A well constructed and efficient crossword with some unusual uses of some of the standard fodder items.
I particularly liked 20A for the use of Ecstasy to provide something different to the usual E.
| Across | ||
| 8 | GALANGAL | Two young females hold an aromatic plant (8) |
| Gal gal around an | ||
| 9 | ROOFER | Building worker replacing fire door I’d taken out (6) |
| (F[i]re [d]oor)* | ||
| 10 | UNISON | Peacekeeping organisation is against making agreement (6) |
| UN + is + on(=against) | ||
| 11 | MODIFIER | One who changes single note during reworking of Do-Re-Mi (8) |
| I F in (do re mi)* | ||
| 12 | RESTRAIN | Chill out, then shower? Check! (8) |
| Rest + rain | ||
| 13 | THRONE | Reading, for example, and working when in the toilet (6) |
| R (one of the three Rs) + on(=working) in the | ||
| 14 | Y FRONTS | Cheek getting squeezed by the bottom part of extremely small underwear (1-6) |
| Front(=cheek) in [extremel]y s(mall) | ||
| 17 | USED CAR | Red sauce mostly transported in a crate? (4,3) |
| (Red sauc[e])* | ||
| 20 | MADMAN | Crazy Australian tucking into ecstasy before noon (6) |
| A(ustralian) in MDMA (scientific name for the Ecstasy drug, properly Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) + n(oon) | ||
| 22 | EXERCISE | Training cut without hesitation (8) |
| Excise around er | ||
| 25 | VINDALOO | Wine accompanies a bit of dahl, potato and hot curry (8) |
| Vin + d[ahl] + aloo (Indian word for potato) | ||
| 26 | FODDER | Fellow has more rum and grub (6) |
| F(ellow) + odder | ||
| 27 | EGRESS | Don’t start to go back, go out! (6) |
| [R]egress | ||
| 28 | INTERNED | Prior to the start of denials, the Web detailed what Lewinsky did in the White House (8) |
| Interne[t] in front of d[enials] | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SARNIE | Following last of interviews, movie star gets something to eat (6) |
| [Interview]s + Arnie, as in Arnold Schwarzenegger | ||
| 2 | FALSETTO | Singing voice is out of tune and rising excessively (8) |
| False + OTT< | ||
| 3 | UGANDA | Drug and alcohol supplies somewhere in East Africa (6) |
| Hidden in drUG AND Alcohol | ||
| 4 | ALIMENT | Insect consumes fruit for nourishment (7) |
| Ant around lime | ||
| 5 | CRUDITES | Put it in oil with a pinch of salt to make appetisers (8) |
| It in crude + s[alt] | ||
| 6 | GOLFER | Sportsman about to strike back (6) |
| (Re flog)< | ||
| 7 | DECENNIA | After short winter month, Annie travels for long periods of time (8) |
| Dec + annie* | ||
| 15 | FLAMINGO | Fleetwood’s first hit with one new golf ball is a flyer (8) |
| F[leetwood] + lam + i n(ew) g(olf) o (golf justified by its used in the phonetic alphabet) | ||
| 16 | TUNELESS | Playing nose flutes without the tips of one’s fingers can be unmelodic (8) |
| (N[o]se [f]lutes)* (first letters of one and fingers removed) | ||
| 18 | DECIDERS | Crucial events could be described without book (8) |
| (Descri[b]ed)* | ||
| 19 | DEPOSIT | Put money in side pot to be dished out (7) |
| (Side pot)* | ||
| 21 | MADDER | Plant providing more nuts (6) |
| DD (madder is a plant which was used to provide red dye) | ||
| 23 | EFFETE | Decadent European female at social function (6) |
| E(uropean) f(emale) + fete | ||
| 24 | STEREO | Hi-fi store gets revamped (including online) (6) |
| Store* around e (e used to mean online in things like email) | ||
*anagram
Thought I was breezing through this, then held up in NE corner for some time. Some nifty cluing and wordplay, some amusing as in 8A, 20A, 21D.
Couple of minor typos, 11A is i (one, single) + F in do-re-mi* and 13A “the” is not part of the definition.
Thanks to Gila and NealH.
Quite enjoyed this so thanks to Gila and NealH.
For some reason failed to parse THRONE despite bunging it in anyway.
Not sure this is my favourite grid type, almost for mini crosswords in one.
four!!!
Doofs: agree, and not much variety in the word lengths, with no entry shorter than 6 or longer than 8 letters.
Thanks for explaining MADMAN which had me stumped – made a change from the standard ‘E’ anyway. MADDER as the dreaded ‘plant’ and DECENNIA were also new, so all in all I found this a bit more challenging than the usual relatively gentle start to the working week.
THRONE was harder than it looked on first sight and I liked the surface for Y-FRONTS.
Thanks to Gila and NealH.
Yes, a very disconnected grid, and all those unchecked first letters make it hard work, with no secret message spelt out as a reward (as far as I can see). But nothing wrong with the clues.
I guess I was the only person who wondered briefly about bluebills for 28a.