Independent on Sunday 1764 Tees

Thank you to Tees. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1. Innocent Bobby binding hand initially cut (4,4)

LAMB CHOP : LAMB(an innocent/a simple person) + COP(a police office, nicknamed a “bobby” in Britain) containing(binding) 1st letter of(… initially) “hand“.

Defn: A … of, in this case, ovine meat.

6. Trap set by eleven miserable Spanish bankers? (6)

ENMESH : 1st and last letters, respectively, of(… bankers) “eleven miserable Spanish“.

9. Winner at court remains for hearing (4)

ASHE : Homophone of(… for hearing) “ash”(remains after burning).

Answer: Arthur, American champion on the tennis court.

10. Decrepit couple on strike (10)

RAMSHACKLE : SHACKLE(to couple/to chain together) placed after(on) RAM(to strike/to crash into).

11. City craft back carrying Russian rifle (6)

KRAKOW : Reversal of(… back) WORK(an activity, in this case, of making things by hand/craft) containing(carrying) AK(or “Avtomat Kalashnikova”, a family of assault rifles name after it original designer, Mikhail Kalashnikov).

Defn: … in Poland.

12. Dark soil disturbed in trade route (4,4)

SILK ROAD : Anagram of(… disturbed) DARK SOIL.

Defn: … between China and Europe.

13. Closely connected, return bananas? (4,2,4)

HAND IN HAND : [HAND IN](to return/pass back) + HAND(a bunch of bananas).

16. Gull in trees with aspiration called out (4)

HOAX : Homophone of(… called out) [ “H”(an aspirated consonant, one pronounced with an exhalation of breath) plus(with) “oaks”(large trees bearing acorns) ].

17. Irish drawn to Patrick, say, excited reaction? (4)

STIR : IR(abbrev. for “Irish”) placed after(drawn to) ST(abbrev. for “Saint”, an example of which/say, is Saint Patrick).

19. Crew crossing one watercourse displays standard (10)

MAINSTREAM : MAN(to crew/to provide people to operate a craft or vehicle) containing(crossing) I(Roman numeral for “one”) + STREAM(watercourse/a continuous flow of water).

Defn: …/the norm.

22. The legendary king of rock-and-roll (8)

SISYPHUS : Cryptic defn: In Greek mythology, the king who was punished by the gods by having to roll a rock up a hill, over and over again for eternity.

24. Vicious perhaps to stop one being supportive (6)

ONSIDE : SID(an example of which/perhaps was Sid, a member of the punk rock band, the Sex Pistols) contained in(to stop) ONE.

Defn: …/agreeing and working towards the same goal as someone.

26. Mattress on ground and many different things (10)

ASSORTMENT : Anagram of(… ground) MATTRESS ON.

27. Stench from pit all right in Ulysses? (4)

BOOK : BO(abbrev. for “body odour”, a stench/bad smell from one’s armpit/pit) + OK(okay/all right).

Defn: An example of which/? is “Ulysses” by James Joyce.

28. Venues constructed in stone with return of opera (6)

STADIA : ST(abbrev. for “stone”, a unit of weight in the Imperial system) plus(with) reversal of(return of) AIDA(opera by Verdi).

Defn: … for, say, sporting events.

29. Big ship linked with Spain’s generosity (8)

LARGESSE : LARGE(big) + SS(abbrev. for “steamship”, as used in steamships’ names) plus(linked with) E(the International Vehicle Registration code for Spain).

Down

2. Stupid visionary sent up expansionist monarchy (7)

ASSYRIA : ASS(stupid, as a noun, as in “Pay attention, stupid!”) + reversal of(… sent up, in a down clue) AIRY(visionary/imaginative).

Defn: …, in this case, an ancient Mesopotamian civilization which started as a city-state and expanded to a territorial, and eventually to an empire.

3. Wretched Bradley’s initial disclosure of documents (5)

BLEAK : 1st letter of(…’s initial disclosure) “Bradley” + LEAK(an intentional disclosure of documents containing secret or private information).

4. Cheer up then crashing down? Not easily achieved (4-3)

HARD-WON : Reversal of(… up, in a down clue) RAH(a North American term for a cheer of encouragement) plus(then) anagram of(crashing) DOWN.

5. Questions politician involved in unpleasant matter (5)

PUMPS : MP(abbrev. for a Member of Parliament, an elected politician) contained in(involved in) PUS(unpleasant matter produced in infected tissue).

6. Once-healthy duke blew out (7)

EXHALED : EX-(prefix signifying “once”/formerly) HALE(healthy/fit) + D(abbrev. for “Duke”).

7. General answer found in Mark Chapter 9? (9)

MACARTHUR : A(abbrev. for “answer”) contained in(in) [ M(abbrev. for “mark”) + C(abbrev. for “chapter”, one of the parts/divisiona in a book) + ARTHUR(first name of Ashe, the tennis player in 9 across) ].

Answer: Douglas, former General of the Army for the US.

8. Mistress last month put in clinic close to Chelsea (7)

SULTANA : ULT(abbrev. for Latin “ultimo mense”/last month) contained in(put in) SAN(short for “sanatorium”, an institution provided medical treatment/clinic) + last letter of(close to) “Chelsea“.

Defn: …/consort of a sultan.

14. Oscar having way with incredibly dry wit that may offend (5,4)

DIRTY WORD : [ O(letter represented by “Oscar” in the phonetic alphabet) plus(having`) RD(abbrev. for “road”, a way/thoroughfare) ] placed after(with) anagram of(incredibly) DRY WIT.

Defn: …/a swear word.

15. Greatest length trunk road spans? (3)

ALI : L(abbrev. for “length”) contained in(… spans) AI(A1, a trunk road/a long distance main road in the UK, with the Roman numeral substitution).

Defn: …, Muhammad, champion boxer who declared “”I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was”.

18. Three card players in silly female attire (7)

TWINSET : N,S,E(abbrev. for “North”,”South”, and “East”, respectively, representation for three of the players in the card game of bridge) contained in(in) TWIT(a silly/a foolish person).

19. Sage Derby perhaps eaten by mum twice (7)

MAHATMA : HAT(headwear, an example of which/perhaps is the Derby) contained in(eaten by) MA,MA(twice the familiar term for one’s mother/mum).

Defn: … in South Asia.

20. One looking small — ceramics worker? (7)

SPOTTER : S(abbrev. for “small”) + POTTER(an example/? of a ceramics worker making, well, ceramic pots).

21. Tough resistance shown by pair coming in down under? (7)

ARDUOUS : [ R(symbol for “electrical resistance” in physics) plus(by) DUO(a pair/a duet in music or entertainment) ] contained in(coming in) AUS(abbrev. for “Australia”, a country refered to as “down under” by those in the UK).

23. Period charm (5)

SPELL : Double defn: 1st: A … of time; and 2nd: A magical ….

25. Gloomy bachelor in northern town (5)

SABLE : BA(abbrev. for “Bachelor”) contained in(in) SALE(a town in Greater Manchester, North England).

Defn: …/dark.