Thank you to Xestobium. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Rook eaten by animal, leaving front part of body (6)
BREAST : R(abbrev. for “rook”, the chess piece) contained in(eaten by) BEAST(an animal).
4. Blink, seeing shoddy stuff in lovely surroundings (7)
NICTATE : TAT(shoddy/low quality stuff) contained in(in … surroundings) NICE(lovely/attractive).
9. Fish: something that could be smoked? (5)
ROACH : Double defn: 1st: An edible freshwater … ; and 2nd: Butt of a cannabis cigarette, ….
10. Tedious at first, unless it involved these instrumentalists (9)
LUTENISTS : Anagram of(… involved) [ 1st letter of(… at first) “Tedious” + UNLESS IT ].
11. Bet against, one could say? (4)
ANTE : Homophone of(…, one could say) “anti”(against/opposed to).
Defn: …/stake put up by a player in poker and other similar card games.
12. Border giving Democrat trouble (4)
DADO : D(abbrev. for member of the Democratic Party) + ADO(a sport of trouble/a commotion).
It is is painted (or decorated) differently from the upper part of the wall:
13. In bright daylight? Just the opposite, when saint departs (5)
UNLIT : “sunlit”(in bright daylight/unshaded from the sun) minus(when … departs) “s”(abbrev. for “saint”).
Defn: … to being in bright daylight.
The clue would have been better constructed as: “In bright …? When saint …., just the ….”
15. Criminal mate I pounce on: is this the way tales start? (4,4,1,4)
ONCE UPON A TIME : Anagram of(Criminal) MATE I POUNCE ON.
Defn: The conventional opening words of tales, especially fairy tales and children’s stories.
17. Sarah sails and gets wrecked – how tough is that? (2,4,2,5)
AS HARD AS NAILS : Anagram of(… gets wrecked) SARAH SAILS AND.
20. Women terpsichoreans, embracing, go onstage (5)
ENTER : Hidden in(…, embracing) “Women terpsichoreans“.
21. Computer term that’s a bit of a mouthful to pronounce! (4)
BYTE : Homophone of(… to pronounce) “bite”(a bit of a mouthful).
22. Lad I upset in store (4)
ALDI : Anagram of(… upset) LAD I.
24. Hit drug that’s ready to snort: this is one’s payoff (9)
PUNCHLINE : PUNCH(to hit with the fists) + LINE(a dose of a powdered drug laid out in a line ready to be taken).
Defn: The payoff/climax/closing line that provides the humour of one/a joke or story.
25. Lady holding a dish to have with curry? (5)
RAITA : RITA(a feminine name) containing(holding) A.
26. Reworking of ET in PhD is extremely detailed (2-5)
IN-DEPTH : Anagram of(Reworking of) ET IN PHD.
27. Footballer to proceed with a falsehood (6)
GOALIE : GO(to proceed/to advance) plus(with) A + LIE(a falsehood/untruth).
Defn: Short for “goalkeeper”, one in a football team.
A legend saves from another:
Down
1. Island with pubs occupied by nasty Oscar (8)
BARBADOS : BARS(pubs/drinking establishments) containing(occupied by) [ BAD(nasty/vile) + O(letter represented by “Oscar” in the phonetic alphabet).
2. Mix ice with salt: you can stretch it! (7)
ELASTIC : Anagram of(Mix) [ICE plus(with) SALT ].
Defn: Something made of a material like rubber that can be stretched, and then return to its original shape.
3. Area with LGBT clubs reflected in Pimlico hostelry (4)
SOHO : Hidden in(in) reversal of(reflected …) “Pimlico hostelry“.
Defn: Area in London, reputedly the capital of LGBT nightlife and gay London.
4. Al – a thin man, note – composed this well-known tune (8,6)
NATIONAL ANTHEM : Anagram of(… – composed) AL – A THIN MAN, NOTE.
5. Bruises resulting when tango replaces foxtrot in doubtful circumstances (10)
CONTUSIONS : T(letter represented by “tango” in the phonetic alphabet) replacing(replaces) “f”(letter represented by “foxtrot” in the phonetic alphabet) in “confusions”(doubtful circumstances/muddles).
6. A bishop loves to be excited … Pardon? (7)
ABSOLVE : A + B(abbrev. for “bishop”, the chess piece) anagram of(… to be excited) LOVES.
7. Mock former queen, seated next to unknown (6)
ERSATZ : ER(abbrev. for “Elizabeth Regina”, former Queen of the UK) + SAT(seated on, say, a stool) plus(next to) Z(symbol for an unknown quantity in mathematics).
Defn: …/not genuine.
8. Does such nonsense merit a tip? (1,4,2,7)
A LOAD OF RUBBISH : Cryptic defn: Reference to rubbish/nonsense requiring/meriting a tip/a place to dump rubbish/garbage.
14. Writer’s joint entitlement to book royalties? (10)
AUTHORSHIP : AUTHOR(writer)S + HIP(a joint in the body).
16. Reckon being seen in vest, I’m a tease? (8)
ESTIMATE : Hidden in(being seen in) “vest, I’m a tease“.
17. A non-drinker seen with a French drunkard, finally becomes acclimatised (7)
ATTUNED : A + TT(abbrev. for “tee-totaller”/a non-drinker) plus(seen with) UNE(French for “a”) + last letter of(… finally) “drunkard,“.
18. Animosity shown, as last testament created when unwell? (3,4)
ILL WILL : A possible/? description of a WILL(last testament) created/drawn when ILL(unwell).
19. Lord Elphick covers site of ancient oracle (6)
DELPHI : Hidden in(… covers) “Lord Elphick“.
23. Ship gas – but not Nitrogen (4)
ARGO : “argon”(an inert gaseous chemical element) minus(but not) “n”(symbol for the chemical element, nitrogen).
Defn: … in which Jason sailed in search of the Golden Fleece, in Greek mythology.
Thanks Xestobium and scchua…for a breezy puzzle and colorful blog.
Likes
– RAITA
– CONTUSIONS
– ERSATZ
– AUTHORSHIP
Thanks, Xestobium and scchua!
A lovely puzzle and an excellent (colourful and illustrated as usual. Mouthwatering RAITA and a bit of mouthful elsewhere (BYTE)-delicious overall) blog!
4d – NATIONAL ANTHEM
“al” looks exactly like “ai” in the font used by 225 and the Indy – “Al” “AI” – it came up elsewhere, recently – are the setters doing this deliberately?
Here it was obviously “AL” but you’d need to paste it into a text editor to be sure.
And there was I thinking that the setter was casting aspersions on the editor as being a drunkard!
https://www.fifteensquared.net/2023/09/05/guardian-cryptic-29167-by-pasquale/
Here are some alternating Upper Case “i”s and lower case “L”s – IlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIlIl
The “i”‘s are slightly shorter, and maybe ever so slightly wider, than the “L”s but you’d need to set the zoom to 500% to see it.
Thanks both.
There are a lot of references to drugs in this puzzle. Most puzzles these days seem to include at least one such reference. Is it too much to ask for a drug-free puzzle?
I do enjoy this setter’s puzzles, so many compilers these days seem to have forgotten the mantra that whilst a battle of wits is enjoyable, they should concede gracefully at the end of the solve.
Particularly enjoyed A LOAD OF RUBBISH & AUTHORSHIP in this one.
Thanks to Xestobium and to scchua for the review.
Easier than Everyman. What’s going on?
Thanks Xestobium for a delightful puzzle. Smooth surfaces, some of which raised a smile. If this had been in “Another Place”, we would have said that it was an excellent Quiptic – that isn’t meant as a criticism. We appreciate the odd puzzle that you can solve quickly as long as the clues are good – like this one!
Thanks scchua.
An absolute delight from start to finish with smiles throughout the grid. Even the use of random given names in the anagram fodder on a couple of occasions, something I’m not a fan of and would avoid myself didn’t impair my enjoyment in any way whatsoever.
NICTATE & CONTUSIONS new words but easily obtained from checkers and wordplay
Great puzzle with a contemporary fresh feel and a great blog.
Thanks X and s.
Thanks both. As others have said, this felt just right for a Sunday. I’m not sure how cryptic AUTHORSHIP is given the context of writer and books, and I’m still arguing with myself over whether ERSATZ plays to my nemesis re ‘sat’ and ‘sitting’ but A LOAD OF RUBBISH was very tidy, if you see what I mean?
Thanks Xestobium for a bit of light entertainment. My top picks were ERSATZ, ATTUNED, and GOALIE. Thanks scchua for the blog.
That was just about the fastest I’ve done a cryptic; nice gentle way to end off the weekend.
LOI was ersatz which is a word my musical hero Andy Partridge uses a lot, but I’ve never managed to squeeze into a sentence.
Lutenists and nictate were new words to me, I love it when you work out a clue, think that can’t be right but find it in the dictionary!
Thanks, Xestobium and scchua; excellent blog, never tire of seeing Banks’ 1970 save!;
Thanks for the nice comments! I always try to get some humour into my puzzles – even if they may be “easier” than some others’… Cheers for now