Thank you to Alchemi. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Put an end to child holding on to rubbish elephant’s head (8)
KIBOSHED : KID(a child) containing(holding on to) [ BOSH(rubbish/nonsense) + 1st letter of(…’s head) “elephant” ].
5. Marginal damage to this girl’s clothes (6)
SLIGHT : Anagram of(damage to) [THIS + 1st and last letters of(…’s clothes /outer covering) “girl” ].
10. Obsessive staff in charge (5)
MANIC : MAN(to staff/to fill positions in an organisation) + IC(abbrev. for “in charge”).
11. 200 accepting European was sick (9)
CHUNDERED : C(Roman numeral for 100) + HUNDRED(another 100 – to make 200) containing(accepting) E(abbrev. for “European”).
Defn: …/vomited.
12. Catalogues keeping subset back for radicals (9)
LENINISTS : LISTS(complete … of items/catalogues) containing(keeping) reversal of(… back) NINE(9, the clue number in this crossword whose answer is “subset“).
Defn: …/believers of the principles and theories of Marxist Vladimir Lenin.
13. Give finale that’s painful (5)
ENDOW : END(finale/conclusion) + OW!(exclamation expressing “that’s painful!”).
14. Flight One in Constellation? (6)
STAIRS : I(Roman numeral for “one”) contained in(in) STARS(a group of …/a constellation).
Defn: …/a series of step between levels.
15. Journey from home to get stoned (4,3)
TRIP OUT : Double defn: 1st: A journey starting from one’s home; and 2nd: …/to get high on drugs.
18/27. Bill Bailey show possibly calms mice you’d stimulated (7,6)
MUSICAL COMEDY : Anagram of(… stimulated) CALMS MICE YOU’D.
Defn: Possibly/an example of a performance/show by English comedian and singer, Bill Bailey.
A small sample:
20. Monkey‘s bad mistake (6)
HOWLER : Double defn: 1st: Any of a species of monkeys characterised by a loud howling call; and 2nd: …/glaring mistake.
There he goes:
22. Signal in the style of the Marines (5)
ALARM : [A LA](in the style or manner of) + RM(abbrev. for the Royal Marines in the British military).
24. Food chain deal founders (9)
ENCHILADA : Anagram of(… founders) CHAIN DEAL.
25. Punches key, ashram disintegrates (9)
HAYMAKERS : Anagram of(… disintegrates) KEY, ASHRAM.
Defn: …/forceful blows.
26. Here in Chamonix, the air finishes much colder (5)
ICIER : ICI(“here”, in the language spoken in Chamonix, France) + last letters, respectively, of(… finishes) “the air“.
27. See 18
28. Snacks we should understand first (8)
TWIGLETS : LET’S(let us/we should, as in “let’s do this”) placed after(… first) TWIG(to understand/to catch the meaning of).
Down
1/21. Shark malaria affecting 3 in America (6,6)
KAMALA HARRIS : Anagram of(… affecting) SHARK MALARIA.
Defn: Solution to 3 down/Vice-President in America.
2. Money which is tied up in poisons (9)
BANKNOTES : KNOT(a thing which is tied up/made into a tight loop) contained in(in) BANES(fatal poisons).
Defn: Paper …, though nowadays more likely made from polymers.
3. Deputy back in order (6-2-7)
SECOND-IN-COMMAND : SECOND(to back/to support, say, a proposal) + IN + COMMAND(an order/a directive).
4. Wraps as scene changes (7)
ENCASES : Anagram of(… changes) AS SCENE.
6. Makeshift Italian side win against grand royal entourage (6-2-7)
LADIES-IN-WAITING : Anagram of(Makeshift) ITALIAN SIDE WIN plus(against) G(abbrev. for “grand”, as in $1000 or £1000).
7. Stuck? Sometimes 22 will (5)
GORED : [GO RED](sometimes an alarm/answer to 22 across will become this/a red alert, indicating imminent danger).
Defn: …/stabbed with a sharp object.
8. Concerning fuss alongside (2,2,4)
TO DO WITH : TO-DO(a commotion/fuss) + WITH(alongside/together).
Defn: …/regarding.
9. A smaller group of alien vessels overhead (6)
SUBSET : ET(abbrev. for “extra-terrestrial”/an alien from another planet) placed below(… overhead, in a down clue) SUBS(short for “submarines”/underwater vessels).
16. Valid snooper at ivermectin stores (9)
OPERATIVE : Hidden in(… stores) “snooper at ivermectin“.
17. Executive committee receives note about way of feeling as others do (8)
EMPATHIC : EC(abbrev. for “executive committee”) containing(receives) [ MI(or “me”, a note in the tonic sol-fa system of musical notation) containing(about) PATH(a way/a track) ].
19. Songs, 3’s boss said (6)
LIEDER : Homophone of(… said) “leader”(the boss of second-in-command/answer to 3 down).
Defn: German …
20. Tool used to be written up by journalist (7)
HACKSAW : Reversal of(… written up, in a down clue) WAS(used to be) placed below(by, in a down clue) HACK(a journalist producing dull work).
21. See 1
23. Gorge baby’s meal 4 (5)
ABYSM : Hidden in(Gorge/the contents of the stomach) “baby’s meal“.
Defn: An archaic form of “abyss”/a chasm.
Enjoyable puzzle and annoying to have failed on two counts for 1d/21d. I didn’t read the anagram fodder carefully enough and even more inexcusably, realised I didn’t know how to spell the first name of the Vice-President of the US of A. Must do better.
I liked the SUBSET / ‘nine’ trick, working out the parsing of BANKNOTES and KIBOSHED, a word I haven’t heard of for ages. Clear favourite though was CHUNDERED (“in the old Pacific Sea”), inextricably associated with Barry McKenzie.
Thanks to Alchemi and scchua
For me, this crossword was solvable and parsable which gives me confidence for the week ahead. I have never heard of twiglets. They don’t look appetising but thanks for the images. Some of the lengthier entries I twigged quickly (not usual) and helped elsewhere. I liked ‘slight’, ‘icier’, and ‘alarm’. Thanks.
I think you have to be a courageous setter to incorporate ‘ivermectin’ into a clue and hope it results in a smooth surface! I’m afraid I differ from WP@1 on this occasion; from top to bottom, this puzzle had a feel of a draft version in need of polish. From what I recall of previous Alchemi puzzles, clues like ‘Gorge baby’s meal 4’ or ‘Songs 3’s boss said’ are not typical. I suspect Overtly Signalled Anagram of the Week might well be ‘…calms mice you’d stimulated’… ‘Nuff said. I shall look forward to Monday.
Thanks both
This was nicely challenging and good fun. I don’t think I’ve come across ABYSM before in spite of its well-known cousin “abysmal”.
Parsing 5d took me longer than it should have, and I liked the link between 12a and 9d.
Great spot from our setter that the American VP’s name is an anagram of “shark malaria”.
Many thanks to Alchemi and to scchua.
Rookie @3. That picture doesn’t really do Twiglets justice. They are marmite flavoured, and therefore you will either love them or hate them …
Needed assistance from our reviewer to parse SLIGHT and came unstuck with CHUNDERED. I’d heard of the word but vaguely assumed that it was something similar to ‘chunter’ – just as well I’ve never tried to use it!
My favourite was HOWLER which made me smile.
Thanks to Alchemi and to scchua for the review.
PS Rookie @3 – I immediately wrote ‘yuck’ alongside 28a so that gives you a clue which side of the marmite debate I stand on!
As with TWIGLETS the surfaces are a bit rough and not to everyone’s taste, but I liked chundered and the VP anagram.
Definitely one of those can’t see anything then oh it’s all done crosswords. Thanks SC and michael* although it’s tricky when you realise the printer has virtually run out of ink and you have to guess what some lines actually say.