The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29813.
When 1 Across falls out on first reading, I think I am in for an easy ride, and by and large that is how it turned out here. Brummie often has a theme, but I do not see anything – which is far from saying that there is none.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | CAMPUS |
Students here affected America (6)
|
| A charade of CAMP (‘affected’) plus US (‘American’). | ||
| 5 | CATACOMB |
Tom possibly on a search for dead accommodating place (8)
|
| A charade of CAT (‘tom possibly’) plus ‘a’ plus COMB (‘search’, verb). | ||
| 9 | SPURIOUS |
Dodgy football club concealing debt (8)
|
| An envelope (‘concealing’) of IOU (‘debt’) in SPURS (Tottenham Hotspur, ‘football club’). | ||
| 10 | POETRY |
Lines of type or squiggles (6)
|
| An anagram (‘squiggles’) of ‘type or’. | ||
| 11 | STAGE WHISPER |
Before gossip, stand aside (5,7)
|
| A charade of STAGE (‘stand’) plus WHISPER (‘gossip’). | ||
| 13 | SWOT |
Backward Yanks study!? (4)
|
| A reversal (‘backwards’) of TOWS (‘yanks’). | ||
| 14 | IDENTITY |
What makes the real you deny it – twice, brazenly? (8)
|
| An anagram (‘brazenly’) of ‘deny it’ plus another ‘it’ (‘twice’). | ||
| 17 | KNICKERS |
Underwear that’s exasperating (8)
|
| Double definition; the second is a humorous mock expletive. | ||
| 18 | PAWL |
Catch wife in embrace of mate (4)
|
| An envelope (‘in embrace of’) of W (‘wife’) in PAL (‘mate’). | ||
| 20 | GRAND LARCENY |
Crime of old lady: nabbing rocking cradle (5,7)
|
| An envelope (‘nabbing’) of DLARCE, an anagram (‘rocking’) of ‘cradle’ in GRANNY (‘old lady’). | ||
| 23 | MUESLI |
Use milk, almost curdled, for breakfast? (6)
|
| An anagram (‘curdled’) of ‘use mil[k]’ minus the last letter (‘almost’). I’m sure some will want to include ‘for’ in the definition. | ||
| 24 | EMBLAZON |
Display lamb cooked in controlled zone (8)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of MBLA, an anagram (‘cooked’) of ‘lamb’ in EZON, an anagram (‘controlled’) of ‘zone’. | ||
| 25 | ADULTERY |
Mature blend of rye? That’s cheating! (8)
|
| A charade of ADULT (‘mature’) plus ERY, an anabram (‘blend of’) of ‘rye’. | ||
| 26 | GREEDY |
Good as a woodwind section – but insatiable (6)
|
| A charade of G (‘good’) plus REEDY (‘as a woodwind section’). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | ALPS |
Range of adult records from former times (4)
|
| A charade of A (‘adult’) plus LPS (‘recors from former times’). | ||
| 3 | PARASITIC |
Soldiers, with one jerk clinging on for support (9)
|
| A charade of PARAS (members of the Parachure Regiment, ‘soldiers’) plus I (‘one’) plus TIC (‘jerk’). | ||
| 4 | SLOGAN |
Labour needs a new election catchphrase? (6)
|
| A charade of SLOG (‘labour’) plus ‘a’ plus N (‘new’). | ||
| 5 | COSMETIC SURGERY |
Customer is e.g. about to be covered in blubber as a means of improving looks? (8,7)
|
| An envelope (‘to be covered in’) of OSMETICSURGE, an anagram (‘about’) of ‘customer is eg’ in CRY (‘blubber’). | ||
| 6 | TAP SHOES |
Bugs, garden tools, dance wear (3,5)
|
| A charade of TAPS (‘bugs’ – as in “his phone was tapped”) plus HOES (‘garden tools’). | ||
| 7 | CRESS |
Garnish shows one’s out of touch romantically (5)
|
| A subtraction: C[a]RESS (‘touch romantically’) minus the A (‘one’s out’). | ||
| 8 | MARKET TOWN |
Could be Ludlow’s ATM network needs fixing (6,4)
|
| An anagram (‘needs fixing’) of ‘ATM network’. | ||
| 12 | SWAN AROUND |
Bird needs a shot to move gracefully (4,6)
|
| A charade of SWAN (‘bird’) plus ‘a’ plus ROUND (‘shot’). | ||
| 15 | TIPSY CAKE |
Sort of trifle that produces tight coat! (5,4)
|
| A charade of TIPSY (‘tight’) plus CAKE (‘coat’), plus the suggestion that the cake is fattening. | ||
| 16 | VERLAINE |
French writer’s not entirely over LA – “inexorable!” (8)
|
| A hidden (‘not entirely’) answer in ‘oVER LA INExorable’. | ||
| 19 | BEDBUG |
Sucker’s base program error (6)
|
| A charade of BED (‘base’) plus BUG (‘program error’). | ||
| 21 | NASAL |
Nosy overseer of missions by lake (5)
|
| A charade of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, ‘overseer of missions’) plus L (‘lake’). | ||
| 22 | FOLD |
Pound to go out of business (4)
|
| Double definition. |
Just the right level of difficulty (for me tonight). TIPSY CAKE was an nho, despite the fact that I do add sherry to my trifle.
There were some clues that raised an eyebrow, but I made peace with most of them after a bit of internal debate. The holdout was 13a: Yank implies a jerk to get going, but TOW suggests something much smoother.
Isn’t this the third market town we’ve had in the last 10 days (the other 2 were in clues)?
Tx B&P
Ditto re nhho that trifle name, Dr Wh @1, despite the late mrs ginf, the maker of large trifles for our tribe, soaking the pound cake on the bottom in at least half a bottle of sherry. Agree, too, that while a tic is a jerk, towing is not yanking. Nice breezy fun puzzle though, ta Brum and Peter.
I too wasn’t entirely convinced by tow/yank, for the same reason as Dr. WhatsOn@1. I didn’t know Ludlow was a market town, but I do now. The wordplay was straightforward. I couldn’t parse CRESS, but now see it’s quite a clever clue. Never heard of PAWL or TIPSY CAKE (a British specialty?).
A pleasant solve and not as difficult as I sometimes find Brummie’s.