Thank you to Bradman. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Got made well again by non-amateur (8)
PROCURED : CURED(made well again/healed) placed after(by) PRO(short for “professional”/non-amateur); alternatively “healed by a professional”.
6. Dad handles fruit (6)
PAPAWS : PA(like “dad”, an informal term for one’s father) + PAWS(handles/touches clumsily with one’s paws/hands).
The North American fruit:
… and the tropical “papaya” for which “pawpaw” is another name:
9. Sailors from Dover region having the last word (6)
SEAMEN : SE(abbrev. for “South-east”, the region of England in which Dover is located) + AMEN(the last word in a prayer or hymn).
10. Lewdness unfortunately returning to conurbation (8)
SALACITY : Reversal of(… returning) ALAS!(unfortunately/”sad to say”) plus(to) CITY(a conurbation/an extended urban area).
11. Small room to dispose of commercially, we hear (4)
CELL : Homophone of(…, we hear) “sell”(to dispose of commercially/to hand over in exchange for money).
12. Aggressive types in row at odds with Germans (10)
WARMONGERS : Anagram of(… at odds …) [ROW plus(with) GERMANS].
14. Cold plant location providing stuff for meal (8)
CROCKERY : C(abbrev. for “cold”) + ROCKERY(plant location, viz. part of a garden with soil and small plants growing between rocks).
Defn: …/utensils for eating with.
16. Cleaner sort of drama? (4)
SOAP : Double defn: 1st: Substance for washing and cleaning; and 2nd: Short for “soap opera”, a continuing serial about the lives of the same group of characters.
18. An objection from neighbour? (4)
ABUT : A(like “an”, an article in grammar) + BUT(an objection/an argument against something, as in “no ifs and buts about it”.
Defn: …/to be situated next to.
19. No jolly fighters needing friendly help in the usual way of things (8)
NORMALLY : NO + RM(abbrev. for the Royal Marines, a fighting unit consisting of sailors/jollies, informally) plus(needing) ALLY(a friendly help/one that supports).
21. Bird handler endlessly excited Pope (10)
HILDEBRAND : Anagram of(… excited) [BIRD + “handler” minus its last letter(endlessly) ].
Defn: Birth name of Pope Gregory VII.
22. This writer’s joining holy warriors (4)
IMPI : I’M(“I am”/the setter is, using the self-referential first person pronoun) plus(joining) PI(short for “pious”/holy, in a sanctimonious way).
24. King that is wanting alcoholic drink, a type of wine (8)
RIESLING : R(abbrev. for “Rex”/King) + IE(abbrev. for “id est”/that is) plus(wanting) SLING(an alcoholic drink, viz. a cocktail of spirits with water and sweetened).
Defn: …, viz. a dry white wine from a grape variety grown in Germany, Austria and elsewhere.
26. Talk about knight being decorated! (6)
ORNATE : ORATE(to talk/to make a speech) containing(about) N(abbrev. for “knight”, in chess notation).
Defn: …/adorned.
27. Startled ruler meeting saint (6)
AGHAST : AGHA(or “aga”, a ruler, or, an honorific title from the Turkish for “master”) plus(meeting) ST(abbrev. for “Saint”).
28. Policy by US magazine — a help for survival (8)
LIFELINE : LINE(a policy/an agreed approach towards doing or thinking something, as in “the official line on privatisation” placed after(by) LIFE(a US magazine); alternatively, “a policy of LIFE magazine”).
Down
2. Female bird always soaring round middle of lea (5)
REEVE : Reversal of(… soaring, in a down clue) EVER(always/at all times) containing(round) middle letter of(middle of) “lea“.
Defn: A female ruff.
Two ruffed ruffs ready to court reeves:
3. Agreed to cooperate, keeping puss inside — not that easy? (11)
COMPLICATED : COMPLIED(agreed to cooperate/acted in accordance with) containing(keeping … inside) CAT(a feline/pussycat, or, puss in short).
4. Cut in money to be paid had to be acknowledged (8)
RENOWNED : Last letter deleted from(Cut in) “rent”(money to be paid by the tenant to the landlord) + OWNED(had/possessed).
5. Something poisonous — oily danger gents dispersed (10,5)
DESTROYING ANGEL : Anagram of(… dispersed) OILY DANGER GENTS.
6. Prisoner, sick inside, getting support (6)
PILLOW : POW(abbrev. for “prisoner of war”) containing(… inside) ILL(sick/unwell).
Defn: … for one’s head when lying down or sleeping.
One you might lose sleep over if it gets lost:
7. Illustration put up in municipality (3)
PIC : Hidden in(in) reversal of(put up …) “municipality“.
Defn: Short for “picture”.
8. Cascade after breaking into barrier (9)
WATERFALL : Anagram of(… breaking) AFTER contained in(into) WALL(a barrier/a restriction).
13. Gale blowing round railway establishment in waiting period (11)
GESTATIONAL : Anagram of(… blowing) GALE containing(round) STATION(a railway establishment/a passenger stop along a railway line).
Defn: …/during the period between conception and birth inside the mother’s womb.
15. Teacher smart, doing away with initial chattering (9)
RABBITING : RABBI(a teacher of Judaism) + “sting”(to smart/to feel a sharp or burning pain) minus its 1st letter(doing away with initial).
17. Business not going well — compromise? (5-3)
TRADE-OFF : TRADE(business/buy and sell transactions) OFF(not going well/doing poorly).
Defn: …/to give and take.
20. Old boy given ‘eave up — one going from bar to bar? (6)
OBOIST : OB(abbrev. for “old boy” of, say, a school or university) plus(given) ‘OIST(“hoist”/to haul up minus its 1st letter, similar to “heave”/to haul up minus its 1st letter).
Defn: One playing/going from bar to bar, a bar being one of the sections into which a piece of music is divided.
23. Plate is plain, slightly chipped (5)
PATEN : “patent”(plain/glaringly obvious) minus its last letter(slightly chipped).
25. Music request, the first to be put down (3)
SKA : ASK(to request/make a plea for something or for something to be done) with its 1st letter(the first) moved down to the bottom(to be put down, in a down clue).
Defn: … originating in Jamaica in the 60s.
I wasn’t enjoying the Guardian’s offering today, so popped over to here, where I had a much more satisfying experience, with plenty of smiles. I didn’t know what RM had to do with jolly, and I’d not heard of SKA nor IMPI until I did some research. I’m more likely to spell them PAWPAW, or even PAPAYA, and wasn’t aware that PAPAW is yet another alternative.
Thank you Bradman, and scchua, for a very pictorial blog.
As I fellow Aussie, I’m with Geoff on 6A re PAWPAW.
5D was new to me but I knew IMPI from reading Wilbur Smith – and it’s been in crosswords a lot over the years.
I also didn’t know PATEN but, as it’s associated with religion, that’s no surprise. I had to resort to an Internet search engine to confirm 2D.
Woops “As I fellow Aussie” should be “As a fellow Aussie”.
I’ve only started doing the FT crossword regularly since it has been made available on the app, so while I’m familiar with Pasquale’s work, I don’t often encounter him in his Bradman guise. But I always enjoy his puzzles, whatever name he’s going under, and this was true to form – beautifully precise and elegant clues throughout. Excellent. Most of it came without too much head-scratching but PATEN was my last in – I know the word (having been an altar boy in my youth) but I think I assumed it was spelt with two Ts. I thought the anagrams for DESTROYING ANGEL, HILDEBRAND and WARMONGERS were particularly good.
PAPAWS gave me a moment’s hesitation, being another who is more familiar with the PAWPAW spelling, but the solution was clearly indicated by the clue so I took it on trust.
Thanks for the blog, scchua.
If this is Bradman, this must be Friday…Now hang on, it’s Tuesday isn’t it; I wonder what Friday has in store.
Very enjoyable offering with only a few obscurities. I wasn’t 100% sure about PATEN and wouldn’t have had a hope of getting the 11th century Pope at 21a if it hadn’t been for the crossers and knowing it was an anagram. Same comment as others re the spelling of PAPAWS.
Thanks to Bradman and scchua
Thanks Bradman and scchua
18ac: If you keep “An objection” together, it naturally converts to “A but”. Separating them requires one to assume that “An” and “A” are equivalents. Usually one of the two is correct and the other is wrong in a given context. They might just about be interchangeable before certain words beginning with H, but this is sufficiently dubious that I would always prefer to avoid having to assume such equivalence when it is not necessary.
WordPlodder@5: There was mention recently that the long serving FT crossword editor was retiring from the post. It looks as though his replacement (whether temporary or permanent) is shaking things up regarding which setters appear on which days of the week. If anyone reading this has more definite knowledge, I would be glad to hear it.
Thanks Bradman. This was a bit of a challenge and I ended up revealing HILDEBRAND and DESTROYING ANGEL both of which were unknown to me. ABUT was my top choice. Thanks scchua for the colourful and meticulous blog.
Returning to the humble PAWPAW/PAPAW, I’ve always pronounced it (spelt the first way) with two equal syllables, but Collins tells me that the second spelling has the second syllable emphasised, with the first containing just a quick schwa. Life’s full of surprises.
Thank you Bradman, and scchua. But ouch. nope, noway, nada, nothing, nil for me except cell and aghast. My grade D-.