The scheduled blogger has failed to turn up so here is a quick analysis of the clues.
An enjoyable offering from Alberich today (as was that of his alter ego in the Independent).
.
Across
1 Upset, daughter spread lies about hugging groom (14)
DISCOMBOBULATE – D (daughter) plus an anagram (spread) of LIES ABOUT around (hugging) COMB (groom)
10 One having a depressing experience, first off (5)
OWNER – [d]OWNER (a depressing experience, first off)
11 Person speaking with some trouble, primarily? (9)
STUTTERER – cryptic def.
12 Issue involving press operator (7)
SURGEON – SON (issue) around (involving) URGE (press)
13 Criminal can leave heartless, isolated area (7)
ENCLAVE – an anagram (criminal) of CAN LE[a]VE
14 Tree in west-facing college grounds quietly removed (5)
SUMAC – CAM[p]US (college grounds quietly removed) reversed west-facing)
16 Former pupil needs help to be vigilant (9)
OBSERVANT – OB (former pupil) SERVANT (help)
19 One may land sole female in small harem in trouble (9)
FISHERMAN – F (female) plus an anagram (in trouble) of IN S HAREM
20 Surrounded by fighting, no man holds back (5)
AMONG – hidden reversal (holds back) in ‘fightinG NO MAn’
22 Small container is large enough to hold ring, you said (7)
AMPOULE – AMPLE (large enough) around (to hold) O (ring) U (you said)
25 Passionate right-winger’s laconic self-description? (7)
AMATORY– AM A TORY (right-winger’s laconic self-description)
27 Around end of April, becoming fond of carpeting (7-2)
TALKING-TO – TAKING TO (becoming fond of) around [apri]L (end of April)
28 Fruit is round, as it happens (5)
OLIVE – O (round) LIVE (as it happens)
29 Rather old, / like Bugs Bunny? (4,2,3,5)
LONG IN THE TOOTH – double def.
Down
2 Blockhead can be amusing or silly (9)
IGNORAMUS – an anagram (silly) of AMUSING OR
3 Cut up about odd bits of review (5)
CARVE – CA (about) R[e]V[i]E[w] (odd bits of review)
4 Give wrong facts to teacher mostly popular with class (9)
MISINFORM – MIS[s] (teacher mostly) IN (popular) FORM (class)
5 Practical fellow plunged into river (2,3)
OF USE – F (fellow) in (plunged into) OUSE (river)
6 Start to transpose parts of number one song? That’s rash (9)
URTICARIA – T[ranspose] (start to transpose) in (parts) URIC (of number one) ARIA (song)
7 Advanced examination not requiring large halls (5)
ATRIA – A (advanced) TRIA[l] (examination not requiring large)
8 Impassioned article penned by Hemingway? (7)
EARNEST – A (article) in (penned by) ERNEST (Hemingway)
9 I agree with promotion of old tournaments (6)
JOUSTS – JUST SO (I agree) with the O (old) moved up (with promotion of)
15 Italian composer, an angelic figure in Italy (9)
CHERUBINI – CHERUB (an angelic figure) IN I (Italy)
17 State Opera somehow supports what its performers do (9)
SINGAPORE – an anagram (somehow) of OPERA underneath (supports) SING (what its performers do)
18 One defends explorer, in a sense (9)
APOLOGIST – POLO (explorer) in A GIST (a sense)
19 Flatcar goes off the rails, creating a pattern (7)
FRACTAL – an anagram (goes off the rails) of FLATCAR
21 Sound bloke providing source of hot water (6)
GEYSER – a homophone (sound) of ‘geezer’ (bloke)
23 Python hurt bears heading for lake (5)
PALIN – PAIN (hurt) around (bears) L[ake] (heading for lake)
24 Cardinal is obese? Not half! (5)
EIGHT – [overw]EIGHT (obese? Not half)
26 A game needing energy galore (1,4)
A GOGO – A GO (a game) GO (energy)
Thanks Gaufrid for being so kind to step in.
I found this crossword very good with 17d (SINGAPORE) as my CoD.
As far as I can see, 11ac is not a cryptic definition.
It’s S[ome] T[rouble] coupled with UTTERER (person speaking), so as a whole an & lit.
Quite easy for an Alberich.I got PALIN alright but how is she/he/it ‘python’? Help,Sil.
Sil @1
Thanks, you are quite right about 11ac. That’s what comes of writing a post, in a rush, many hours after having solved the puzzle (particularly when ones short-term memory is declining).
Ong’ara of Kenya @2
Michael Palin, one of the participants in the old TV series Monty Python.
Oh, I see, thanks, Gaufrid.Only heard of Sarah Palin.
Always good to pop by and find where you’ve gone wrong.
Thanks, Sil, for STUTTERERS: I, like, Gaufrid, just took it as a cryp, whereas it is in fact a quite brilliant &lit. Damn.
And I failed to spot URIC = ‘of number one’, i.e. about pee. I don’t think I’d have found either of these even if I’d been been blogging.
Thanks to all:an even better puzzle than I’d thought.
Good crossword. Did not understand PALIN until I used Google and came across Monty Python. Sarah Palin was the only PALIN I knew — though some would consider her a python of sorts I didn’t think that a fine setter like Alberich would resort to political opinion as part of a clue!
Thanks Alberich & Gaufrid. For 23d I disemboweled (hurt) PYthON to come up with PYLON could not find a def! Then I would not have with PALIN see Ong’ara @2
Thanks to Alberich and Gaufrid. I took forever to get URTICARIA and failed to parse JOUSTS but I did spot the right PALIN.
My apologies for yesterday – I flew back in from my holiday on the Wednesday and was jet lagged and the blog completely slipped my mind. Thanks, Gaufrid, for stepping in.
Thanks to Gaufrid and Alberich
If Alberich isn’t my favourite setter he’s almost certainly in the top one.
But I don’t see how ST comes before UTTERER in 11a
17d Superb
Dansar @11, the clue links the two using the word ‘with’.
I think that makes that you can justify any order (although I must admit that ‘A with B’ points more in the direction of A+B than the other way round).
Thanks Alberich and Gaufrid
Only got to this on our AFL Grand Final weekend. Too a couple of decent sittings to get it out – well fill the grid as I couldn’t unravel the first bit of 6d and missed the clever &lit / word play of 11a.
Michael PALIN vaguely came to mind as a Monty Python member and a quick check confirmed it. Hadn’t heard of URTICARIA (which I only found through a word finder in the end) and CHERUBINI (which I was able to piece together and check).
Many excellent clues throughout and particularly liked SINGAPORE, A GOGO and STUTTERER (now that I properly understand its working).
Finished with the clever JOUST.