Thank you to Hoskins. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
5. Was lout letting loose criminals? (7)
OUTLAWS : Anagram of(… letting loose) WAS LOUT.
7. American leader’s pretty perceptive (5)
ACUTE : 1st letter of(… leader) “American” + CUTE(pretty/endearing)
9. You must tuck into fish spread (4)
DAUB : U(“you” in texting) contained in(must tuck into) DAB(a North Atlantic flatfish).
Defn: … a sticky substance on a surface.
10. Conservative Party socialist toyed with? (10)
CONSIDERED : CON(abbrev. for a member of the Conservative Party”) + SIDE(party, as in a lawsuit between plaintiff and defendant) + RED(a socialist/a leftist).
11. A deed men of a wild nature belittled (8)
DEMEANED : Anagram of(… of a wild nature)A DEED MEN.
12. What workers might go out for? A nice drink! (6)
NECTAR : Double defn: 1st: …, worker bees collecting from flowers, that is; and 2nd: A delicious drink.
14. Pure class to be straddling horse (6)
CHASTE : CASTE(one of the classes in a society divided into distinct levels of social position) containing(to be straddling) H(abbrev. for “heroin”, also called “horse”).
16. Churlish OAP mostly associated with Pike? (6)
OAFISH : 2 out of 3 letters of(… mostly) “OAP” plus(associated with) FISH(an example of which is the pike).
18. Member of sect found in delicatessen, eating (6)
ESSENE : Hidden in(found in …) “delicatessen eating“.
Defn: … found in ancient Palestine.
19. A poor worker holding in hand sandpaper? (8)
ABRADANT : [A + BAD(poor/of a low standard) + ANT(a social insect, one who could belong to the worker caste) ] containing(holding in) R(abbrev. for “right”/the hand opposed to the left, as with “a boxer’s right”).
Defn: Of which sandpaper is an example/?.
22. Criminal given grief online is restrained (10)
CONTROLLED : CON(short for “convict”, a criminal) + TROLLED(given grief/problems by a troll, an online poster who intentionally antagonises others).
24. River one’s to cross outside of Shanghai (4)
ISIS : I(Roman numeral for “one”)‘S containing(to cross) 1st and last letters of(outside of) “Shanghai“.
Defn: Another name for part of the River Thames.
25. Counterfeit gun impounded by agent abroad (5)
FAKED : AK(or Kalashnikov, short for the AK-47 automatic rifle, one of the AK family of rifles) contained in(impounded by) FED(short for an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, one abroad if you’re not from the US).
26. Penny gets baby toy: fluffy rabbit, perhaps (7)
PRATTLE : P(abbrev. for “penny”, the unit of currency) plus(gets) RATTLE(a baby toy).
Defn: Fluffy/frivolous rabbit/conversation.
Down
1. To me, Serpent’s one male best at puzzles (10)
STABLEMATE : Anagram of(… puzzles) MALE BEST AT.
Defn: What Serpent, a crossword setter for The Independent, is to me, the setter of this crossword using the self-referential pronoun.
2. Is it possible that prison will provide dance? (6)
CANCAN : CAN?(“is it possible that?”, as in “Is it possible that you do this?”) CAN(slang for prison).
3. Criminal had a nice ranch on the Costa Del Sol (8)
HACIENDA : Anagram of(Criminal) HAD A NICE.
Defn: A ranch or estate, in the language of the Costa Del Sol, Spain.
4. Song fan sent up, debut of Europe (4)
TUNE : Reversal of(… sent up, in a down clue) NUT(a fan/a fanatic about a specific thing) + 1st letter of(debut of) “Europe“.
5. Speak of love that comes with cost? (5)
ORATE : O(letter representing 0/love in tennis scores) plus(that comes with) RATE(a fixed price/cost charged for something).
6. Religious councils‘ chance of doing wrong in hearing? (6)
SYNODS : Homophone of(… in hearing) “sin odds”(whimsically, the chance/odds of doing wrong/sinning)
8. Look at tree stuffed with bit of wet rubbish (7)
EYEWASH : [ EYE(to look at) + ASH(a tree) ] containing(stuffed with) 1st letter of(bit of) “wet“.
13. Kid’s bunk possibly picked up for delivery? (10)
CHILDBIRTH : KID(a child) + homophone of(… picked up) “berth”(a bunk/a narrow shelf-like bed arranged on top of another, in possibly a ship or train).
Defn: … of a baby, in a hospital, say.
14. Group of players on holiday get ready to go sailing (4,3)
CAST OFF : CAST(a group of players/actors in a play or movie) + OFF(on holiday/away from work).
15. House doctor about to enter dodgy hostel (3,5)
THE LORDS : Reversal of(… about) DR(abbrev. for “doctor”) contained in(to enter) anagram of(dodgy) HOSTEL.
Defn: … in the UK Parliament.
17. Buzz everyone gets in football tourney (4,2)
CALL UP : ALL(everyone) contained in(gets in) CUP(a football tourney, where the winner gets a trophy in the form of a cup).
Defn: …/contact someone by phone.
20. Basketball icon is bloke who goes fishing (6)
RODMAN : [ ROD MAN ](whimsically, a bloke/man who goes fishing with a rod/fishing rod).
Answer: …, Dennis, American basketball star/icon.
21. One settling bill for racket (5)
NOISE : I(Roman numeral for “one”) contained in(settling in) NOSE(the beak of some birds/bill).
23. Photograph bear (4)
TAKE : Double defn: 1st: …/to capture a scene with a camera; and 2nd: …/to tolerate.
Was this Harry Hoskins or some kindly impostor? Well on the difficulty or naughtiness scale I think he’s never been kinder. The faked take crossing clues taking longer than the rest by a wide margin.
Yes, not too many difficult or naughty ones, though I can’t ever recall having seen ABRADANT before. I wondered if it might even be a made-up word but “It’s in…”. The sense of ‘Toyed with’ also didn’t come to mind straight away.
I liked the surface for HACIENDA and the sort of ‘workers’ referred to in NECTAR.
Thanks to Hoskins and scchua
I think he promised/warned us it was going to be a gentler puzzle. CONSIDERED and HACIENDA were my favourites.
This was light and enjoyable but missing the Harry X-factor.
Thanks to Hoskins and scchua.
Definitely Harry on his ‘Sunday best’ behaviour with just the workers’ drink and the basketball player giving me slight pause for thought. OAFISH made me smile with its reference to Dad’s Army and my favourite was the simple but effective CAST OFF.
Thanks to Hoskins and to scchua for the review.
Very enjoyable.
And here’s me thinking the “H” in chaste was an abbreviation for “horse” ….I’ve obviously led a sheltered life!
I liked STABLEMATE and THE LORDS but my runaway winner was NECTAR.
Thanks Hoskins and scchua
Thanks both. Still don’t see how ‘settling’ becomes an inclusion indicator in clue for NOISE but it did not prevent me solving
Quite a quick solve by IoS standards for me and all very neat too.
I think that’s the first time I’ve seen settling as an insertion indicator, but it seems fine in the ‘taking residence in’ sense.
Had to dredge Rodman up – more notorious away from basketball as being a friend of N Korea perhaps.
Like Jane, I really liked the Dad’s Army nod.
Coincidentally I did Hoskins’s recent TLS puzzle this morning in which there was a brilliant way of clueing SE that didn’t involve the Home Counties. Very amusing, but can’t say much more as it’s still a live puzzle. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a Hoskins original anyway.
That was really good, and I’ve reserved it for my aged p because not too many rude or drug references, so big thanks to Hoskins and scchua. But can I just ask what happened to Friday’s blog and comments? Someone must know!
Jayjay @ 9
This ?
This?
Second time lucky!