The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29962.
An amusing offering from Anto, and one I found not too hard, which is all to the good as daylight savings time differences rob me of an hour’s blogging time.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PAINTINGS |
Efforts made to have tin glaze initially added to artworks (9)
|
| An envelope (‘added to’?) of ‘tin’ plus G (‘Glaze initially’) in PAINS (‘efforts made’). | ||
| 6 | OBAMA |
Love to get two degrees? Yes we can, he said (5)
|
| A charade of O (‘love’) plus BA MA (‘two degrees’). | ||
| 9 | PEEVE |
Bother first lady after exercise (5)
|
| A charade of PE (physical ‘exercise’) plus EVE (‘first lady’). | ||
| 10 | SHOP FRONT |
Betray apparent leader seen on the street (4,5)
|
| A charade of SHOP (‘betray’) plus FRONT (‘apparent leader’). | ||
| 11 | AGA |
Pangram will regularly display this range (3)
|
| Alternate letters (‘will regularly display’) of ‘pAnGrAm’. | ||
| 12 | AGENT ORANGE |
A man like Trump that devastates the environment (5,6)
|
| Definition and literal interpretation. | ||
| 14 | TRANSIT |
Managed to rest after tension in crossing (7)
|
| A charade of T (‘tension’ – not a common abbreviation) plus RAN (‘managed’) plus SIT (‘rest’). | ||
| 15 | DESISTS |
Stops son joining uncaring god worshippers (7)
|
| An envelope (‘joining’) of S (‘son’) in DEISTS (‘uncaring god worshippers’ – Deism is the belief of God as creator, but not influencing human lives). Like ‘added to’ in 1A, the envelope indictor does not specifically suggest insertion. | ||
| 16 | COPPERS |
Small change as regularly spotted on the beat (7)
|
| Double definition. | ||
| 19 | MAITRE D |
Servant retains half of treats for one overseeing service (6,1)
|
| An envelope (‘retains’) of TRE (‘half of TREats’) in MAID (‘servant’). | ||
| 22 | ABANDON SHIP |
Titanic orchestra perhaps, and what they didn’t do (7,4)
|
| A BAND ON SHIP. | ||
| 23 | SKI |
Runner should keep improving from the start (3)
|
| First letters (‘from the start’) of ‘Should Keep Improvimg’. | ||
| 24 | NEOPHOBIC |
No hope revolutionary writer is preferring old stuff? (9)
|
| A charade of NEOPHO, an anagram (‘revolutionary’) of ‘no hope’; plus BIC (‘writer’). | ||
| 26 | ACING |
Threatening to exclude men passing challenge with ease (5)
|
| A subtraction: [men]ACING (‘threatening’) ‘to exclude men’. | ||
| 27 | LET-UP |
Moderation of rent increase (3-2)
|
| A charade of LET (‘rent’) plus UP (‘increase’). | ||
| 28 | GENDER GAP |
Liberal agreed GNP reveals societal disparity (6,3)
|
| An anagram (‘liberal’) of ‘agreed GNP’. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | POP TART |
Leading role Spooner might have toasted? (3,4)
|
| A Spoonerism of TOP PART (‘leading role’). The Pop Tart brand wes introduced long after Spooner. | ||
| 2 | IKEBANA |
Japanese art has elements of childlike banality (7)
|
| A hidden answer (‘elements of’) in ‘childlIKE BANAlity’. | ||
| 3 | THE NAGS HEAD |
He had agents swarming around pub? (3,4,4)
|
| An anagram (‘swarming’) of ‘he had agents’. | ||
| 4 | NASCENT |
Scotch producer reports there’s no bouquet developing? (7)
|
| A ‘Scotch producer’ would probably be Scottish, and might say NA SCENT (‘no bouquet’). | ||
| 5 | SPORTED |
Arranged to have piano inside played (7)
|
| An envelope (‘to have … inside’) of P (‘piano’) on SORTED (‘arranged’). | ||
| 6 | OFF |
Travelling while ill (3)
|
| Double definition. | ||
| 7 | ABOUNDS |
Jump in as there’s plenty that does this (7)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of BOUND (‘jump’) in ‘as’. | ||
| 8 | ACTRESS |
She performs in a style not approved by the Guardian? (7)
|
| Guardian style is to refer to a female thespian as an actor. | ||
| 13 | REST IN PEACE |
Tease prince worried when rip expanded (4,2,5)
|
| An anagram (‘worried’) of ‘tease prince’. | ||
| 16 | CHANNEL |
Direct passage is sound (7)
|
| Triple definition. | ||
| 17 | PLAY OUT |
Gradually develop page design (4,3)
|
| A charade of P (‘page’) plus LAYOUT (‘design’). | ||
| 18 | SANDBAG |
Knock out part of flood defence (7)
|
| Double definition. | ||
| 19 | MOHICAN |
Here in Rome, complain about hairstyle (7)
|
| An envelope (‘about’) of HIC (Latin, ‘here in Rome’) in MOAN (‘complain’). The hairstyle is better known as Mohawk. | ||
| 20 | RASPING |
Harsh sounding political line carried by newspaper (7)
|
| An envelope (‘carried by’) of SPIN (‘political line’) in RAG (‘newspaper’). | ||
| 21 | DOING UP |
Kill little dog upset when redecorating (5,2)
|
| A charade of DO IN (‘kill’) plus GUP, a reversal (‘upset’ in a down light) of PUG (‘little dog’). | ||
| 25 | HOP |
Spring finishes off with Tokyo trip (3)
|
| Last letters (‘finishes off’) of ‘witH TokyO triP‘. |
