Thank you to Chalmie. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Paper vents about 29 23 (10)
VERSTAPPEN : Anagram of(… about) PAPER VENTS.
Defn: Formula One racing car driver/answer to 29 across 23 down, from the Netherlands.
Answer: …, Jos.
6. Fish has a thought (4)
IDEA : IDE(a freshwater fish) plus(has) A.
10. Meal releases pressure for senior cop (5)
SUPER : “supper”(an evening meal) minus(releases) “p”(symbol for “pressure” in physics).
Defn: Short for “Superintendent of Police”, a ….
11. To follow orders, need ice to melt on 23 (9)
OBEDIENCE : Anagram of(… to melt) NEED ICE placed after(on) OB(a river in Russia).
12. Pronounced dead – one’s court carrying can (8)
DISTINCT : D(abbrev. for “dead”) + I(Roman numeral for “one”)‘S + CT(abbrev. for “court”) containing(carrying) TIN(a metal can).
Defn: …/very noticeable.
13. Addition to letter shoots back (5)
SERIF : Reversal of(… back) “FIRES”(shoots, as with a firearm).
15. Neighbours possibly fight political platform (7)
SOAP BOX : SOAP(or soap opera, an example of which/possibly, is “Neighbours”, the Australian TV series) + BOX(to fight with one’s fists).
17. Seemingly relaxed about vessel active by day (7)
DIURNAL : “laid back”(relaxed) construed as(Seemingly …) reversal of(… back) LAID containing(about) URN(a vessel, often containing cremated ashes).
Defn: …, descriptive of animals.
19. Guided tours through marine platform (7)
ROSTRUM : Anagram of(Guided) TOURS contained in(through) RM(abbrev. for a Royal Marine in the British military, shortened to “Marine”).
21. Put barrel back outside to secure washing machine (4,3)
TWIN TUB : Anagram of(Put … back) BUTT(a barrel, usually used for wine, beer or water) containing(outside) WIN(to secure as a result of a contest, conflict or bet, say).
22. Left next to mischievous tree (5)
LARCH : L(abbrev. for “left”) plus(next to) ARCH(mischievous/deliberately playful).
24. Spooner’s uttered filth? Sure thing! (4,4)
DEAD CERT : Spoonerism of “said”(uttered) “dirt”(filth).
27. Nearly damage vein, exercising care (4,1,4)
GIVE A DAMN : Anagram of(…, exercising) [“damage” minus its last letter(Nearly …) + VEIN].
Defn: To …
28. Times to attend sick goat (5)
BILLY : BY(“times”/multiplied by, as in “2 by 2 = 4”) containing(to attend) ILL(sick/ailing).
Defn: A male ….
29, 23. Queen Victoria carried around by chauffeur (3-6)
CAR-DRIVER : Anagram of(… around) [VR(abbrev. for “Victoria Regina”, Queen Victoria) + CARRIED].
30. 23 woman meeting with boat-builder outside (10)
SHENANDOAH : SHE(3rd party pronoun for a woman) + [AND(meeting with/together with) contained in(… outside) NOAH(the Biblical ancestor-figure who built the Ark).
Defn: River/answer to 23 down in the US.
Down
1. 29 lives in Virginia (4)
VISA : IS(lives/exists) contained in(in) VA(abbrev. for the state of Virginia).
Defn: The branded credit/debit …/answer to 29 across.
2. Torture liar, press tit-for-tat measures (9)
REPRISALS : Anagram of(Torture) LIAR, PRESS.
3. Sailor books set of 29s (5)
TAROT : TAR(informal term for a sailor) + OT(abbrev. for the Old Testament, books in the Bible).
Defn: … used for fortune telling.
4. With one hip broken, cross 23? (7)
PHOENIX : Anagram of(… broken) ONE HIP plus(With …) X(letter used as a cross/a mark indicating something is incorrect).
Defn: Surname of one/? with first name, River/answer to 23 down.
Answer: American actor.
5. Applied as 23 runs dry (7)
EXERTED : EXE(a river/answer to 23 down in England) + R(abbrev. for “runs” in cricket scores) + TED(to dry cut grass, hay or straw by turning over and spreading out).
7. Entrance requires insertion of new sort of 29 (5)
DONOR : DOOR(an entrance) containing(requires insertion of) N(abbrev. for “new”).
Defn: Sort of card/answer to 29 across carried by a person who wishes to donate his/her body organs for transplants after death.
8. 29 and a golf expert! (3,2,5)
ACE OF CLUBS : Cryptic defn: …, ie. one who uses clubs to play a round of golf, expertly.
Defn: Card/answer to 29 across, in a deck of playing cards.
9. 23 which resembles vinegar in Michigan (8)
MISSOURI : [IS SOUR](tastes of/resembles vinegar) contained in(in) MI(abbrev. for the US state of Michigan).
Defn: River/answer to 23 down, in the US.
14. Roast faulty reasoning in horoscopes (10)
ASTROLOGIC : Anagram of(… faulty) ROAST + LOGIC(reasoning/sound argument).
16. Work at hybrid sort of 29 (8)
BIRTHDAY : Anagram of(Work) at hybrid.
Defn: Sort of card/answer to 29 across.
18. Characteristic of North American 23, being dry around the beginning of October (7,2)
NATURAL TO : NA(abbrev. for “North America”) + [URAL(river/answer to 29 across, in Russia) contained in(…around) TT(abbrev. for teetotal/being dry/without consuming alcohol)] + 1st letter of(the beginning of) “October“].
20. Doctor accepts first Ugandan order for elephant cleaning system (3,4)
MUD BATH : MD(abbrev. for the Latin “Medicinae Doctor”, a Doctor of Medicine) containing(accepts) 1st letter of(first) “Ugandan” + BATH(reference to the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, bathing being a part of the ceremony for conferring knighthoods).
Elephants, warthogs and humans do it:
21. Aim at heavyweight about to fall (5,2)
TRAIN ON : TON(a large unit of weight/heavyweight) containing(about) RAIN(to fall in large quantities).
23. See 29
25. Is able to get a pair of bison inside small house (5)
CABIN : CAN(is able to) containing(get … inside) 1st 2 letters of(a pair of) “bison“.
26. Tree starts to whistle “Your Cheatin’ Heart” (4)
WYCH : 1st letters, respectively, of(starts to) “whistle “Your Cheatin’ Heart”“.
A super grid from Chalmie containing much wit and misdirection with a clever double theme I greatly enjoyed.
Favourites were 1A, 24A (great Spoonerism, for once) 4D and 8D.
Thanks for a very pleasurable solve, Chalmie and Sschua for the excellent visuals – I suppose that at 20D proved too hard to resist!
Sorry, I meant Scchua
Thanks Chalmie and Scchua. Slight correction to the parsing of 18dn: it needs to be NA + URAL contained in TT + O.
Thanks Pelham Barton. Blog corrected.
I wasnt going to attempt this without a printer and later in the day a new one arrived so this was one of my first work-outs
I liked the use of CAR DRIVER /CARD RIVER.
Lots of themers here-including River PHOENIX
Only slight reservation is the construction of the clue for NATURAL TO -and the answer for that matter
Otherwise great fun with new printer
Thanks all.
Thanks to Chalmie for a very entertaining puzzle and to Scchua for the comprehensive and decorative blog. Got the CAR-DRIVER early and the rest then slotted in fine, with DIURNAL and ROSTRUM as favourites. LOI was EXERTED where I had to resort to Chambers for the unfamiliar “ted” in order to parse it.
Thanks for the blog and the super pictures. I think for the mudbath you meant young, attractive females rather than humans, tut tut.
Nice to have a double theme for once.
Is TED a word only used in crossword land now? It was in the Azed recently. I would imagine not much tedding goes on these days with modern farming techniques.
Thought it was going to be an F1 theme after 1ac n 29,23 went in first… but more than happy with the actual themes.. after Hamilton n 1ac I’m not up to speed with F1.. learned stuff as usual … eg -TED, n OB… clever n enjoyable.. what more can one ask…
Thanks Chalmie n scchua
Hi all and thanks.
I too thought it might be an F1 theme. I read something which contained “Verstappen*” and instinctively solved the anagram, and thought “Paper vents about car-driver” was a decent enough clue. OK, so, car-drivers, what do I know? Lewis Hamilton who’s been clued loads of times and then what? A few names flicked through my mind and looked like anagrams, which was going to get boring. What/who else could car-driver mean? When Jeremy Clarkson hove into view, I thought sod that for a game of of soldiers and then realised it could be card-river, found a grid with a 10-letter entry and a place to intersect CARD and RIVER, and out came the above.
Yes, TED=dry is pretty much crosswords-only these days and it’s fairly lazy to use it, but it did make a nicely innocous surface.
Chalmie@9 I meant no criticism with TED. I think it is a lovely word and good to keep it alive if only in crosswords. It can join a distinguished cast.
Thanks, Chalmie, for dropping by and explaining your rationale. Had Mr Clarkson won out over card/river, I doubt I’d have engaged top gear.
Roz @10
I don’t really like using crosswords-only stuff. Having been solving for 50+ years, I’m easily bored by seeing same-old, same-old crossword “code”. This old dog prefers new tricks because he thinks they’ll be more entertaining. That doesn’t mean I won’t wheel out the standard classics, but they’re not my first preference.
We took a while to sort out 29/23 but once we’d done so the rest was pretty straightforward, apart from 18dn which we thought was rather clunky.
We knew TED as we’d found it a useful word for Scrabble. Favourites, though, were ROSTRUM (with its poor relation the SOAPBOX) and DIURNAL.
Thanks, Chalmie and scchua.
Chalmie if you read this, is 18D just one of those times where you are a bit stuck with the grid ? Very little will fit and you do not want to disturb the rest of the crossword ? I would imagine it is bound to happen quite often.
Roz @ 14
Yup. When trying to stuff themes into grids, it’s a frequent hazard. I allow myself one dodgy word/obscurity (in my opinion) to overcome it if I can’t do anything else.
Thank you, I think one per grid is more than acceptable. Especially for a double theme.
Many thanks to Chalmie for a very enjoyable solve and to scchua for the needed blog.
A great mix of clues to totally offset the somewhat uncomfortable 18D!
Great Spoonerism and loved Ace of clubs.
This was a hoot! Thanks for the entertainment Chalmie and for dropping in.
These days, scchua, VERSTAPPEN could mean Jos or Max. Thanks for the blog too.
There were a few cheeky clues I enjoyed very much, thanks Chalmie.
This was a really well-constructed crossword!! (two exclamation marks)
Fine blog too [thank you, scchua].
However, I am surprised (and to be honest, annoyed) to see Chalmie joining those who think ‘first Ugandan’ = U.
[he could have said: ‘Uganda’s first order’]
But, my main question is about 28ac (BILLY).
‘A to attend B’ is, for me, ‘A inside B’ but here it is the other way round.
Perhaps, I should see ‘to attend’ as ‘to take care of’ but then it needs ‘to’ (which isn’t there – well, it is there but not in the right place).
Any answer to my question will be much appreciated.
Sil @ 20
Would you care to explain what attendants do with their boss? Do they not stand either side of her?
OK, that’s fine then.
I was (perhaps, too much) too much focused on: “if I attend a meeting, I am part of it”.
That’s a bit …. too much, isn’t it?
Thanks Chalmie and scchua
Opposite to copmus here … was stuck without a printer for a lockdown week, so in catch up this week. Top class stuff as usual from this setter, appreciated the cool split with CARD / RIVER – CAR DRIVER and the ‘attendant’ theme ! Stuffed up the parsing of it, going down the rabbit hole of ‘queen’ = CARD and hoping for a VICTORIA river (we have one here in the Northern Territory, but didn’t think that was going to cut it) – the actual parsing was much more clever.
Easier than the usual level, but no less enjoyable for it. Smiled after not finding the river PHOENIX, but stumbling on RIVER PHOENIX in the search.
Finished in the NE corner (unusual finishing spot for me) with ACE OF CLUBS (nice second whimsical definition), SERIF (seen variations of it before, but needed all of the crossers today) and EXERTED (great surface disguising the working out bits).