A coffe-time solve this morning but not without charm and originality…
… including a trick new to me, duly inserted in the old quiver. Thanks, Slormgorm.
| Across | ||
| 1 | SAILOR | Type docked round area by island lake? (6) |
| SORt (shortened ’sort’ or ‘type’) around A[rea] + I[sland] + L[ake] & possible whole clue def. | ||
| 4 | RAINDROP | Ignoring Duke, empty sink and part of shower (8) |
| dRAIN (to ‘empty’, minus D[uke]) + DROP (‘sink’). | ||
| 10 | AT PRESENT | Time to open a gift? Right now! (2,7) |
| T[ime] separates (‘opens’) A PRESENT. | ||
| 11 | TAILS | Those who secretly follow stories on radio (5) |
| Homophone (‘on the radio’) of ‘tales’ (‘stories’). | ||
| 12 | IRON | Gun club (4) |
| Double definition. Chambers gives ‘a pistol or revolver (slang)’. | ||
| 13 | ABHORRENCE | Can hero be wrong to stifle Republican hatred (10) |
| Anagram (‘wrong’) of CAN HERO BE around R[epublican]. | ||
| 15 | SAILING | What one likes doing with son in a bad way (7) |
| S[on] + AILING (‘in a bad way’). Def = what 1 (Across) is presumably fond of. | ||
| 16 | SALLOW | Pale-looking having left first wife, gulp! (6) |
| SwALLOW (‘gulp’) without first W[ife]. | ||
| 19 | EGRESS | Say clothing needs bow removed for going out (6) |
| EG (‘say’) + (D)RESS, with ‘bow’-shaped letter ‘D’ removed. I’d not seen this dee-vice before but I‘m guessing it’s not original. | ||
| 21 | RESTFUL | Calm displayed by Bucharest fullbacks (7) |
| Inclusion in ‘buchaREST FULlbacks’. | ||
| 23 | AT A STRETCH | He attracts flies continuously (2,1,7) |
| Anagram (‘flies’) of HE ATTRACTS. | ||
| 25 | ANTI | One against soprano leaving wine around knight (4) |
| AsTI (a wine, without S[oprano]) around kNight (in chess). | ||
| 27 | RODEO | Equine event staff expect order primarily (5) |
| ROD (‘staff’) + E(xpect) + O(rder). | ||
| 28 | GRENADIAN | Islander reading a novel about Nazi leader (9) |
| Anagram (‘novel’) of READING A around N(azi). | ||
| 29 | DEPOSITS | Warehouses will store silicon for plants (8) |
| DEPOTS includes SI[licon]. | ||
| 30 | BEAGLE | Hound bald-headed type after bit of banter (6) |
| EAGLE (‘bald-headed‘ being one variety) after B(anter). | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SCARIEST | Most frightening actress I upset (8) |
| Anagram of ACTRESS I. | ||
| 2 | IMPROVING | Slormgorm is rambling about pressure going up? (9) |
| I’M (i.e. our setter is) + ROVING (‘rambling’) around P[ressure]. | ||
| 3 | OPEN | Free love exercises emancipation ultimately (4) |
| O (’love’ on tennis’) + PE (‘excercises’) + emancipatioN. | ||
| 5 | ACTIONS | Splinter groups shunning summit engagements (7) |
| fACTIONS | ||
| 6 | NATURALIST | A line snorted by one out of habit in Darwin? (10) |
| A + L[ine] in NATURIST (nudist, one ‘out of habit’, tee-hee). | ||
| 7 | REIGN | Rule for a king German put in check (5) |
| G[erman] in REIN (‘check’). | ||
| 8 | PUSHER | Drug dealer one might give the elbow (6) |
| Double def. | ||
| 9 | BEDBUG | Maybe one nibbling your ear in the sack? (6) |
| Cryptic def. Ugh. | ||
| 14 | DIRECTIONS | Perhaps briefs consider it criminal (10) |
| Anagram (‘criminal’) of CONSIDER IT. | ||
| 17 | OFFENDING | Breaking the law is disgusting (9) |
| Another DD. | ||
| 18 | ALLIANCE | Don’t start a casual affair or marriage (8) |
| dALLIANCE. | ||
| 20 | SLEIGHT | Dexterity? It sounds unimportant! (7) |
| I.e., ‘slight’. One of those words never allowed out alone. | ||
| 21 | ROCKER | A fan of metal chair with curved supports (6) |
| DD again, ‘metal’ being the rock music genre. | ||
| 22 | MADRID | Irate daughter touring Rhode Island city (6) |
| MAD D[aughter] around R[hode] I[sland]. | ||
| 24 | ADDUP | Make sense of a theologian in court (3,2) |
| A DD (theologian) + UP (before the court). | ||
| 26 | LAME | Large American sat on yours truly? Painful! (4) |
| L[arge] A[merican] on ME. ‘Lame’ in the sense of, say, a painfully bad pun. | ||
*anagram
Thanks Grant. Your explanation of the D in 16a is ingenious, but I thought it was just the “bow” (rhyming with “how”) of DRESS in the nautical sense.
Nice one from Slormgorm – a lot more characteristic than his first appearance exactly four weeks ago, though maybe knowing his secret identity helps.
A very enjoyable solve. I picked up the sailing references early on. I was not happy with BEDBUG, and went instead for TEABAG (ea(r) in t’bag). A bit sexist, that, I know, but reminiscent of many a one-night stand long ago. Liked NATURALIST in conjuction with BEAGLE and the other sailing refs.
When Harry’s hands are tied, he is not quite the Harry we know.
A bit of a pity, if I’m honest.
That said, all very well clued and despite a handful of chestnuts (like 18d or 20d) an enjoyable (and easy-ish) solve.
I particularly liked the natural anagram of 23ac and also 2d where the combination ‘pressure going up’ had to be un-linked [that is what I call ‘lift-and-separate’].
Last ones in were BEDBUG (9d) and SAILING (15ac). In the latter I didn’t make the connection with 1ac – as ‘1’ is written as ‘one’ and also becuase there is a 1 down too. Perhaps, I thought, a nice pastime for father & son?
Many thanks to Grant & Slormgorm.
Thanks both. For 19a I took “bow” to mean front i.e. the first letter is removed.
I thought 1a was clever and liked the 15a reference to it. Also liked NATURALIST and it took me longer than usual to unravel the anagrams AT A STRETCH and DIRECTIONS
last one in was ROCKER – should have seen that earlier!
Many thanks SLORMGORM, good to see this puzzle and look forward to the next, and thanks Grant.
Thanks to Slormgorm and Grant. Enjoyable. I did not parse the missing D in EG[D]RESS and “up” as “in court” for ADD UP was new to me but everything else made good sense.
Like Sil, I really liked AT A STRETCH with its neat non-crosswordese surface.
I’m not sure about D as a bow-shape in 19a at all, although I get the idea. Couldn’t C be a bow as well in that case, an arc shape? I’m with John @4 for the more likely explanation.
Thanks to Slormgorm and Grant.
Thanks Slormgorm and Grant
Pretty straightforward puzzle which I was able to do in a shortish session. It was interesting that he used the ‘subtract one letter from a word’ play six times – 4a, 16a, 19a, 15a, 5d and 18d.
SAILOR was my last one in so when I got 15a, I just thought that it was a pretty weak clue, but with the enlightenment as to how it linked back to 1, then all was well again.
All in all, a pleasant enough way to get through today’s fix.