A solve of two halves for me, this one. It initially seemed like this would be a walk in the park, but pleasingly enough there were a number of points to lock horns with, and things to learn, later on.
The definition at 23 down was entirely unfamiliar, but generously clued. Similarly, at 5 down I had to take a punt on whether FORCE or FARCE had a second definition I hadn’t heard. The latter seemed more plausible and a quick rummage in Chambers confirmed it.
The bottom right in particular put up a fight. Knowledge of a couple of—admittedly not very obscure—elements in the periodic table was required, as was the name of our second fabric of the day, which was unfamiliar but very plausible.
Good stuff all told, and while I won’t identify a favourite, I particularly enjoyed the several subtly hidden definitions such as 1 across, 13 across etc.
Thanks once again to Peter.
| Across | ||
| 1 | RECOVER | Rally car crossing Eastern Cape (7) |
| (E + C) in ROVER. | ||
| 5 | FUSSPOT | Fellow going to America to see particular individual (7) |
| F + US + SPOT. | ||
| 9 | CORGI | Fabulous bird taken aback by soldier’s dog (5) |
| ROC< + GI. | ||
| 10 | HORSEMEAT | Cook heats more food for some people (9) |
| Anagram of (HEATS MORE). | ||
| 11 | PROMENADE | Old people in procession leaving a college dance (9) |
| (O + MEN) in P[a]RADE. | ||
| 12 | LATTE | Drink large tea brewed outside front of temple (5) |
| L + (T[emple] in TEA)*. | ||
| 13 | FAIR | Fine tune objective (4) |
| F + AIR. | ||
| 15 | SHAMROCK | National emblem made from fake stone (8) |
| SHAM + ROCK. | ||
| 18 | CADILLAC | Scoundrel given bad account of car (8) |
| CAD + ILL + AC. | ||
| 19 | TYPE | Model in pretty petticoat (4) |
| Hidden in [pret]TY PE[tticoat]. | ||
| 22 | HIJAB | Garment in hospital used before start of intravenous injection (5) |
| H + I[ntravenous] + JAB. | ||
| 24 | HOOFPRINT | Impression given by clue about reworked proof (9) |
| PROOF* in HINT. | ||
| 26 | PAPARAZZI | Soldier tucked into pizza prepared for photographers (9) |
| PARA in PIZZA*. | ||
| 27 | PROSE | Sue ignoring charming writing (5) |
| PROSE[cute]. | ||
| 28 | SAND EEL | Lad seen swimming with fish (4,3) |
| Anagram of (LAD SEEN). | ||
| 29 | SATINET | Fabric in a container held in place (7) |
| A TIN in SET. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | RECIPE | Setter covered in messy crepe ingredients? (6) |
| I in CREPE*. | ||
| 2 | CARBONARA | Sauce made by artist with no support turning up in California (9) |
| (RA + NO + BRA)< in CA. | ||
| 3 | VOILE | Opposition leader wearing horrible fabric (5) |
| O[pposition] in VILE. | ||
| 4 | REHEARSAL | About to make out with girl briefly turning up to practice (9) |
| RE + HEAR + LAS[s]<. | ||
| 5 | FARCE | Stuff of comedy (5) |
| Two definitions. | ||
| 6 | SMELL A RAT | Suspect something’s afoot when alarm’s let off (5,1,3) |
| Anagram of (ALARMS LET). | ||
| 7 | PLEAT | Gather fuel round lake (5) |
| L in PEAT. | ||
| 8 | TETHER | Restrain head of therapy with drug (6) |
| T[herapy] + ETHER. | ||
| 14 | REIMBURSE | Doctor supporting German state missing church and sure to arrange refund (9) |
| REI[ch] + MB + SURE*. | ||
| 16 | ANCHOVIES | Fish has novice baffled (9) |
| Anagram of (HAS NOVICE). | ||
| 17 | CAPRICORN | Sign in island attached to maize (9) |
| CAPRI + CORN. | ||
| 20 | SHAPES | Plans made by extremely selfish animals (6) |
| S[elfis]H + APES. | ||
| 21 | ATTEST | Support given to artist losing heart over trial (6) |
| A[rtis]T + TEST. “given to” a little clumsy? | ||
| 23 | JAPAN | Varnish jack and ace before card game’s over (5) |
| J + A + NAP<. | ||
| 24 | HAZEL | Mist over large tree (5) |
| HAZE + L. | ||
| 25 | PIPIT | Bird in mine inhaling iodine and phosphorus (5) |
| (I + P) in PIT. | ||
* = anagram; < = reversed; [] = removed; underlined = definition; Hover to expand abbreviations; BOLD = letters forming part of entries.
Hijab, Paparazzi, Shamrock screamed pangram so I was desperately trying to fit X and Q in but it wasn’t to be. A fairly gentle solve. Thanks to S and B.
Another most enjoyable puzzle from Peter. Nothing that I didn’t actually know although I had to dig deep for the varnish and had something of a mental block over the required definition of ‘objective’.
Many thanks to Peter and to Simon for the blog. Not sure that you actually intended to include ‘NIT’ in the answer to 25d!
As Jane says, another most enjoyable puzzle from Peter. Several subtle definitions and a few smiles along the way. Thanks, Peter and Simon.
Well spotted, Jane. Amended.