Enjoyable and for the most part undemanding Monday crossword.
| Across | ||
| 1 | WASTE PRODUCT | In favour of stuffing exhaust pipe with discarded material (5,7) |
| Pro in waste duct | ||
| 8 | LAYS OUT | Displays plans (4,3) |
| DD. You can use lay out to mean plan in expressions such as “They laid out the dimensions of the rooms”. | ||
| 9 | PRAISED | Priest getting financial assistance to house a couple of Serbians is commended (7) |
| Pr(iest) + aid around se[rbians] | ||
| 11 | RWANDAN | Central African girl living in Niger (7) |
| Wanda in RN (I’m guessing that’s something ilke an abbrev for Republic of Niger). | ||
| 12 | EXPLAIN | Account for former partner getting even (7) |
| Ex + plain(=even?) | ||
| 13 | NUDGE | Gentle reminder from courtroom official with note for Jack (5) |
| Judge with J replaced by N | ||
| 14 | ADVANTAGE | Benefit from old saying about never, at the outset, cutting tax (9) |
| Adage around (n[ever] in VAT) | ||
| 16 | TRUCULENT | Defiantly aggressive criminal culture Unite oddly dismissed (9) |
| Culture* + even letters of unite | ||
| 19 | ASSES | Goes beyond removing power from fools (5) |
| [P]asses | ||
| 21 | IMPERIL | Put at risk after first of attendants abandons sovereign (7) |
| A[ttendants] removed from imperial | ||
| 23 | IMPLORE | Mischievous child learning to beg (7) |
| Imp + lore | ||
| 24 | TEEMING | Packed with group of players speaking in German (7) |
| Hom of team (speaking) + in G(erman) | ||
| 25 | LEATHER | Beat poets essentially in a state of agitation (7) |
| Middle letter of poets (e) in lather | ||
| 26 | INTERLOCUTOR | One in conversation with neurotic learner driver panicking on hill (12) |
| (Neurotic + l)* (l=crossword standard abbrev for learner driver) + tor(=hill) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | WAYWARD | Erratic manner leading to conflict with daughter (7) |
| Way + war + d(aughter) | ||
| 2 | SPONDEE | Foot prints finally found by lake near the centre of Leek (7) |
| [Print]s + pond + [l]ee[k] – using the poetic def of foot. | ||
| 3 | EXTENUATE | Make light of Cuba regularly intervening in area close to Suriname (9) |
| Even letters of Cuba (UA) in extent + [surinam]e | ||
| 4 | RUPEE | Go after half of Ruth’s money (5) |
| Pee(=go) after Ru[th] | ||
| 5 | DEADPAN | Expressionless god unresponsive at first (7) |
| Pan with dead in front. | ||
| 6 | CASCARA | Tree house entered with caution for the most part (7) |
| Casa (=house in Spanish and also used in the US) around car[e] | ||
| 7 | CLARINETTIST | Surprisingly elitist rant by conservatoire’s principal player (12) |
| C[onservatoire] + (Elitist rant)* | ||
| 10 | DONKEYS YEARS | Animal’s attention held by hollowed out yams for ages (7,5) |
| Donkey’s + ear in y[am]s | ||
| 15 | VITRIOLIC | Bitter Victorian stupidly ignoring article embracing the Italian uprising (9) |
| (Victori[an])* around Il< | ||
| 17 | UMPTEEN | Countless piles of rubbish uncovered by youngster (7) |
| [D]ump + teen | ||
| 18 | UKRAINE | Artist introduced to relatives in the heart of Huguenot country (7) |
| (RA in kin) in hugUEnot | ||
| 19 | ASPHALT | Starts to analyse several potential hazards associated with key waterproofing material (7) |
| Initial letters of “analyse several potential hazards” + ALT | ||
| 20 | SMOTHER | Conceal son and another relative (7) |
| S(on) + mother | ||
| 22 | LEGAL | Relating to the law of gravitation originally observed in a field near Luxembourg (5) |
| G[ravitation] in lea next to L(uxembourg) | ||
*anagram
Yes, fairly undemanding and all the better for that on a Monday. The clues for 19d and 22d were too long for my phone app but I guessed right. Hadn’t heard of Cascara, briefly wondered if there was a mascara tree as well.
Thanks to Poins and Neal
I failed on cascara and put cassava, which is also a tree but I couldn’t parse it. Otherwise good fun and enjoyable so thanks Poins and NealH.
Conversely, I had heard of CASCARA, but only knew of it as a laxative and didn’t realise it was also a tree.
Nice crossword and remarkably easy for Poins, who is often rather difficult. I saw 17dn as {D}ump{s} etc.
A couple of quibbles:
PASSES: the clue is evidently [wordplay] from [def], which doesn’t seem right to me. Surely it shoud be [def] from [wordplay].
What is ‘with’ doing in 1ac?