I don’t know what has prevented today’s scheduled blogger from turning up but here is a quick, and somewhat belated, analysis of the clues. If anything needs further explanation just ask.
I enjoyed this puzzle, apart from being reminded of a TV series that I stopped watching after the first episode, and particularly liked the &lit 20/21.
Across
8 Informed about article with book complete (2,3,4)
ON THE BALL – ON (about) THE (article) B (book) ALL (complete)
10 One now liberated as political defector? (2-3)
EX-CON – double/cryptic def.
11 See woman commander taking bearings (7)
DIOCESE – DI (woman) OC (commander) ESE (bearings)
12 Busy worker round wine town finds little animal (7)
BEASTIE – BEE (busy worker) around ASTI (wine town)
13 One made to shoot / young horse (4)
COLT – double def.
14 Very sick girl in A&E one obsessed with 9 18 (10)
VILLANELLE – V (very) ILL (sick) NELL (girl) in AE – a character in the TV series ‘Killing Eve’
15 Incredibly bad sign for corporation (7)
ABDOMEN – an anagram (incredibly) of BAD followed by OMEN (sign)
17 Shabby theatre bound to appear in correspondence (7)
FLEAPIT – LEAP (bound) in FIT (correspondence)
19 Female in hat after protest broke down (10)
DEMOLISHED – SHE (female) in LID (hat) after DEMO (protest)
22 Severely criticise Casablancan pianist drinking litre? (4)
SLAM – SAM (Casablancan pianist) around L (litre)
23 First-rate paper under discussion (2,5)
AT ISSUE – A (first-rate) TISSUE (paper)
24 Security is brought back into store (7)
DEPOSIT – IS reversed in DEPOT (store)
26 Woman tempted after scripture class — that’s official (5)
REEVE – EVE (woman tempted) after RE (scripture class)
27 Against noble visiting monarch, summit curtailed (7,2)
COUNTER TO – COUNT (noble) ER (monarch) TO[p] (summit curtailed)
Down
1 Ordinary people / trio bored in Great Escape? (3,4,3,5)
TOM DICK AND HARRY – double def. – the second referring to the names of the tunnels being dug
2 Walked street with umbrella thus? (8)
STROLLED – ST (street) ROLLED (umbrella thus)
3 Depression controlled when one swallowed sedative (8)
VALERIAN – VALE (depression) RAN (controlled) around I (one)
4 International blog excited American learner (6)
GLOBAL – an anagram (excited) of BLOG followed by A (American) L (learner)
5 Prisoner French marshal beheaded in river (8)
DETAINEE – [p]ETAIN (French marshal beheaded) in DEE (river)
6 Radical Yankee in revolutionary éclat (6)
ACETYL – Y (Yankee) in an anagram (revolutionary) of ECLAT
7 Noted miniatures unfortunately in deficient appraisal (15)
UNDERESTIMATION – an anagram (unfortunately) of NOTED MINIATURES
9/18 Spy on box always one to catch as plot developed (3,8)
EVE POLASTRI – EVER (always) I (one) around an anagram (developed) of AS PLOT – another character in the TV series ‘Killing Eve’
16 Dark treacle in short while found by girls (8)
MOLASSES – MO (short while) LASSES (girls)
17 Cope with assassin — here’s light cannon (5,3)
FIELD GUN – FIELD (cope with) GUN (assassin)
20/21 Penning one is each MP’s need originally (6,6)
MAIDEN SPEECH – an anagram (originally) of EACH MP’S NEED around I (one) – &lit
25 Trump shot perhaps? Urn needed (3)
POT – double def. – the first referring to the snooker player Judd Trump
I am sorry you did not enjoy “Killing Eve” Gaufrid. I loved both series and I loved today’s puzzle. On a day that The Guardian and the Toughie also offered excellent puzzles, this one stood out as the champion.
Impossible to choose a favourite.
Thanks to you for stepping in to save the day and to Tees of course.
Never having watched Killing Eve, 9 18 was our LOI – we got VILLANELLE from the wordplay but couldn’t make out how the clue led to a verse form; eventually the penny dropped for 9 18 from the wordplay and vaguely remembering having read about the series in Radio Times.
Apart from that everything else was straightforward enough, though requiring some thought. ACETYL was perhaps on the borderline between general and specialist knowledge. We liked SLAM with its reminder of the often misquoted “Play it again”.
Thanks, Tees and Gaufrid.
I haven’t got my solved grid with me but I do remember that it was the usual great Tees treat and that I’d marked 1d and 20/21d for favouritism.
I’ve not watched the programme either
Thank you to Tees and especially to Gaufrid for standing in
Pity 17ac couldn’t be FLEABAG …
I don’t think that watching one particularly tacky TV series should be a GK requirement for a cryptic crossword (but I did it all anyway! equal top).
Thanks to Gaufrid and Tees
Good, fun, crossword.
I don’t watch much television, but I did watch an episode of Killing Eve because someone told me it was good. It was dreadful, but at least it helped me solve this puzzle.
How is “incredibly” an anagrind?
Another vote gainst Killing Eve here – absolute tosh where supposed intelligence agents behave like a Carry On team…
In what way are abdomen and corporation equivalent?
I was under the impression I was the only person on the planet never to have watched Killing Eve, but apparently not. 🙂 (My TV tastes are much more down market.) Still, I’ve found it impossible not to know the name of the assassin in the show – she even got mentioned on Radio 3 recently. However, I didn’t know the other character’s surname and I ended up looking that up.
Even with that, I found this quite tough.
This puzzle is not themed around Killing Eve.
But some seem to think that mentioning the two major characters immediately makes it a GK based crossword.
Both SAM = ‘Casablancan pianist’ and PETAIN = ‘French marshal’ are OK?
And the names of the tunnels in The Great Escape?
But what is GK if – at another place – some had never heard of the term BoJo as being another one of Eton boys.
Just read a newspaper (even the Daily Mail, if you’ll have to), watch Newsnight or whatever – most people surely know who Phoebe Waller-Bridge is.
And if not, forget about my post @4.
Splendid crossword.
Many thanks to Gaufrid & Tees.
reddevil@7: Just seen your question. It’s an old crossword standby. Corporation can mean(and I quote Chambers) a belly, especially a pot belly.
Sil@10: Incidentally, I kept trying to fit Marshall (N)ey into 5dn, as the first French Marshall I could think of.
I have managed to miss the merits of that show. When I found out Trevor Eve wasnt in it, I sort lof lost interest(made the puzzle more of a challenge-had all the letters for Eve’s name but a quick google got them in the right order.
But you cant expect all themed puzzles to be something you like.Tees probably hates the show
Dormouse@10 thanks for that
Dormouse@11 me too!
I’m not a big fan of series 2. Series 1 I enjoyed.
My apologies for the “no show” as blogger for this puzzle, and many thanks to Gaufrid for stepping in to replace me. Not for the first time, being on leave has made me forget what day of the week it is. On the puzzle itself, the reference to Killing Eve would have been lost on me, so Gaufrid doubtless did a better job of it than I would have done. Incidentally, the & lit. at 20/21 was my favourite clue today by far.