + LPs | ||
| 13 | CHARITABLE | Daily sex, competent kind (10) |
| Char + it + able | ||
| 16 | UTOPIA | Ideal state of headgear found in Ukraine (6) |
| Topi in UA (car reg and internet abbrev) | ||
| 17 | BURNHAM | Overcook meat for Northern mayor (7) |
| Burn + ham, ref to Andy Burnham, Manchester mayor | ||
| 20 | PUNCH UP | Carthorse winning fight (5-2) |
| Punch (as in Suffolk punch) + up(=winning) | ||
| 21 | HANDLE | Name possibly right by the French (6) |
| Hand (=possibly right) + le | ||
| 24 | GLENEAGLES | Egg seen all round course (10) |
| (Egg seen all)* | ||
| 25 | SHOE | Singular garden footwear (4) |
| S(ingular) + hoe | ||
| 27/9 | APPLIED MATHS | Dismal, the wreckage after software course (7,5) |
| App + (dismal the)* | ||
| 29 | BLEATED | Complained at being put in drain (7) |
| At in bleed | ||
| 30 | TO BE SURE | Caught in elaborate ruse, both coming back of course (2,2,4) |
| Hidden, rev in elaboratE RUSE BOTh | ||
| 31 | PUSHED | Jostled woman during second course (6) |
| She in pud(ding) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SYLLABUS | Legendary monster caught out by public transport course content (8) |
| S[c]ylla + bus | ||
| 2 | MASS PRODUCE | Make a lot with new design of damp courses (4-7) |
| (Damp courses)* | ||
| 3 | LUGS | Pulls centre out of breathing apparatus (4) |
| Lu[n]gs | ||
| 5 | ENSHROUD | Cover up sick dun horse (8) |
| (Dun horse)* | ||
| 6 | CHELTENHAM | Match Helen going around course (10) |
| (Match Helen)* | ||
| 7 | ELK | Foreign animal seen in Selkirk (3) |
| Hidden in sELKirk. | ||
| 8 | SERIES | Course of ship going round lake (6) |
| SS around Erie | ||
| 9 | See 27 Across | |
| 14 | BRANDS HATCH | Cars need to stay on course here – signs of burning emerge (6,5) |
| Brands + hatch | ||
| 15 | DISCREDITS | Casts doubt on record – rector makes changes (10) |
| Disc + r(ector) + edits | ||
| 18 | RUGGEDER | Army unit taking fashionable boots German article finds more robust (8) |
| RE (Royal Engineers) around Ugg + der | ||
| 19 | BEHEADED | Have a course executed (8) |
| DD – be headed (for) | ||
| 22 | AGHAST | Horrified Turkish commander stumped (6) |
| Agha + st(umped) (cricket abbrev) | ||
| 23 | DEBBY | Woman like one coming out (5) |
| Lost on this one. The only thought I had is that it might be something to do with debit. | ||
| 26 | MENU | List of courses for people at university (4) |
| Men + U(niversity) | ||
| 28 | PUB | Bar lead-lined uniform (3) |
| U (phonetic alphabet) in Pb (symbol for lead) | ||
*anagram
‘DEBBY’, I think is ‘like a debutante’, I.e., ‘one coming out’. Stumped me for bit as well. Good puzzle, the ‘course’ theme was fun. Thanks to both.
Not too difficult, but I liked thinking of all the possible courses, including the much missed (for the Grand Prix anyway) BRANDS HATCH. Took me a while to twig to DEBBY but it’s as Grant @1 says.
Didn’t know the dreaded Ugg boot had made it to the UK, and even more surprised to hear it is fashionable. Cultural cringe in reverse.
Thanks to Alchemi and NealH
Another fine puzzle from Alchemi and reasonably straightforward although I got held up sorting out the reference to 8d in SPEAKER and in twigging the parsing of DEBBY.
Top marks went to PUNCH-UP.
Thanks to Alchemi and to NealH for the blog.
Went in fairly smoothly. I guessed that 23dn was something to do with “deb” but it took me a while to see what the answer was.
“A neat crossword with terse, well-written clues” – agreed! The only fly in the ointment was the inelegant (though perfectly valid) word ‘ruggeder’.
Thanks, Alchemi and NealH.
Thanks everyone.