Independent on Sunday 1548 Dill

Thanks to Dill for an enjoyable crossword. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

9 Endlessly daring love: Good for you! (5)

BRAVO! : Last letter deleted from(Endlessly …) “brave”(daring)+ O(letter representing 0/love in tennis scores).

10 Agreed on a fizzy drink (9)

ORANGEADE : Anagram of(… fizzy) AGREED ON A.

11 Voted in because put up with changing sides (7)

ELECTED : “erected”(put up/constructed, say, a building) with “l”(abbrev. for “left”/a side) replacing “r”(abbrev. for “right”/the other side)(changing sides).

12 Win over America with two hundred and three points (7)

SUCCESS : Reversal of(over) US(abbrev. for the United States/America) plus(with) CC(Roman numeral for “two hundred”) plus(and) E,S,S(abbrev. for “east”, “south”, “south” respectively/three compass points).

13 Ability to digest cereal (not processed) (9)

TOLERANCE : Anagram of(… processed) CEREAL (NOT.

Defn: …, as in “lactose tolerance”/an ability to digest dairy products.

15 Tart embracing Queen causes umbrage (5)

PIQUE : PIE(a tart/a pastry) containing(embracing) QU(abbrev. for “queen”).

17 Gems for 28 pounds or more (6)

STONES : Double defn: 2nd: 28 pounds weight = 2 stones, in the former Imperial system of weights and measures.

18 Extreme characters into complicated risk (6)

HAZARD : A,Z(the 2 extreme characters in the English alphabet) contained in(into) HARD(complicated/difficult to understand).

22 Reflex actions essentially spot-on (5)

EXACT : Middle letters of(… essentially) “Reflex actions“.

Defn: …/precise/absolutely correct.

24 Look after Italian team’s selection test (9)

INTERVIEW : VIEW(to look at) placed after(after) INTER(short for “Inter Milan”, the Italian football team).

26 Stores of unusually rare LSD (7)

LARDERS : Anagram of(unusually) RARE LSD.

28 Reported US police chief as belligerent (7)

MARTIAL : Homophone of(Reported) “marshal”(the head/chief of a US police department).

Defn: …/militant.

30 Falls headlong from dingy bars, following smell of wine (9)

NOSEDIVES : DIVES(dingy bars/disreputable watering holes) placed after(following) NOSE(the smell/aroma/bouquet of wine).

31 Tiny bit edgy initially, like half the men on board? (5)

WHITE : WHIT(a tiny bit) + 1st letter of(… initially) “edgy“.

Defn: The colour of half of the men/pieces on a chessboard.

Down

1 Inattentive sailor dismissed (6)

ABSENT : AB(abbrev. for an able-bodied seaman/a sailor) + SENT(… off or away/dismissed).

Defn: Descriptive of an expression or manner of someone who is inattentive, as in “an absent look on his face”.

2 Drug research facility raised a bundle (4)

BALE : Reversal of(… raised, in a down clue) [E(abbrev. for “Ecstasy”, the drug) + LAB(short for “laboratory”, a research facility)]

3 Lyrical piece from rap act on the radio (8)

NOCTURNE : Homophone of(… on the radio) [“knock”(a rap/a smack) “turn”(an act/a performance, usually on stage)].

4 Henry getting on in government farm (7)

HOLDING : H(symbol in physics for a henry, a unit of electrical conductance) + OLD(getting on/aged) placed above(on, in a down clue) IN + G(abbrev. for “government”).

Defn: A piece of land in one’s possession, eg. a farm.

5 Curse looms over female spirit (7)

BANSHEE : BANE(a curse/something that causes distress or annoyance) containing(looms over) SHE(pronoun for a female).

6 Where breakfast is served for dippy soldiers? (6)

EGGCUP : Cryptic defn: At breakfast, the container for a soft-boiled egg, into which soldiers/strips of toast or bread are dipped.

7 Reasonable European supports Spain intermittently (4)

SANE : E(abbrev. for “European”) placed below(supports, in a down clue) 1st, 3rd and 5th letters of(… intermittently) “Spain“.

8 Zonked out deadbeats without a base for sleep (8)

BEDSTEAD : Anagram of(Zonked out) “deadbeats” minus(without) “a“.

14 Bring up a kid to sponge (5)

LOOFA : Reversal of(Bring up, in a down clue) [A + FOOL(to kid/to play a trick on)].

16 When to invade French who are not the real deal? (5)

QUASI : AS(when, as in “as you enter the room”) contained in(to invade) QUI(French for “who”).

17 1st class British capital (8)

STERLING : Double defn: 2nd: British money/capital, as in “pound sterling took a nosedive in the currency markets”.

19 War cries disturbed high-flying employees (8)

AIRCREWS : Anagram of(… disturbed) WAR CRIES.

20 Overlook setter’s memorandum (7)

MISSIVE : MISS(to overlook/to fail to notice) + I’VE(contraction of “I have”/setter’s, with the setter of this puzzle using the self-referential pronoun).

21 Detail of couple dating exists on-line (7)

ITEMISE : ITEM(a couple dating/in a romantic or sexual relationship) + IS(exists) + E-(prefix indicating something, eg. mail, retailer, that is found on the Internet/on-line).

Defn: To record individual items of a larger collection.

23 Judge boxing final with it (6)

TRENDY : TRY(to judge in a court of law) containing(boxing) END(final/the last part).

25 Rambler‘s act upset royal deer regularly (6)

WALKER : Reversal of(… upset, in a down clue) LAW(an act passed by a governing body) + K(abbrev. for “king”, a royal personage) + 2nd and 4th letters of(… regularly) “deer“.

27 Girl got up for some wine (4)

ROSE : Triple defn: 3rd: With an accented “e”, a light pink wine.

29 Goddess lives twice (4)

ISIS : 2x(… twice) IS(lives/exists).