As usual with CRUX, a more challenging start to the week…
Some great clues here – 1a, 8d and 14d for example. 6a was a new word for us.
There were a couple where we were not sure of the parsing – 22a and 21d (this always seems to happen with CRUX)
‘Twas very enjoyable anayway! Thanks CRUX!
Across
1 I must talk freely – hard to do for a man? (9)
MULTITASK
(I MUST TALK)* (*freely)
6 Placebo heals like tea, to some extent (5)
BOHEA
place[BO HEA]ls (to some extent)
9 Londoner spurns new party and becomes Independent (5)
LONER
LO[ndo]NER (spurns N (new) + DO (party))
10 Hard biscuit for Rufus? (9)
GINGERNUT
Rufus means “red haired”
11, 12 Where to find goods in badly planned store (3,4,3,4)
ALL OVER THE SHOP
Cryptic definition
14 Regressive tax near ruined the foreign bar (7)
TAVERNA
(VAT)< (tax, <regressive) + (NEAR)* (*ruined)
15 Gave support for double parking on outskirts of Enfield (7)
PROPPED
PRO (for) + PP (double parking) + E[nfiel]D (outskirts)
17 Rather slow, also surprisingly neat (7)
ANDANTE
AND (also) + (NEAT)* (*surprisingly)
19 They typify the female – nothing changes! (7)
OVARIES
O (nothing) + VARIES (changes)
20 Humour about death (4)
DOOM
(MOOD)< (humour, <about)
22 Patter made by a US drummer, perhaps (5,5)
SALES PITCH
Cryptic definition
Not sure about this. We assume that “drummer” here refers to a person drumming up trade, though don’t see why US is relevant.
25 National Trust property eg, giving hospitality to all (4,5)
OPEN HOUSE
Double definition
26 Goblin runs around ring? On the contrary (5)
TROLL
TOLL (ring) around R (runs) (on the contrary, ie ring around runs)
27 Suffering with disease, origin unknown (5)
SEEDY
SEED (origin) + Y (unknown, algebraically)
28 Duty payable on a larger car? (6,3)
ESTATE TAX
Cryptic definition
Down
1 Island whisky, last seen on Jura (5)
MALTA
MALT (whisky) + [jur]A (last seen)
2 Enduring hunger upset Dickens (4-5)
LONG-LIVED
LONG (hunger) + (DEVIL)< (Dickens, <upset)
3 Rude Irish clergyman doesn’t finish on time (10)
IRREVERENT
IR (Irish) + REVEREN[d] (clergyman, doesn’t finish) on T (time)
4 Outlaw in Albania ousted by German of another country (7)
ALGERIA
ban (outlaw) ousted by GER (German) in AL[ban]IA
5 Inks mixed with it could be blood (7)
KINSHIP
(INKS)* (*mixed) + HIP (with it)
6 Brewers regularly may set the standard for industry (4)
BEES
B[r]E[w]E[r]S (regularly)
Busy as a bee
7 Suspicion borne by Richard of York? (5)
HUNCH
Double definition
8 Does it pan out where diggers are found (9)
ANTIPODES
(DOES IT PAN)* (*out)
“digger” being an Australian term
13 Words for those starting course in French (3,7)
BON APPETIT
Cryptic definition
14 Sort of predators not credible among crocodiles (9)
TEARDROPS
(PREDATORS)* (*sort of)
16 Indicates trouble ahead for Railtrack (6,3)
POINTS OUT
Double definition
18 Period of history bound for wipe-out (7)
ERASURE
ERA (period of history) + SURE (bound)
19 Sweat, yet not hot? Take too much and . . . . (7)
OVEREAT
OVER[h]EAT (sweat, not H (hot))
21 . . .. . this is what you’ll become! (5)
OBESE
… as a result of overeating (19d)
Not sure if there’s anything else going on here
23 He needs hammers, say, and a corkscrew (5)
HELIX
HE + “licks” (hammers, say)
24 Question asked about English milk production (4)
WHEY
WHY (question asked) about E (English)
Well you aren’t alone Teacow. I entered SALES PITCH without parsing, assuming there must be a (famous?) drummer somewhere caled Sales. Sure enough there is one, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunt_Sales
OBESE left me wondering if thee was any more to it too.
Overall enjoyable and more of a challenge than the monday competition.
Thanks to CRUX and the Teacows
For “drummer”, Chambers gives “a commercial traveller (esp US).”
Thanks Crux and Teacow
Enjoyed this over a cup of coffee this morning and found it at a ‘just right level’ to begin the week with.
I found the US travelling sales rep in the Oxford, so all was well with that clue. Just had 21d as a gimme clue !
BOHEA does tend to come quite a bit in crosswords – strangely it used to mean a high quality tea, but now it means the opposite.
Liked the crypticness with 13a, it took longer than it should have to determine that it was an eating course rather than a studying one. Finished with that one, TROLL and HELIX last of all.
Like Andrew, I saw that definition for ‘drummer’ in Chambers. New to me. I reckon you have the reason behind it in your blog, Teacow.
Was beaten in the SW, failing to get DOOM, SEEDY or OBESE. Unless there is more to the latter, it is a lousy clue. Having the definition in the middle for 6a is unusual but not unheard of.
Generally enjoyable but a few I didn’t like. Thanks to Crux and Teacow.
I think I prefer everyone else’s version of ‘Drummer’!
Thanks to Cruz and Teacow. “Drummer” was familiar to me, and I knew BOHEA from previous puzzles, but for some reason, even after I had pencilled in SEEDY and DOOM, TEARDROPS (and the crocodile connection) eluded me.