A slow start, but once having got a foothold, it wasn’t as bad as it first seemed. Thanks to Brummie. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Part of Tennessee Williams’ last “hip” production: morose, electrifying Marlon initially in the lead (7)
MEMPHIS : Anagram of(… production) [ last letter of(…’ last, with the apostrophe denoting the possessive of a plural noun) “Williams” + HIP ] placed after(… in the lead) 1st letters, respectively, of(… initially) “morose, electrifying Marlon“.
Defn: … where the King started his career.
5 High price — necessity, perversely to secure botched DIY (4,3)
TIDY SUM : Reversal of(…, perversely) MUST(a necessity, as in “is it a must that all politicians should lie?”) containing(to secure) anagram of(botched) DIY.
9 Who gives a swinging piece of wood about Newton? (5)
DONOR : DOOR(whimsically, a swinging piece of wood) containing(about) N(symbol for the unit of force, the newton).
10 Come across as “fair excited” — touching! (5,4)
LIGHT UPON : LIGHT(fair;not dark in colour) + UP(excited;exuberant) + ON(touching;concerning;about, as in “lectures touching the issue of discrimination”.
Defn: …;to find unexpectedly.
11 “Smudge” gets to identify an apostle (10)
FINGERMARK : FINGER(to identify;to pinpoint, as in “asbestos was fingered as the cause of numerous deaths in asbestos-related industries”) + MARK(the apostle in Early Christianity).
12 See 21
14 Extinct species of the orc, mouse, bats … (4,7)
HOMO ERECTUS : Anagram of(…, bats) THE ORC, MOUSE.
Defn: … of archaic humans, dating as far back as 1.8 million years ago.
18 See 23
21, 12 Come out of Met’s production — bad form (4,4)
STEM FROM : Anagram of(… production) MET’S + anagram of(bad) FORM.
22 Toilet renter reported an American officer (10)
LIEUTENANT : Homophone of(reported) [ “loo”(slang for a toilet) + “tenant”(one who rents;a renter from a property owner) ].
Defn: …, as his/her rank is pronounced by fellow Americans.
25 Being southern, suggest “Rubicund” as a pop group name (6,3)
SIMPLY RED : S(abbrev. for “southern”) + IMPLY(to suggest;to hint at) + RED(rubicund;having a ruddy;red complexion).
26 Fruit pieces: see inside (5)
MELON : MEN(pieces on a chessboard) containing(… inside) LO(see, as in “lo and behold!”).
27 Works jammed with poles, which might need extracting (7)
TONSILS : TOILS(works hard) containing(jammed with) N,S(abbrev. for “north” and “south”, respectively, the 2 geographic poles).
Defn: Masses of tissue in the human throat which might need surgical removal;extraction in some cases.
28 Sally‘s custom: collecting chamber pots (7)
RIPOSTE : RITE(a social custom;practice) containing(collecting) POS(plural of “po”, slang for a pot;bowl kept in ones’ chamber;bedroom and used as a toilet at night).
Defn: A witty retort.
Down
1 No rocker provided key’s final change (6)
MODIFY : MOD(a member of the subculture in late 50s/60s whose members clashed with rival subculture, the Rockers) + IF(provided, as in “I’ll be there if you are there”) + last letter of(…’s final) “key“.
2, 17 Kent’s transformation after mother, grandmother and daughter play (3,3,8)
MAN AND SUPERMAN : SUPERMAN(what Clark Kent transforms into, viz. the DC comics superhero) placed after(after) [ MA(informal term for one’s mother) + NAN(informal term for one’s grandmother) + D(abbrev. for “daughter”) ].
Defn: … by George Bernard Shaw.
3 One who takes after Trotter, the western villain? (5,5)
HORSE THIEF : THIEF(a criminal who takes others’ stuff) placed after(after) HORSE(a trotter being one specially bred for the sport of trotting).
Defn: A criminal in the US Wild Wild West.
And Trotter is the family name of the main characters in the TV series Only Fools And Horses.
4 Deal twinned with medium US city (5)
SALEM : SALE(a deal between a buyer and a seller of an item) plus(with) M(abbrev. for “medium”, as in clothing sizes).
Defn: … in Massachusetts.
Whereas the town of Deal in Kent is actually twinned with Saint-Omer, France and Vlisssingen, the Netherlands.
5 Ornamental stone tree? Yes, around about one thousand dollars! (6,3)
TIGER’S EYE : Anagram of(…, around) TREE? YES
containing(about) [ I(Roman numeral for “one”) + G(abbrev. for “grand”, a sum of a thousand dollars) ].
6 Computer input is one bit over (4)
DATA : Reversal of(… over, in a down clue) [A(article denoting one of something) + TAD(a bit;a small quantity of something) ].
7, 19 Distinct columnar layouts, a hit on stage (8,6)
SEPARATE TABLES : SEPARATE(distinct;set apart) + TABLES(columnar layouts;in which text is arranged and read in columns).
Defn: … by playwright Terence Rattigan. And made into a movie also.
8 To belittle a musical note is ultimately futile (8)
MINIMISE : MINIM(a musical note having the time value of half of a whole note or semibreve) + IS + last letter of(ultimately) “futile“.
13 Wide path, a mere folly, that has its highs and lows (7,3)
WEATHER MAP : Anagram of(… folly) [ W(abbrev. for “wide”, in cricket scores) + PATH, A MERE].
Defn: Something which indicates areas of high and low atmospheric pressures, among other related features.
15 Ruin archaeological work at artist’s festival (5,4)
MARDI GRAS : MAR(to damage;to ruin) + DIG(an archaeological worksite) plus(at) RA(abbrev. for a member of the Royal Academy of Arts, an artist) ‘S.
16 All it needs is the board to engage in battle of wits (5,3)
CHESS SET : Cryptic defn: The battle being a chess game.
I’m not sure of the correctness of the definition. A chess set already includes a chessboard and hence you don’t need a chessboard in addition.
17 See 2
19 See 7
20 Not about to be taken in by expert now! (2,4)
AT ONCE! : Reversal of(… about, in a down clue) NOT contained in(to be taken in by) ACE(an expert in a specific field).
Defn: …, as used to emphasise the urgency of an instruction.
23, 18 You mustn’t leave your home in such a state (5,5,6)
UNDER HOUSE ARREST : Cryptic defn: Reference to a court order not to leave your home.
24 Town of southern France one missed, being elsewhere at the time (4)
ALBI : “I”(Roman numeral for “one”) deleted from(missed) “alibi”(a claim of one being elsewhere at the time, usually the time when a criminal act took place).
11ac: Mark was not one of the (Twelve) Apostles. He was an evangelist.
I bought a chess set in a wooden box when I was young, and it didn’t come with a board.
Thanks to Brummie and scchua. New to me were ALBI, SIMPLY RED, and TIGERS EYE, and with the exception of po = pot everything was gettable from the clues.
Many thanks Brummie and scchua. This and yesterday’s Pasquale have been my favourites this week.
MEMPHIS was brilliant. I thought there was going to be a theatrical theme, but as far as I can see only that one, MAN AND SUPERMAN, and SEPARATE TABLES fit the bill. Also perhaps SALEM (as in The Crucible). Are there others?
Thanks Brummie and scchua
I enjoyed this more than some Brummie puzzles. Favourites were LIEUTENANT, RIPOSTE and UNDER HOUSE ARREST.
LOI was the really easy STEM FROM!
The THIEF bit of 3d seems odd, as a horse thief is a thief who steals horses, so it seems to be clued twice.
“Being” seems out of place in 25a, needed only for the surface. Surely he could have come up with something neater?
“Computer” is superfluous in 6d – we had data long before we had computers (including human ones!)
Defeated by the SW corner, even after cheating by looking up the pop group (hugely sucessful, never heard of, shows where one’s at re pop culture!). 7/19d rang only the vaguest of bells, so ditto re earlier culture, hence great respect for Brummie’s range of gk. Otoh, belittle does not = minimise. Overall quite fun.
Thanks Brummie and Scchua.
I’m no expert in this field, but I did find this on apostles. To me an apostle would be one of the 12 disciples, but I think Brummie has probably enough justification for his clue.
I also thought a chess set was just the pieces, without a board.
Thanks Brummie and scchua.
A nice puzzle, enjoyable.
Ah yes, Clark Kent turning into Superman, it takes me back to my teenage years.
Loved AT ONCE – good surface and lovely word play. Surface of 9ac was a little odd though?
Thanks to Brummie and scchua.
Heaps recorded here in Tennessee (7) would have used less ink on the printout.
Hey that could lead to a theme which seemed to be missing today.Booker T and the MGs Otis Redding, STAX etc…
But I’m no good at setting.So I’ll eat whatever I’m given
I can see and agree with some of the criticisms/imprecisions already noted, but I liked this puzzle a lot. [Sorry, copmus@9, I prefer Brummie’s clue for 1a MEMPHIS, wordy though it is. Great idea for a theme though.]
I also ticked 11a FINGERMARK as I thought the small “a” for apostle just indicated a follower of Christ and therefore the gospel writer was acceptable. 14a HOMO ERECTUS was easyish but fun. I got RIPOSTE for 28a but had to come here for the parse. Others ticked were 1d MODIFY and 6d DATA. Just felt a little sorry that the mini-theme of stage plays didn’t go further, although CHESS in 16d might also have qualified (was it a stage musical?).
Thanks to Brunmie and scchua.
Like muffin I enjoyed this more than I have some of his – or rather i just enjoyed it. Another themeless Brummie – like the last one I think. I didn’t bother whether Mark was an apostle or not – I thought it was a lovely pdm clue. I also liked HOMO ERECTUS, MELON and MAN AND SUPERMAN. Loi was ALBI – I almost missed seeing it but Mrs W spotted it. Thanks to Brummie and scchua.
JinA – we crossed and I wish I’d written your opening para instead of mine.
Loi also ALBI but great when you see it.
Enjoyed most but was looking for more of a second definition to chess set and house arrest. Must just be me missing something.
Thanks Brummie and scchua and to all above.
My favourite of the week, mainly because finished without resorting to external aids unlike the last 3 days which were a not particularly enjoyable struggle for us mere mortals.
May I make a plea for contributors here for some self control next Monday and avoid complaining. The puzzle isn’t for you. Accept it.
Chess set seems fair for just the pieces or pieces plus board. There are different styles of pieces, but boards are always the same shape.
Thanks to Brummie and scchua. I am in the camp of liking this, though on reflection it took longer than perhaps it should. I got bogged down in the right hand side, and particularly the NE. However managed to drag up separate tables from somewhere in the depths, and then the rest followed. Last ones were light upon and data (I just seemed to have a blank on this). I am sure I have seen man and superman in a puzzle relatively recently and I am another fan of finger mark and Memphis. Thanks again to Brummie and scchua.
Some of these took me longer than they should have done, but I enjoyed the challenge
Thanks to Brummie and manehi
Anna @8. 9a is indeed an odd surface. Most of the follow-ups to ‘who gives a…’ that I’ve heard are unprintable.
Thanks Brummie and scchua. Good work both.
Thanks Brummie and Scchua. Much more to my taste after the preceding three day’s offerings, went through this at a fair rate with only the occasional resort to fact-checking (ALBI, TIGERS EYE.) Slightly surprised to see how many of you drew a blank with SIMPLY RED – can’t stand them myself but the name is familiar enough !
One across being such a complicated cryptic clue to solve meant that the NW corner was last to be cleared up.
Most enjoyable of the week for me although, having got the easier ones- MEMPHIS,SIMPLY RED,HORSE THIEF and a couple more, I came to a halt.The rest did yield but quite slowly. ALBI,STEM FROM and LIGHT UPON were the last to go in
Good Fun
Thanks Brummie.
Very satisfying. I’ve nothing to add to others’ comments except to mention that I liked the generous helping of long answers, three of which were formed by combining two lights.
Thanks to Brummie and scchua.
Thanks Brummie and Scchua. This is not my comfort zone but several answers seem to be the names of bands, e.g simply red, horse thief,lieutenant, house arrest, homo erects, Mardi Gras.
This is the first time all week that I have been able to complete (and in most cases even start) the puzzle within 24 hours of when it appeared, so it is also the first time all week that I have made it here to 15^2 to partake of the blog & comments. I really enjoyed this puzzle — even though, as mentioned by others above, there was a tiny measure of disappointment in not being treated to one of Brummie’s ghost themes (as far as I could tell). My (many) favorite clues included MEMPHIS, DONOR, SIMPLY RED, MODIFY, and MARDI GRAS, and the CotD for me, hands-down, was MAN AND SUPERMAN.
I really wanted to like SEPARATE TABLES more than I did — I think the “columnar layouts” part of the clue was a bit prosaic and clunky, and I felt (without coming up with any good suggestions myself) that there must have been other ways to clue the 7, 19 combo answer that would have had more playful wordplay and a better PDM. I also thought there was a missed opportunity in MINIMISE to up the playfulness factor using “Mini-Me”, the character that the late Verne Troyer played in the Austin Powers movies.
I don’t think Brummie could have known this when he set the puzzle, but WEATHER MAP turned out to be a very timely/topical entry on a day when (400 miles to south of me) Hurricane Florence is hitting the Carolinas, and all this week (today included) I and many others have been seeing weather maps tracking Florence’s progress, as part of the ubiquitous storm coverage on TV and the internet.
Thanks to David Ellison @7 for the link to the Wikipedia entry shoeing that there were 70 apostles, not 12. Definitely a TILT for me.
Tupu @24, I was also searching for popular musical references as a possible theme (in addition to the two long Down entries that were stage plays), but not necessarily band names only. Many of the answers reminded me of either well known song titles or band names, or both. I have had alternating earworms for the last several hours: “Memphis, Tennessee” by Chuck Berry and “I am Superman” by REM.
Many thanks to Brummie and scchua and the other commenters. Have a nice weekend, all. Hope anyone affected in any way by the hurricane is faring as well as possible.
Me @25 –
I appear to have had a bit of Ed Sullivan in me in that last post, saying “shoe[ing]” when I meant to say “show”.
And, now that I’v bothered to look it up, I see that I mis-stated the title to the REM song, which is simply “Superman”.
copmus @ 9: what what now? You’ll have to explain that one for me.
I think this was the gentlest Brummie I’ve ever experienced. Everything went in easily except I had no idea how to parse ALBI and I gave up on DONOR. While a swinging piece of wood can indeed describe some doors, it was too far a leap for me.
[Albi is notorious as having been the centre of the Cathar “heresy”, against which the “Catholic Church” launched a pogrom, known as “The Albigensian Crusade” (all inverted commas deliberate!)]
Thanks very much both blogger and setter.
Sorry small point in the blog but W does not equal wide in cricket. W = wicket. Wide is indicated (in scoring at least) by a +. Maybe wide = w elsewhere …?
Stuart @ 29
W = Wide in tabulation of bowlers’ stats:
(bowler) O M R W [NB W B LB]
[David Ellison@7 and DaveMc@25, more recent scripture scholars add a number of women – both named and unnamed – to the list of 70 – whether to call them apostles or disciples is a moot point. Only Junia is in the list linked by David, but off the top of my head I am thinking several Marys, Martha, Joanna, Susanna, the woman at the well, Lydia, Prisca – and more – but it is difficult to retrieve the evidence and nature of their status, due to the socio-political-cultural context of the times.]
[DaveMc, have also been tracking Hurricane Florence from here in Australia and thinking with great concern about all in her path.]
[BlueDot@27: I think copmus@9 created a sort of double definition (unless I am missing something?) referencing Memphis as the home of many very famous musicians/music recordings/recording studios.]
DaveMc @25
I wholeheartedly agree with your CotD MAN AND SUPERMAN, but you might like to put that against a clue in Wednesday’s Vlad puzzle, which I’ll refer to just as 15d, for CotW. That was also a popular choice for CotD. (Sorry you have to miss so many good puzzles in your busy life!)
BTW, “Memphis” was also a Broadway stage musical…
Julie in Australia@33, BlueDot@27 — I took copmus@9 to be using “heaps” as a synonym (of sorts) of Stax (Records, famous recording studio based in Memphis). Maybe copmus can circle back to this discussion and remove all doubt.
Alan B@34 — I did the week’s puzzles straight through, but I was running about 1 to 1.5 days behind every day’s puzzle and only caught up today, so I never checked in on the 15^2 blogs because I hadn’t completed the puzzles they were discussing. If time allows this weekend, I might go back and read through what I missed. Re: 15d from Wednesday’s Wlad, I thought the *clue* was laugh-out-loud funny, but wished that the *answer* could have somehow evoked (and better yet, poked) You Know Who.
I enjoyed this even though I failed to solve 24d ALBI.
Thanks blogger and Brummie
[Thanks Dave@36;! I think you are right and your interpretation makes me like copmus’ clue more. It made me recall fondly the old phrase for one’s vinyl collection “stax o’ wax” – we just resurrected our old LPs and the old turntable. It was like meeting up with dear old friends!
Simon S – but that usage of W is for wides, or at best wide(s) – not wide. I support Stuart’s quibble.
Difficult but doable and entertaining. Great work Brummie.
On 9, your “swinging piece of wood” is ROOD, as in ‘rood screen’ in a church… I think. Apologies if this has already been mentioned, & I missed it!