Apologies for the formatting below, but the blogging software appears to have a glitch and I was unable to get it working properly, so the definitions are in bold below.
Guy exercises our grey matter this morning.
I thought I might be beaten this morning when my first pass yielded only CUP and TUXEDO, but thankfully, a couple more answers in the bottom half opened up that part of the puzzle and gradually, i worked my way from bottom to the NW corner, then finally the NE corner, with only RUBATO holding out to the end (I had to check that one, as it’s a new word to me). When I finish a puzzle like this, I may feel any combination of relieved/proud/happy/satisifed, and in this case I think maybe all four apply. There were some fantastic clues here, with maybe WAR MACHINE my favourite.
Thanks, Guy.
ACROSS
1 BESTRIDE
Get your leg over favourite bike (8)
BEST (“favourite”) + RIDE (“bicycle”)
5 GRUBBY
Dirty old town reflected times (6)
<=BURG (“old town”, reflected) + BY (“times”)
8 CUP
Third in race winning prize (3)
[third in] (ra)C(e) + UP (“winning”)
9 BASKET CASE
Nut containers (6,4)
Doubel definition, the second being two examples of containers
10/11 TRISTRAM SHANDY
Book outings without parking — public transport’s useful (8,6)
TRI(p)S (“outings, without P (parking)) + TRAM’S (“public transport’s”) + HANDY (“useful”)
12 OATH
Od’s bodikins, one that might be old hat? (4)
*(o hat) [anag:that might be] where O = old and semi &lit.
14 WAR MACHINE
West Wing ace Sheen reportedly means to campaign (3,7)
W (west) + ARM (“wing”) + A (ace) + homophone/pun/aural wordplay [reportedly] of CHINE (Sheen)
17 HEARTBEATS
Ticks drawing blood? (10)
Cryptic definition
20 DISC
A little merry-go-round is coming full circle (4)
Hidden in [a little] “merry-go-rounD IS Coming”
23/24 FLARED TROUSERS
Apartment full of Communist agitator’s old hip bags (6,8)
FLAT (“apartment”) full of RED (“Communist”) + ROUSERS (“agitator’s”)
25 PIGEONHOLE
Stereotype of husband in loo, peeing all over the place (10)
H (husband) in *(loo peeing) [anag:all over the place]
26 ORB
It’s global but it could be British (3)
OR (“bit it could be”) + B (British)
27 BEAT IT
Leave instruction for servant on dusty carpet? (4,2)
You might ask a servant to BEAT a dusty carpet (as long as it wasn’t a fitted one, of course)
28 DEPORTEE
Unsuccessful immigrant lashed on return there, regularly (8)
<=ROPED (“Lashed”, on return) + T(h)E(r)E [regularly]
DOWN
1 BUCKTOOTH
Spooner’s sweet stall at school makes problem for the dentist (9)
If spoken by the Rev. Spooner, BUCKTOOTH may have been TUCK BOOTH (“sweet stall at school”)
2 SOPHIST
Drunkard outside pub is argumentative type (7)
SOT (“drunkard”) outside PH (pub(lic house) on a map) + IS
3 RUBATO
Changing speed when cycling west of Ulan Bator (6)
*(u bator) [anag:when cycling] where U is [west of] U(lan)
Rubato = in modified or distorted rhythm, hence “changing speed”.
4 DISPARAGE
Slight tantrum after i-Pad’s removed (9)
RAGE (“tantrum”) after *(ipads) [anag:removed]
5 GO TO SEA
Sign up on ship saw sailor leap, clearing the sides (2,2,3)
GOT (“saw”) + OS (ordinary seaman, so “sailor”) + (l)EA(p) [clearing the sides]
6 UNABASHED
You said shoplift a gardening store? Not guilty (9)
Homophone/pun/aural wordplay [said] of YOU + NAB (“shoplfit”) + A + SHED (“gardening store”)
7 BLEND IN
Bank’s first home loan switched to match others (5,2)
B(ank) [‘s first] + IN (“home”) + LEND (“loan”) [switched]
13 HARD RIGHT
Neo-Nazis perhaps uncomfortable with truth (4,5)
HARD (“uncomfortable”) with RIGHT (“truth”)
15 MOTORHOME
Homoerotism bar is turning camper (9)
*(hemoerotm) [anag:turning] where HOMOEROTM is HOMOEROT(is)M bar (i.e. without) IS
16 EXCUSABLE
Copper wearing old fur coat likely to be pardoned (9)
Cu (chemical symbol for “copper”) wearing EX (“old”) + SABLE (“fur coat”)
18 ECLIPSE
Hide pieces of film in middle of reel (7)
CLIPS (“pieces of film”) in [middle of] (r)EE(l)
19 BEDPOST
Young socialite flipped after timber notched, perhaps (7)
<=DEB(utante) (“young socialte”, flipped) + POST (“after”)
21 ICEBOAT
CEO a bit shaky, breaking vessel (7)
*(ceo a bit) [anag:shaky]
22 TUXEDO
DJ shortened US election day party, with vote to get in (6)
TUE(sday) (“shortened US election day”) + DO (“party”) with X (“vote”) to get in
Guy keeps it up with his steady stream of great clues and surfaces.
The only struggle I had today was picking a favourite. I’ll go with HEARTBEATS for its defintion, closely followed by PIGEONHOLE which, like BESTRIDE, errs the right side of mucky!
Both the ‘book’ and ‘old hip bags’ were neat and the ‘camper’ had a great surface.
It’s just a good thing that the unknown (to me) musical instruction in 3d was a cycling clue.
Thanks, Guy, for yet another worthy puzzle and to Loonapick.
Thanks for the blog, great puzzle, neat and clever clues throughout , I will stick with the favourites of Diane@1 .
Agree with Diane that RUBATO is just cycling , not an anagram , this made it easier but also cleverer .
No need to apologise for the formatting, Loonapick; I found it perfectly clear.
I hadn’t heard of TRISTRAM SHANDY. The definition (“book”) narrowed it down to a few trillion, but the wordplay was concise and I managed to tease it out after a few intersecting clues. Neither had I heard of the archaic oath. “Timber notched, perhaps” is a fairly loose definition for a bedpost, I thought. Then again, my experience of bedposts is extremely limited! I was sure RUBATO was correct, but the full parsing was beyond me.
Much to enjoy here; plenty of smiles. I started slowly, but found it overall to be Goldilocks level. Thanks, Guy.
Geoff@3 – Another notch on the bedpost – is a very crude saying. I imagine that bedposts are very rare these days.
Bed posts, per se, are not remotely rare. They are the uprights that support a bed. I suspect we associate the notching phrase with ‘four posters’ which are, indeed, considerably less common these days but there is nothing in a quick scan of Google to suggest that there is any particular link to canopied beds.
Like loonapick, I found this a slowish start but, as soon as some crossers appeared, the puzzle began to unravel. Nicely clued as usual with Guy. I shall follow Roz’s lead in agreeing with Diane’s favourites – HEARTBEATS, PIGEONHOLE, BESTRIDE, FLARED TROUSERS and MOTOR HOME and, to show I have no trace of originality, will bung in loonapick’s favourite WAR MACHINE. I looked up RUBATO more in hope than expectation so was pleased to find it in the dictionary.
Thanks Guy and loonapick
Roz@4, I hadn’t heard that one either. I lead a sheltered life.
LOi & COTD – 9a BASKET CASE – and nothing to do with codpieces, jockstraps, cricket boxes, thongs, or budgie smugglers.
MrPostMark@5 , from a relatively small sample I would say that nearly all beds today are divans , a mattress on a covered box-frame support that does not have actual bedposts .
Re 21D: isn’t an iceboat one that slides across ice? An icebreaker is a vessel that breaks through ice…
Despite Roz and Geoff’s comments, I still don’t understand why, in 19D, a “bedpost” means “timber notched”. I suspect that it somewhat risqué judging by Geoff’s comment about leading a sheltered life!
Annabelle @9: the reference is to the supposed practice of carving a notch on one’s bedpost to record one’s successful amorous exploits.
Great fun. Thank you Guy and Loonapick
Enjoyable puzzle thank you
Both the beds at home have wooden frames, mattresses and bed posts – and I knew about the notching from seeing it happen at university, but it wasn’t so much a thing when my daughter was at university, although she knows the phrase.
Thank you for the blog loonapick and Guy for the puzzle.
Thanks Guy for a super set of clues. My top picks were BESTRIDE, CUP, OATH, WAR MACHINE, PIGEONHOLE (great surface), and SOPHIST.I failed with the clever BASKET CASE and RUBATO. Thanks loonapick for the blog; seems to me that you do just fine without the blogging software.
Too late to add anything but praise and a shout out to TRISTRAM SHANDY.
Loved the puzzle. Never fully understood the word play for 4D till Loonapick explained it (thank you! —I think this goes in the almost anything is an anagram indicator category).