A reasonably gentle start to the week from Bard, which I enjoyed.
There’s one slightly clunky clue (for this solver at least) and it’s a pangram. Otherwise not much more to add before handing over to the audience.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Fail pious quest, regularly back boozing on this?
TEQUILA
Every other letter of fAiL pIoUs QuEsT, reversed. Not sure what ‘boozing’ is doing here.
5 Unemployed chap, long-suffering? Not so much
JOBLESS
A charade of the biblical JOB and LESS.
9 Exhausted and inclined to blaspheme when losing head
WEARY
[S]WEARY
10 “Bard is average, limited and borders on third-rate” – that’s direct!
IMMEDIATE
A charade of I’M for ‘Bard is’, MEDIA[N] and TE for the outside letters of ‘third-rate’. MEDIAN is one of the three ‘averages’ starting with M; the other two are MEAN and MODE.
11 Expose Trump, foul army and silly gossip mongers
RUMOUR MILL
The inner letters of tRUMp, fOUl, aRMy and sILLy. ‘Expose’ is the instruction to take the outside letters away.
12 Newspaper contains current information
FACT
An insertion of AC for alternating current in FT for the pink’un. The insertion indicator is ‘contains’.
14 Computer file parsed these incorrectly
SPREADSHEET
(PARSED THESE)* with ‘incorrectly’ as the anagrind.
18 Saves me almost crashing into metal ship
STEAM VESSEL
An insertion of (SAVES M[E])* in STEEL. The insertion indicator is ‘into’ and the anagrind is ‘crashing’.
21 Skirt unfashionable, unloved and sent back repeatedly
TUTU
A reversal of [O]UT twice. ‘Unloved’ is the instruction to remove the O.
22 Maybe grandchild can send Ted loopy
DESCENDANT
(CAN SEND TED)* with ‘loopy’ as the anagrind.
25 Settle or else! Tax collected for public transport going up
ELEVATORS
An insertion of VAT in (OR ELSE)* with ‘settle’ as the anagrind and ‘collected’ as the insertion indicator.
26 How dimwit begins Observer puzzle – bewildered
DAZED
A charade of D for the initial letter of ‘dimwit’ and AZED for the puzzle in Another Place. A bit of inside crosswording knowledge required, which I’m never a big fan of; but with D?Z?D it can’t be much else, can it?
27 Relax in middle of Red Sea, swimming away
EASE OFF
A charade of E for the middle letter of ‘red’, (SEA)* and OFF. The anagrind is ‘swimming’.
28 Deficiency spotted in Ahab’s encephalogram
ABSENCE
Hidden in AhABS ENCEphalogram.
Down
1 Defeat admitted in umpteenth war trial
THWART
Hidden in umpteenTH WAR Trial. Are ‘defeat’ and ‘thwart’ synonyms? Just.
2 Charity supporting Queen’s misgivings
QUALMS
A charade of QU and ALMS.
3 Personally provided solver with invitation to quiz setter
IF YOU ASK ME
A charade of IF and YOU ASK ME, which could be a request from the quizzer to the quizmaster.
4 Australian cricketers love maidens – that’s self-evident
AXIOM
A charade of A, XI for the [eleven] cricketers, O and M.
5 Electricity suppliers bound to direct debits ultimately
JUMP LEADS
A charade of JUMP, LEAD and S for the final letter of ‘debits’.
6 Smell – dubiously at first – unknown substance
BODY
A charade of BO for ‘smell’, D for the initial letter of ‘dubiously’ and Y for the mathematical ‘unknown’.
7 Turn up to decide a title for issues
EMANATES
A reversal of SET A NAME. ‘Let’s set/decide the date for the next meeting.’
8 Observe Russia possibly recruiting muscle
SPECTATE
An insertion of PEC in STATE. The insertion indicator is ‘recruiting’.
13 Seaside flats and ramshackle spa leased around November
ESPLANADES
An insertion of N for the phonetic alphabet ‘November’ in (SPA LEASED)* The insertion indicator is ‘around’ and the anagrind is ‘ramshackle’.
15 Quickly ran through dance with Sheeran in the wings
REELED OFF
A charade of REEL, ED and OFF.
16 Grammatically suspect description of history, so to speak
AS IT WERE
A grammatically dodgy version of ‘history’, which would properly be AS IT WAS. AS IT WERE is grammatically correct as it stands, because the verb is in the subjunctive mood, suggesting uncertainty; it can also be found in the phrase ‘if I were you’, which clearly isn’t possible and therefore triggers the subjunctive. But nobody would be upset to hear ‘If I was you’, since the subjunctive mood has pretty much disappeared in modern English.
17 Pupil’s equipment not shading, their caps left off earlier
FELT PENS
A charade of (FELT)* with ‘off’ as the anagrind and PENS for the initial letters of the first four words of the clue. If ‘pupil’s equipment’ is the definition, then it makes little sense to me, since FELT PENS are hardly in the same category as the other stuff in your pencil case like pens, pencils and erasers. Is it a bit of clunky attempt at a cad? Happen I’m missing something.
19 Swinger using tips from trapeze artist, really zipping around now!
TARZAN
The initial letters of the last six words of the clue, and a cad.
20 Dull fare, e.g. peppers, thrown back up
STODGE
A reversal (‘thrown back up’, since it’s a down clue) of EG and DOTS.
23 Rib about ‘big trap’ occasionally
COSTA
A charade of C for circa, OS for outsize or ‘large’ and TA for the odd letters of TrAp. COSTA is the medical, Latin word for rib, which you would find in ‘intercostal’ for the muscles between the ribs. And in French in entrecôte, which is a cut taken from between the ribs, and where the circumflex accent indicates that the original ‘s’ has gone awol.
24 Food to accompany 1A, served up by advocate
TACO
Hidden reversed in advOCATe.
Many thanks to Bard for this Monday’s puzzle.
Ah! Should’ve checked Chambers for LOI COSTA which I got from WP but is nho as a Latin word. I am sorry to confess, I thought it something to do with the coffee shop and was expecting elucidation of a different kind. I struggled a bit with FELT PENS; fortunately I had crossers and realised the ‘left’ was going to anagram and fit the first word. The wording is odd to get the head around but I think the surface is suggesting that, without their caps, the pens have dried out and are therefore not colouring/shading as they should.
SPREADSHEET, BODY and DAZED my podium for today.
Thanks Bard and the orange Pierre
I was thinking along those lines as well, PostMark, but it’s still clunky in my opinion.
It’s St Patrick’s Day, so I am guessing that the orange and green colouring is a nod to that. Trump is your go-to personality if you’re looking for someone who’s really orange.
My top faves: AS IT WERE, FELT PENS and COSTA (Thanks Pierre for your informative comment in the blog).
TEQUILA
The def seems to be ‘boozing on this?’
IF YOU ASK ME
Took ‘invitation to quiz setter’ as ‘invitation to quiz the setter’—->ASK ME
Thanks Bard and Pierre.
Parsed 3d as a request from the quizmaster to the quizzer, with a 1987 earworm by The Smiths. Quite liked 17d FELT PENS. I’m always upset to hear ‘If I was you’.
If I was you, I’d be upset too.
A very smart puzzle, and I didn’t have any qualms.
Is there a competition going on, between the setters, to smuggle THWART in?
I struggled with FELT PENS, but I think it’s actually the best clue, from a host of good ones, and no bard ones.
I agree that “AZED” is a bit niche, but the clue compensates.
Great stuff from setter and blogger, thanks, Bard & Pierre
Interesting about the waning of the subjunctive. Lots of people still say ‘whether it be …”. I wonder do they they still say “il faut que je fasse…” or “Ich frage mich ob …”
Ta for the puzzle.
Great puzzle. Two words in and I thought this was going to a pangram.
Had to reveal FELT PENS. I got it in my head ‘pupil’s equipment’ had to be ‘something lens’. Plus I have always called them felt tips. TUTU and TACO I couldn’t parse so thanks for the blog.
I liked all the multiword clues in this (even if FELT PENS did ultimately defeat me.
Cheers Pierre and Bard
Staticman1@8; darn it, now you mention it, I always say ” felt-tip pens”. But I think “felt pens” is also OK? I hope so, since I’ve cheered for the clue.
Having just been made redundant and then solving 5a jobless it felt like bard was targeting me 🙂 lovely puzzle thanks both
I for one still twitch when I hear “If I was you.”
Not a quick solve, but worth it… slowed by not really reading the clue very well n bunging in IF YOU SAY SO, which made everything a lot trickier. I tried to fit in LENS for a while also, but finally saw the light.
My mother persisted with correcting me on the subject of “IF I WERE YOU”, so my left eye twitches when encountering the “WAS” version..
grantinfreo@7 the French n Italians seem to use the subjunctive punctuliously which makes it at least useful to learn.. “Honi soit qui mal y pense”
Thanks Bard for the puzzle n Pierre for the grand blog… slainte