Thanks Hoskins for an enjoyable crossword, in solving it as well as reading the clues at face value. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Slaughter back-seat driver? Essentially, yes (7)
CARNAGE : [CAR NAG](what one might call a back-seat driver) + middle letter of(Essentially) “yes“.
5 Large cups full of spirit for Hoskins? (7)
MUGGINS : MUGS(large cups) containing(full of) GIN(a spirit;a strong alcoholic drink).
Answer: In slang, what one might humorously use to refer to oneself;Hoskins, the setter, self-referentially.
9 Gents in Ohio regularly suffering consumption (9)
INGESTION : Anagram of(… suffering) [GENTS IN + 1st and 3rd letters of(… regularly) “Ohio” ].
10 Study bit of lovemaking and make some money (5)
LEARN : 1st letter of(bit of) “lovemaking” plus(and) EARN(to make some money).
11 US outlet some tried to present in a different way (4,5)
DIME STORE : Anagram of(… to present in a different way) SOME TRIED.
Defn: In the US, a retail outlet selling a wide variety of inexpensive items.
13 Turn and leave (2,3)
GO OFF : Double defn: 1st: Of milk, to turn bad;become sour.
14 Seaside breezes? That could be good for one! (7)
DISEASE : Anagram of(… breezes;drifts) SEASIDE.
Defn: Something that seaside breezes and air are reputed to cure;be good for.
A WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition) clue.
15 Do wrong snarfing heroin and a little punch? (7)
SHINDIG : SIN(a wrong) containing(snarfing;eating or drinking quickly) H(abbrev. for “heroin” in slang) + DIG(a little punch;a poke).
Defn: A social function.
17 Huge Lover? Cool down, taking a short moment! (7)
FANATIC : FAN(to cool down, with, well, a fan) plus(taking) A + “tick”(a moment, as in “I’ll be with you in a tick”) minus its last letter(short …).
19 Dirty old man’s brother has one after stripping (7)
UNCLEAN : UNCLE(one’s old man’s;father’s brother) + “has one” minus their 1st and last letters, respectively(after stripping).
20 Composer of simple harmonies (5)
LEHAR : Hidden in(of) “simple harmonies“.
Answer: Franz, Austo-Hungarian composer, known for his operettas.
22 Guy responsible for the phonebook’s demise? (9)
STRONGMAN : Cryptic defn: Reference to the feat of strength of ripping a phonebook with bare hands.
24 Toilet trips (finally) after a pair of spicy dishes? (5)
ALOOS : [ LOO(slang for the toilet) + last letter of(finally) “trips” ] placed after(after) A.
Defn: Any of South Asian, and presumably spicy, dishes whose names come from their main ingredient of “aloo”;potatoes.
25 How a man might dress, having a non-conservative bent? (2,3,4)
TO THE LEFT : [TO THE LEFT](of the political spectrum;inclined to be non-conservative).
Defn: A possible;might be answer to the tailor’s question “How do you dress?” translated as an enquiry as to which side of his trousers’ crotch a man stows his limb; the purpose of the question apparently being to avoid any run-ins while taking inner leg measurements.
I can’t believe, contrary to what the clue implies, that all male Conservatives are right-handed.
27 Headlocks! (7)
TRESSES : Cryptic defn: A person’s hair;locks on the head, and not the wrestling holds.
28 Old fools point poets away from Brighton’s front (7)
DOTARDS : DOT(a point) + “bards”(poets) minus(away from) 1st letter of(…’s front) “Brighton“.
Down
1 Kid told off outside The Crown in Lowestoft (5)
CHILD : CHID(past tense of “chide”;to rebuke;to tell off) containing(outside) 1st letter of(The Crown in;the top of, in a down clue) “Lowestoft“.
And Hoskins is not imagining things: there is a pub called The Crown in Lowestoft.
2 Piece of paper (3)
RAG : Double defn: 1st: … of cloth, say; and 2nd: Not so complimentary term for a newspaper.
3 One helping Texan behind on time isn’t a rogue (9)
ASSISTANT : ASS(what one might call a Texan’s behind;rear end, an Americanism equivalent to the British “arse”) placed above(on, in a down clue) anagram of(… rogue) [ T(abbrev. for “time”) + ISN’T A] .
4 Preface of exceptionally good book summary (7)
EPITOME : 1st letter of(Preface of) “exceptionally” + PI(short for “pious”; good, religiously) + TOME(a large scholarly book).
Defn: … of a written work;an abstract.
5 Social conduct of people at station, perhaps (7)
MANNERS : MAN-NERS(what one might call;perhaps, those who man a post;station, like “runners” are those who run).
6 Posh Liberal bound in restraint here? (5)
GULAG : [ U(letter signifying “upper class”;posh) + L(abbrev. for “Liberal”, a member of the Liberal political party) ] contained in(bound in) GAG(a restraint to prevent one from speaking freely or giving information).
Defn: “here” being a forced labour prison camp, originally created in the Soviet Union.
A WIWD clue.
7 I’m a sod with an ego weirdly doing well (2,1,4,4)
IN A GOOD SEAM : Anagram of(… weirdly) [I’M A SOD plus(with) AN EGO].
Defn: …, especially financially, in North England dialect.
8 Maybe Billy the Kid’s issue with a bad hat? (3,2,1,3)
SON OF A GUN : One who may be the son;issue of Billy the Kid, an American Old West outlaw and gunfighter;gun.
12 I hate folk confusing metaphors and similes essentially (11)
MISANTHROPE : Anagram of(confusing) [METAPHORS + middle letters, respectively, of(… essentially) “and similes” ].
14 I left Don messing about with a wood-stripper (9)
DEFOLIANT : Anagram of(… messing about …) [ I LEFT DON plus(with) A ].
Defn: Chemical that removes;strips leaves from trees and plants.
16 Live together (2,7)
IN CONCERT : Double Defn: 1st: Descriptive of a performance in person, as, say, with a concert, ie. not recorded.
18 When to support actors touring independent houses (7)
CASITAS : AS(when, as in “when you enter the room, look around”) placed below(to support) CAST(group of actors in a play or film) containing(touring) I(abbrev. for “Independent”, one who is not a member of any political party).
Answer: Diminutive of “casas”, Spanish for “houses”.
19 A French editor welcoming singer without standing? (7)
UNRATED : [ UN(French for the article “a”) + ED(abbrev. for “editor”) ] containing(welcoming) RAT(one who sings, informing on somebody to the authorities).
21 Flowers and chocolates (5)
ROSES : Double defn: 2nd: Name of a selection of chocolates made by Cadbury.
23 Those against holding onto Troy’s fivers? (5)
NOTES : NOES(those against, as opposed to the “yeses”, those in agreement) containing(holding onto) T(symbol for Troy, a system of weights used for precious metals and gemstones).
Defn: Form of money in denominations of £5 or $5.
26 Attention: clothes should come with no top (3)
EAR : “gear”(one’s set of clothes) minus its 1st letter(should come with no top, in a down clue).
I found some of this quite hard. I still don’t get the SON OF A GUN def., never heard of the “tailor’s question” for 25a and had to guess both STRONGMAN and ALOOS. Thought the latter might have something to do with vindaloo, but ? apparently not.
I liked the ‘back-seat driver’ at 1a and the surface (and not so obvious def.) for SHINDIG.
Thanks to scchua and Hoskins.
One of Hoskins’ very best. Some ingenious clueing, with just the right amount (ie not too much) of cheeky innuendo. LOI STRONGMAN.
@1WordPlodder 8D “a bad hat” is an old-fashioned term for a disreputable person.
25A I haven’t been to Savile Row, but I believe this question is asked by tailors, though perhaps not so frequently as people would like to believe.
Thanks to Hoskins and scchua
Thanks gwep @2. Can’t say I’d ever heard of “a bad hat” before and was only vaguely familiar with that sense of SON OF A GUN anyway. If I ever use the term (rarely) it’s with the “interjection expressing surprise or frustration” meaning.
Not sure I understand the construction of 12 down
ETAPHOR + N gives us ANTHROPE so we need MIS . How is that the core of SIMILES?
Hello @gsolphotog @4.
Someone will probably beat me to it, but I case they don’t, MISANTHROPE = anagram of ‘metaphors’ plus N nd I, which are the middle letters (‘essentially’) of both ‘and’ and ‘similes’.
Didn’t know either the expression in 7d or the meaning of ‘bad hat’ in 8d so those held me up a little along with the necessity to check on the spicy dishes.
Still plenty to enjoy as ever from a Hoskins puzzle. My absolute favs. were CARNAGE and MUGGINS.
Thanks to Harry and to Schuaa for the decryption.
WordPlodder@5, I had already beaten you to it in the blog: “METAPHORS + middle letters, respectively, of ‘and similes’ “.
I had entered “on the left” which stopped me getting casitas. I remembered the tailor’s question from a joke (for which I have just ruined the punchline).
Lots to like, I enjoyed IN CONCERT, MUGGINS, ALOOS and many more.
I hadn’t heard of IN A GOOD SEAM, but clear from wordplay.
Many thanks Hoskins and scchua
We too had ‘on the left’ which held us up for a bit but we did realise our mistake so were able to finish. And in 5ac, this being a Hoskins puzzle, we wondered at first if the large cups referred to an item of clothing – maybe a deliberate misdirection?
Just the right level today, we thought, of Hoskins’ trademark humour.
Plenty to like, INGESTION, SHINDIG, LEHAR, EPITOME and MISANTHROPE to name but a few.
Thanks, Hoskins and scchua.
For me – as a huge fan of this setter – this was another pretty subdued offering from Hoskins.
That said, according to gwep it was ‘one of Hoskins’ very best’ and allan_c discovered a lot of Hoskins’ trademark humour.
Let’s face it, Hoskins’ puzzles have become – whatever the reason might be – different.
They’re still pretty good, though (because he is good).
I found the puzzle relatively hard (on the Hoskins Scale) but that may have just been me.
Like others I guessed STRONGMAN (22ac) and I’m not fully convinced by MANNERS (5d).
And does the clue at 28ac really tell me that a B should be removed from ‘Bards’? Perhaps, it does, as I am not an expert on the pluses and minuses of the English language.
Overall feeling? Please come back, Harry!
Many thanks to scchua & Hoskins.
Sil, for me “poets away from Brighton’s front” is clear and fair for “poets separated from B…”.
Good stuff from the Hoskmeister, as nobody calls him. MISANTHROPE my favourite.
Thanks to scchua for the blog.
Wordplodder, Sorry have only just seen your message. Thanks for explaining.