It doesn’t look like the scheduled blogger is going to turn up today so here is an analysis of the clues, with no further commentary from me other than to say that I enjoyed the solve.
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Across
1 Seeing red kangaroo’s way of moving round the bend (7,3)
HOPPING MAD – HOPPING (kangaroo’s way of moving) MAD (round the bend)
6 Second mariner to take lead (4)
STAR – S (second) TAR (mariner)
9 Ordinary tidy writer’s put in a note separately (3,2,1,4)
ONE AT A TIME – O (ordinary) NEAT (tidy) plus I’M (writer’s) in A TE (a note)
10 Sound off about this release (4)
UNDO – contained in (about this) ‘soUND Off’
12 Forecast return of additional business with China (6,6)
SECOND COMING – SECOND (additional) CO (business) MING (China)
15 Illustrated ancient northerner, one in test (9)
PICTORIAL – PICT (ancient northerner) plus I (one) in ORAL (test)
17 Brown’s transport firm saving minutes (5)
UMBER – UBER (transport firm) aound (saving) M (minutes)
18 Ring about old archbishop (5)
CLANG – C (about) LANG (old archbishop) – Cosmo Gordon Lang
19 Estimated worth of two volumes, one regularly lauded (4,5)
BOOK VALUE – BOOK (volume) V (volume) A (one) LaUdEd (regularly lauded)
20 Effort to deliver old female duck’s a pleasurable task (6,2,4)
LABOUR OF LOVE – LABOUR (effort to deliver) O (old) F (female) LOVE (duck)
24 Quietly broadcast item (4)
PAIR – P (quietly) AIR (broadcast)
25 Maybe Arab woman imports English books on nutrition (10)
ALIMENTARY – ALI (maybe Arab) MARY (woman) around (imports) E (English) NT (books)
26 Nervous journalist disheartened guy (4)
EDGY – ED (journalist) G[u]Y (disheartened guy)
27 County lunatic tormented by local levy (7,3)
COUNCIL TAX – CO (county) plus an anagram (tormented) of LUNATIC followed by X (by)
Down
1 Band stop work (4)
HOOP – HO (stop) OP (work)
2 Claim a set of jump leads (4)
PLEA – contained in (a set of) ‘jumP LEAds’
3 Running hotel gets hectic eventually (2,3,4,3)
IN THE LONG RUN – an anagram (gets hectic) of RUNNING HOTEL
4 Arrive at poor area with no hospital (3,2)
GET TO – G[h]ETTO (poor area with no hospital)
5 Could it be left in Lima road, squashed? (9)
ARMADILLO – L (left) in an anagram (squashed) of LIMA ROAD with an extended def.
7 Heptathlete (British) blocks unlikely missile in court (6,4)
TENNIS BALL – ENNIS (heptathlete) B (British) in (blocks) TALL (unlikely) – Jessica Ennis-Hill
8 High-level plots run out of weed? (4,6)
ROOF GARDEN – RO (run out {cricket}) OF GARDEN (weed)
11 Compromise service bosses’ American target in ‘66? (5,7)
MODUS VIVENDI – MOD (service bosses {Ministry of Defence}) US (American) plus END (target) in VI (6) VI (6)
13 A US author pens brief WI song, creating chaos (10)
APOCALYPSE – A POE (a US author) around (pens) CALYPS[o] (brief WI song) – Edgar Allan Poe
14 Confusing / urgent task of pilots in wartime (10)
SCRAMBLING – double def.
16 Oil rig mob cleaned up mess (9)
IMBROGLIO – an anagram (cleaned up) of OIL RIG MOB
21 Mike stuck in revolving Christmas tree (5)
LEMON – M (Mike) in NOEL (Christmas) reversed (revolving)
22 Shy / people in play (4)
CAST – double def.
23 St Andrews for example caught cat (4)
LYNX – sounds like (caught) ‘links’ (St Andrews for example)
Thanks for stepping in again, Gaufrid.
I smiled at the red kangaroo, effort to deliver, the squashed ARMADILLO and the WI song, after looking in vain for ‘Jerusalem’. I also liked TENNIS BALL and MODUS VIVENDI.
A bit of a shame to have running / run in 3dn but otherwise another super puzzle. Many thanks, Redshank – I really enjoyed it.
Thanks for the blog Gaufrid. ? a 20a for you
I failed to spot the hidden UNDO, entering ‘vent’ instead, so I was held up in the NE corner. I’d never heard of MODUS VIVENDI and had to guess the ‘old archbishop’. I’ve got a soft spot for ARMADILLO(s), so that was my favourite , along with ‘urgent task of pilots in wartime’.
Thanks again to Gaufrid and to Redshank.
Thanks Redshank and Gaufrid
Interesting puzzle that took nearly the hour to complete. Thought that it was going to be themed on idioms at one stage with three in 1a then a few more on route to the end.
HOPPING MAD was the first entry in and was probably one of the best, bringing a smile to the face when it went in. Liked the subtle definitions that were used in places – ‘weed’ as the verb that wasn’t involving the bathroom, ‘effort to deliver’ = LABOUR, ‘arrive at’ – GET TO AND ‘China’ – MING to name a few.
Finished with CLANG (after remembering the Archbishop), MODUS VIVENDI (a phrase I didn’t know and MOD an abbreviation that was left unparsed) with COUNCIL TAX (clever wordplay) the last one in.