Thank to Tees. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Call for colonist seen in procession (7)
PAGEANT : PAGE(call for/contact via a, well, pager/beeper) + ANT(an insect that lives in a colony/a colonist).
5. French art shown in dull Italian port (7)
TRIESTE : ES(French for the archaic “art”/are) contained in(shown in) TRITE(dull/hackneyed).
9. Crazy about noisy estate outside fantasy realm (5-6-4)
CLOUD-CUCKOO-LAND : CUCKOO(crazy/foolish) contained in(… outside) [ C(abbrev. for “circa”/about, when referring to specific years or time periods) + LOUD(noisy/roaring) + LAND(estate/grounds surrounding a dwelling) ].
10. Former quality discussed in legendary brand (9)
EXCALIBUR : EX-(prefix signifying former/once) + homophone of(… discussed) “calibre”(quality/stature).
Defn: Brand/sword in the legend of King Arthur.
11. Kerry’s busy with clothes — not black — and hairdo
GARDA : “garb”(clothes/distinctive garments) minus(not) “b”(abbrev. for “black”, as with, say, lead pencils’ degree of hardness) plus(and) DA(abbrev. for “duck’s arse”, a men’s hairdo described as slicked-back hair).
Defn: A busy/a police officer as may be found in County Kerry, Ireland.
12. American in boat denied penny fare from Japan (5)
SUSHI : US(abbrev. for “United States”, used for things American) contained in(in) “ship”(a large boat) minus(denied) “p”(abbrev. for “penny”, the unit of British monetary currency).
… delicious (and served with a Geiger counter just for reassurance).
14. Sound correspondence old granny kept in broken cases (9)
ASSONANCE : [ O(abbrev. for “old”) + NAN(informally, one’s grandmother/granny) ] contained in(in) anagram of(broken) CASES.
16. Irregular ultimately out fighting to install Left? (9)
GUERRILLA : Anagram of(… fighting) [ “Irregular” minus its last letter(ultimately out)] containing(to install) L(abbrev. for “left”).
Defn: … soldier/fighter.
A WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition) clue.
17. Goat leaving grain comes to island (5)
CAPRI : “Capricorn”(sign of the zodiac represented by a goat) minus(leaving) “corn”(the main grain/cereal crop which is wheat in England and oats in Scotland).l
19. Advanced alongside second class property (5)
ASSET : A(abbrev. for “advanced”, as in “A Level exams”, say) plus(alongside) S(abbrev. for “second” in time notation) + SET(a class/a group of items belonging together or similar to one another).
Defn: … of value.
20. Only two revolutionaries indiscriminately killed (9)
BUTCHERED : BUT(only/no more than as in “There are but Ten Commandments to go by”) + [ CHE(Guevara, Argentinian revolutionary) + RED(a revolutionary who is a communist or socialist) ](two revolutionaries).
22. Breakdowns always occurring along this red route? (10,5)
ALIMENTARY CANAL : Cryptic defn: The red/bloody tubular organ in one’s body/route in which food is digested/broken down and nutrients absorbed). Not to be confused with the road traffic system’s red routes.
23. Article about goddess connected with sacred writings (7)
AVESTAN : AN(an article in grammar) containing(about) VESTA(the ancient Roman goddess of the hearth).
Defn: … of Zoroastrianism.
24. Be entitled to answer following two poor grades (7)
DESERVE : SERVE(to answer/to satisfy, as in “the measures serve their hopes and aspirations”) placed after(following) D,E(two poor grades, in exam results, say).
Down
1. Small, small sinks (7)
POCKETS : POCKET(small, describing say, a book or a watch) + S(abbrev. for “small”).
Defn: … a ball into a pocket in billiards.
Answer: And as the wise man said: “He who walks round with hands in his pockets is feeling cocky”.
2. Here Rosie crush got Lee excited — one love lost (15)
GLOUCESTERSHIRE : Anagram of(… excited) “crush got Lee” minus(… lost) one “o”(letter representing 0/love in tennis scores).
Defn: The setting/here of the book “Cider with Rosie” , by Laurie Lee, with cider made from fermented crushed apples.
3. Appearing in leotard: Alfred O’Hanlon? (5)
ARDAL : Hidden in(Appearing in) “leotard: Alfred“.
Defn: First name of …, Irish comedian and actor.
4. Quick sketch you don’t want going under the hammer? (9)
THUMBNAIL : Double defn: 1st: Small …; and 2nd: What, literally, …, at the risk of injury.
5. One accepting bet — selfish sort? (5)
TAKER : Double defn.
6. Having no carbon in gold, carbon in silver brought up (9)
INORGANIC : IN + OR(the gold colour in heraldry) + reversal of(… brought up, in a down clue) [ C(symbol for the element, carbon in chemistry) + IN + AG(symbol for the element, silver in chemistry) ].
Defn: In chemistry, describing compounds in contrast to organic ones which contain carbon-hydrogen bonds.
7. Friend mean to protect right with standard rent rising (8,7)
SPARRING PARTNER : SPARING (economical/mean/in very small quantities) containing(to protect) R(abbrev. for “right”) plus(with) reversal of(… rising, in a down clue) [ PAR(a standard level, as in, say, the number of strokes for playing a hole in golf) + RENT ].
8. BBC boss wearing electronic tag has time for mate (7)
ENDGAME : DG(abbrev. for “Director-General”, the position of the boss in the BBC) contained in(wearing) [ E(abbrev. for “electronic”, describing things happening on or using the Internet) + NAME(tag/label) ].
Defn: …/checkmate, a move made to end the endgame.
13. Going back here to renew faith? (2,7)
IN RETREAT : Double defn: 2nd: Here is where one is, in seclusion for prayer and meditation to renew one’s faith.
15. Exhausted cricketer, first dismissed, entering crude pavilion? (9)
SHATTERED : “batter”(batsman in cricket) minus its 1st letter(first dismissed) contained in(entering) SHED(a crude pavilion/shelter).
16. Imposing area outside a Spanish location (7)
GRANADA : [ GRAND(imposing/magnificent) containing(… outside) A(abbrev. for “area”) ] + A.
And in Spanish, these are granadas:
18. Humour eluding nuts (7)
INDULGE : Anagram of(… nuts) ELUDING.
Defn: …/to pamper.
20. Don’t declare weapon to police (5)
BATON : [BAT ON](in cricket, the batting side carries on and not declare/stop batting before the normal end of the innings, which is when all the wickets have fallen).
21. Bill who had a joke or two with bumpkins? (5)
HICKS : Double defn: 1st: Bill ___, American comedian.
Really struggled today with the SW quadrant. Eventually saw GUERRILLA which led to GRANADA then ASSET but needed help to get AVESTAN and finished off with IN RETREAT.
Lots to like here. Loved the humour in PAGE ANT and, especially, THUMBNAIL. SF writers often talk of “pocket dimensions” which was my way into 1d. BUTCHERED was a nice clue. 2d is one of the many shires that give foreigners some much trouble with their pronunciation.
So much not some much.
Trickier than I’d expected it would be, but as Hovis says, lots to like. My particular favourites were 2d and 4d
Thanks to Tees and scchua
This was mostly good fun but the definition for 8d is inaccurate. Mate does not necessarily occur in the endgame in chess; it can happen in any of the three phases of the game: opening, middle game and endgame. In addition, the endgame does not always end in mate as the game can be drawn and one’s opponent can resign.
My podium choice comprises GLOUCESTERSHIRE, THUMBNAIL & PAGEANT.
Thanks to Tees and to scchua.
Quite a tough solve for me and I did enlist Mr Google to help with 23a.
Top three here were PAGEANT, THUMBNAIL & SHATTERED with a smile for the undoubted chestnut, BATON.
Thanks to Tees and to scchua for the review.
Needed 4 letter reveals to complete but thoroughly enjoyed the puzzle albeit found it very challenging. Too many clever clues to pick from.
Thanks Tees & scchua for the review.
Ps have only just started doing the Indy Cryptics & very impressed thus far.
I started well on this, got all the 15 letter answers once I’d got a few of the letters (loved 12D) but shortly after that really struggled. This was partially down to vocab – didn’t know BUSY as a term for police and VESTA was lodged in too distance a recess of my brain for me to get 23 (and didn’t know the writings in question).
What I did get I enjoyed though – especially cluing for 6D and 17A.
We were held up a bit as we started to bung in ‘consonance’ for 14ac, realised it was too long and thought it must be ‘cosonance’ (it is a word, though not in Chambers or Collins). Only when 4dn had to be THUMBNAIL did we look again at the anagram fodder and realise 14ac was ASSONANCE. No real problems otherwise and pl;enty to like. Favourite was the aforesaid THUMBNAIL.
Thanks, Tees and scchua.
Thanks scchua and all.
Thanks for educ on ENDGAME, which should have had a qm I guess, to signify it as being one poss ‘time for mate’.
Cheers
Tees
Am I alone in never having heard of da or what it stands for? Otherwise all fair enough and we did enjoy the Laurie Lee clue after walking at Slad two weeks ago.
Ericw @10: I have slightly different recollections of the DA and, tbh, haven’t checked up. I thought DA – which is, indeed, duck’s arse, described the little quiff of hair coming down over the forehead and so named because it resemble the few feathers that stick out at the rear of a duck (or chicken).
Rabbit Dave, you’ve answered your own objection. ‘Mate … can happen in … [the] endgame’. Therefore ‘time for mate’ is a perfectly good definition for endgame (without a question mark).
PostMark@11 – that’s what I’ve always thought as well, but the combined forces of Wikipedia and Chambers tell me it’s slicked-back hair coming to a point on the neck.
James @12. The convention in cryptic crosswords is that if the definition is an example of the answer (rather than being synonymous with the answer) then this needs to be indicated by the use of a “?” or “perhaps” (as Tees himself acknowledges @7). In this specific case, the endgame is one possible time for mate, it is not a synonym of “time for mate”.
Rabbit Dave, your first sentence is right. So is your second. But, the second being right means that the first does not apply.
It also means that Tees knows virtually nothing about chess.
Maybe RD means that not all endgames are “time for mate”? Enjoyed this one a lot, but failed on AVESTAN. The clue for THUMBNAIL was one of the funniest of the whole year.
Thanks, Alliacol @17. That is what I meant, but it’s getting late …