Guardian Quiptic 1047 Anto

Thanks to Anto. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1 Reserve able to control movements in very large area (12)

SUBCONTINENT : SUB(short for “substitute”/a reserve player in a competitive team) + CONTINENT(able to control one’s bowel and bladder movements).

9 Women’s section starts to have arts review every month (5)

HAREM : 1st letters, respectively, of(starts to) “have arts review every month“.

Defn: Formerly, … /a separate part of a Muslim household reserved for wives, concubines and female servants.

10 Spot equipment getting picked up for display (9)

SPECTACLE : Homophone of(… getting picked up/heard) [“speck”(a small spot of colour) + “tackle”(equipment required for a task, inclusive of a man’s genitals)]

… though I wouldn’t pronounce the 2nd syllable of “spectacle” as I would “spectacular” or the 1st syllable of “tackle”.

11 Seize one chance to have joint control (2-5)

CO-PILOT : COP(to seize/to catch) + I(Roman numeral for “one”) + LOT(chance/a random selection, as in “to decide the winner by lot”)

12 Check before discharge (7)

PREVENT : PRE-(prefix meaning “before”/prior) + VENT(to discharge or expel through an outlet).

13 Research facility is abandoning inaccessible treatment (7,3)

SCIENCE LAB : Anagram of(… treatment) [“is” deleted from(abandoning) “inaccessible“].

15 Fight to have water source back (4)

SPAT : Reversal of(… back) TAPS(devices for controlling the flow of/sources of water).

18 Meter maid is grim dictator at heart (4)

RITA : Middle 2 letters, respectively, of(… at heart) “grim dictator“.

Defn: “Lovely Rita”, the parking meter maid/traffic warden in the Beatles song.

These Lovely Sheila meter maids Down Under (Surfers Paradise) top up your parking meters instead:

19 Fool was confused by overturned vote? That’s rubbish (10)

CODSWALLOP : COD(a foolish person) + anagram of(… confused) WAS + plus(by) reversal of(overturned) POLL(a vote/an election).

22 Successful record in register (3,4)

HIT HOME : HIT(a successful record/song, one in the hit parade) + HOME(in, as in “I’m home most of the time”).

Defn: …/to make an impression on a person’s mind.

24 Clear reprimand when spades lost by worker (7)

BLATANT : “blast”(a reprimand/a scolding) minus(when … lost) “s”(abbrev. for “spades”, the playing card suit) plus(by) ANT(any of a family of social insects, that include the worker caste).

25 Ace airman moving stuff from the US (9)

AMERICANA : Anagram of(… moving) ACE AIRMAN.

26 Love a noted couple (5)

ADORE : A + DO,RE(syllables representing a couple of notes in the sol-fa music scale).

27 Literary lady makes change after mob made a mess (6,6)

MADAME BOVARY : VARY(to change/to modify) placed after(after) anagram of(… mess) MOB MADE A.

Down

1 Sensitive issue excited open riots (4,5)

SORE POINT : Anagram of(excited) OPEN RIOTS.

2 Inferior jewellery is a bit gauche (8)

BUMBLING : BUM(inferior/of poor quality) + BLING(expensive and ostentatious jewellery).

3 Start off unprepared? Quite the opposite (5)

ONSET : ON(not off/Quite the opposite of “off”) + SET(prepared/ready/Quite the opposite of “unprepared”).

4 They perform plays initially in ramshackle shanties (9)

THESPIANS : 1st letter of(… initially) “plays” contained in(in) anagram of(ramshackle) SHANTIES.

Defn: … in stage-plays.

5 Knock over stone cask to get spice (6)

NUTMEG : Reversal of(Knock over, in a down clue) [GEM(a precious stone) + TUN(a large beer or wine cask)].

6 Inlay carved regularly from this material (5)

NACRE : 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th letters of(… regularly) “Inlay carved“.

Defn:  Aka mother-of-pearl

7 Gets rid of Charlie’s chickens (6)

CHUCKS : Triple defn…. I think. 2nd: CHUCK(nickname for Charlie)‘S; and 3rd: an Americanism for “food”, including chickens?

I’m probably off-track.

8 Half scrambling is something you can do with an egg (4,2)

BEAT IT : 1st 5 letters of(Half) “scrambling“/scram!/BEAT IT!

Defn: … to blend the yolk and white.

14 Clear old boyfriend on single charge (9)

EXONERATE : EX(an old/former boyfriend) placed above(on, in a down clue) ONE(single) + RATE(a charge/a fee paid for services).

Defn: … of an accusation/a charge.

16 Loving lots of people providing fantastic playroom above yard (9)

POLYAMORY : Anagram of(fantastic) PLAYROOM placed above(above, in a down clue) Y(abbrev. for “yard”, unit of measurement of length).

17 Doubled up per diem to produce boring talk (4,4)

YADA-YADA : 2x(Doubled) reversal ofup …) [A DAY](per diem, as in “a fee of $100 per diem”).

Defn: …, probably from “yatata”/idle chatter, in turn from “yatter-yatter”/chatter.

18 Try again to bring up having ambassador arrested (6)

REHEAR : REAR(to bring up young/offspring) containing(having … arrested) HE(abbrev. for “His/Her Excellency”, form of address for an ambassador).

Defn: … in a court of law.

20 Too much entered for each craftsman (6)

POTTER : OTT(abbrev. for “over the top”/too much) contained in(entered) PER(for each, as in “a rate per day”).

21 Cheer on opera star, one who appeared naked (6)

GODIVA : GO!…( expression used to cheer on somebody, as in “go, man, go!”) + DIVA(a celebrated female opera singer/star).

Defn: The legendary Lady who went bareback riding through the streets of Coventry, in protest and nothing else.

23 Article that oddly describes character from Athens (5)

THETA : THE(a grammatical article) + 1st and 3rd letters of(… oddly) “that“.

Defn: Character in the alphabet used in Athens.

24 Party can make one negative (5)

BEANO : BE(make/become, as in “he will make a good singer”) + A(one) + NO(a negative answer or decision).

Defn: Short for “beanfeast”.