Some challenging clues to be found here. Thanks to Gurney. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Attractive source? More or less (6,4)
PRETTY WELL : PRETTY(attractive) + WELL(a source, say, of water).
6 Close, quiet, unlit, empty (4)
SHUT : SH(exclamation to urge or command to be quiet) + “unlit” minus all its inner letters(empty).
9 Finish off religious building that is initially not thought suitable (10)
CONVENIENT : CONVENT(a religious buiding) minus its last letter(Finish off …) + IE(abbrev. for the Latin “id est”;that is) + 1st letters, respectively, of(initially) “not thought“.
Defn: Fitting in well with one’s needs, activities and plans, as in “a time suitable for you”.
10 Concert for first of May (4)
PROM : PRO(for;in support of, as in “a pro-communist organisation”) + 1st letter of(first of) “May“.
12 Cracking guys back – see order after unravelling? (4-8)
CODE-BREAKERS : Anagram of(… after unravelling) BACK – SEE ORDER.
Defn: …, cracking ciphers, that is.
15 Former inhabitant of Africa – island fellow (9)
RHODESIAN : RHODES(a Greek island) + IAN(a name for a fellow).
Defn: …, viz. the territory that is now Zimbabwe.
17 One going downhill fast in winter? (5)
SKIER : Cryptic defn.
18 Tom’s cry maybe as ambition rebuffed – “That hurts!” (5)
MIAOW : Reversal of(… rebuffed) AIM(ambition;aspiration) + OW(an exclamation from one who is in pain).
Defn: …, a tomcat, that is.
19 Imply some get a cider pack on way back (9)
PREDICATE : Hidden in(some) reversal of(… on way back) “get a cider pack“.
Answer: To connote, as in “war predicates pain and suffering”.
20 Smutty communications? (5,7)
SMOKE SIGNALS : Cryptic defn: Not obscene “smutty”, but sooty “smutty”.
24 Surprise visit of Gunners tracked by papers (4)
RAID : RA(abbrev. for the “Royal Artillery”, the military unit with the big guns, aka the Gunners) plus(tracked by) ID(short for identity papers).
25 Tailor the brand, it’s tough and realistic (4-6)
HARD-BITTEN : Anagram of(Tailor) THE BRAND, IT.
Defn: …;unsentimental.
26 Source of light circuit Mike’s installed (4)
LAMP : LAP(one circuit round the track in a race) containing(…’s installed) M(letter represented by “Mike” in the phonetic alphabet).
27 Age – it helps – working in diplomatic post? (10)
LEGATESHIP : Anagram of(… – working) AGE – IT HELPS.
Down
1 Bill in gym showing speed of movement (4)
PACE : AC(abbrev. for “account”;a bill;a statement of what’s due) contained in(in) PE(abbrev. for “physical education”;the gym period in school).
2 Bird near inlet regularly (4)
ERNE : 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th letters of(… regularly) “near inlet“.
3 Gee! He won’t bet! Unexpectedly novel (3,2-7)
THE GO-BETWEEN : Anagram of(…! Unexpectedly) GEE! HE WON’T BET.
Defn: … by Leslie Hartley, British novelist, whose novel was adapted for film, stage, and television.
4 Forgo gesture, by sound of it (5)
WAIVE : Homophone of(…, by sound of it) “wave”(a gesture of the hand).
Defn: …, as in “to forgo one’s rights”.
5 Learner on farm referring to a weather forecast maybe (4-5)
LONG-RANGE : L(letter displayed by a learner driver) + ON + GRANGE(a large farmhouse with its various farm buildings).
Defn: …, as opposed to today’s or tomorrow’s forecast.
7 Defying convention, smuggling in millions, sealed (10)
HERMETICAL : HERETICAL(defying convention;going against what is generally accepted) containing(smuggling in) M(abbrev. for “millions”).
Defn: Descriptive of something sealed to make it airtight.
8 Revise term in contrived manner? He might (4-6)
TIME-SERVER : Anagram of(… in contrived manner) REVISE TERM.
Answer: One who changes or contrives his views to suit prevailing circumstances or fashion.
A WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition) clue.
11 Unease about extremely reckless story raised in song (12)
MARSEILLAISE : MALAISE(a feeling of unease whose exact cause is hard to identify) containing(about) [ 1st and last letters of(extremely) “reckless” + reversal of(… raised, in a down clue) LIE(a story;a fabrication) ].
Defn: Preceded by “La”, the French national anthem.
13 Quarterly test including obscure terms (10)
TRIMESTRAL : TRIAL(a test) containing(including) anagram of(obscure) TERMS.
Answer: Of a period of 3 months, a quarter of a year. The definition, though, means “occurring once every 3 months”.
14 Speaker I introduced to parent agreed postponement (10)
MORATORIUM : [ ORATOR(a speaker) + I] contained in(introduced to) MUM(term for one’s female parent).
16 Confidentially at home chatter about foursome (2,7)
IN PRIVATE : [ IN(at home) + PRATE(to chatter;to talk excessively and pointlessly) ] containing(about) IV(Roman numeral for “four”, or, a foursome).
21 Upset Aidan’s girl (5)
NADIA : Anagram of(Upset) AIDAN.
22 Hard to avoid temporary difficulty or seven-year one? (4)
ITCH : “h”(abbrev. for “hard”) deleted from(to avoid) “hitch”(a temporary difficulty;a snag).
Defn: That which needs to be scratched after seven years of matrimony, the time, it is suggested, when married bliss declines.
23 Bird reduced – a bargain (4)
SNIP : “snipe”(a wading bird) minus its last letter(reduced).
No real hold-ups for me, other than WAIVE. Easy in hindsight but took me ages.
Although I didn’t question it at the time, I think you have a good point about TRIMESTRAL. A trimestral event would be one lasting 3 months whereas a quarterly event would be one occurring once every 3 months. Maybe someone out there knows better. At University, a trimestral event may perhaps refer to an event occurring every trimester but this would not be quarterly.
Thanks to Gurney and scchua.
A very enjoyable solve for me. Best liked was MIAOW. My SOED has an entry for TRIMESTRAL: “Occuring every three months – NOTE Rare before E19”. My Chambers does not list it.
Thanks Bob@2. I note that Chambers has trimestrial as the adjectival form.
13d. Chambers has Trimestrial. Longman’s Crossword Key doesn’t show trimestral. Although I assumed from the clue that that must be the answer.
Otherwise, excellent crossword. Thanks to Gurney.
TRIMESTRAL
Interesting discussion on this. If I may explain how I got there, Collins dict has TRIMESTER as a period of three months with related adjectives TRIMESTRAL or TRIMESTRIAL. QUARTER is also defined as three months and Collins gives as one of its definitions of the adjective QUARTERLY “relating to a quarter” so I took them as interchangeable but have certainly noted the points made.
Thanks scchua for a wonderful blog as ever and thanks to those commenting.
This is how the OED defines it:
“Trimestrial a (sb) Consisting of or containing three months; occurring or appearing every three months. as sb A quarterly publication.
The earliest quotation is from 1693
Also (less correctly) Trimestral a”
There are three quotations from 1824, 1829 and 1881
Thanks Gurney, for dropping by and adding insight to the discussion.
Thanks Gurney and scchua
While QUARTER and TRIMESTER appear to have the same meaning, I wonder if the difference is that a quarter means the first, second, third and fourth three months of the year, while a trimester is any three-monthly period. I don’t think this is contradicted by the definition trenodia @6 gives, as a trimestrial publication could come out in the 2nd, 5th, 8th & 11th months and still be quarterly (ie once per quarter).
NB I’m not having a go at the clue, just being distracted by my love of language and the ways in which it works.
Thanks to Gurney and scchua. Very enjoyable. SNIP as bargain was dredged up from a previous puzzle (not a US usage) as was THE GO-BETWEEN from the 1971 movie. Here was a rare instance where I managed to parse everything.
Thanks Gurney and scchua
One of the puzzles that I didn’t get to whilst on holiday. Was able to complete it with two shortish sittings yesterday with no real holdups. Studied THE GO-BETWEEN at school and it was almost a write-in from the anagram fodder as one of the early entries that helped open up the puzzle. Funny what sticks from 30-40 years ago !
Liked SMOKE SIGNALS when the penny dropped.
Finished in the NE corner with PROM (where I lazily wrote an unparsed FORM initially), CODE-BREAKERS (nifty definition) and HERMETICAL (which was a new term) as the last few in.