Thank you to Budmo. Definitions are underlined in the clues. (Sorry for the late blog.)
Across
9. Go off Geordie TV presenter, old male model (9)
DECOMPOSE : DEC(Declan Donnelly, TV presenter born in Newcastle and therefore a Geordie, and one half of the duo Ant and Dec) + O(abbrev. for “old”) + M(abbrev. for “male”) + POSE(to sit/model for, say, an artist).
10. Because of two performers, start to obfuscate (3,2)
DUE TO : DUET(two performing together) + 1st letter of(start to) “obfuscate”.
11. Following fart, Earth tremors (5)
AFTER : Anagram of(… tremors) [FART + E(abbrev. for “Earth”) ].
12. Rate increase for stall (9)
TEMPORISE : TEMPO(rate/speed of a musical piece) + RISE(to increase in amount or degree).
Defn: To …/to act or speak vaguely in order to buy time.
13. Man stopping agitated suspect leaving court in ancient city (7)
EPHESUS : HE(pronoun for a “man”) contained in(stopping) anagram of(agitated) [ “suspect” minus(leaving) “ct”(abbrev. for “Court”) ].
Defn: … in present-day Turkey.
14. Some welcoming chief’s utter lawlessness (7)
ANARCHY : ANY(some/one or any number of things) containing(welcoming) ARCH(principal/chief).
17. Small untruth by rector is more cunning (5)
SLIER : S(abbrev. for “small”) + LIE(an untruth) plus(by) R(abbrev. for “rector”).
19. Individual taking ecstasy (3)
ONE : ON(regularly taking a medicine or drug) E(abbrev. for “ecstasy”, the drug).
20. Husband visiting market in Hull (5)
SHELL : H(abbrev. for “husband”) contained in(visiting) SELL(to market/to promote).
Defn: …/outer covering, say, of grain.
21. Most ale breaks down sugar (7)
MALTOSE : Anagram of(… breaks down) MOST ALE.
Defn: A ….
22. Sickness resulting from excrement, mostly, around hovel (7)
CHOLERA : “crap”(faeces/excrement) minus its last letter(mostly) containing(around) HOLE(an unpleasant place, such as a hovel/a small hut that is dirty).
And it is caused by ingesting food or water contaminated with the faeces of an infected person.
24. Perhaps rib cracked by a silly prat in royal family (9)
BONAPARTE : BONE(an example of which/perhaps is a rib) containing(cracked by) [ A + anagram of(silly) PRAT ].
Defn: … founded by Napoleon I.
26. Working at home is boring Harry (5)
DOING : IN(at home/not out) contained in(is boring) DOG(to harry/pester).
28. Different native losing millions (5)
OTHER : “mother”(native, as in “one’s mother tongue”) minus(losing) “m”(abbrev. for “millions”).
29. Claimant’s straightforward argument (9)
PLAINTIFF : PLAIN(straightforward/uncomplicated) + TIFF(an argument/quarrel).
Defn: … in a lawsuit brought against someone.
Down
1. Suggestion from middleman oddly ignored (4)
IDEA : “middleman” minus its 1st and subsequent letters in odd positions(oddly ignored).
Defn: …/a thought about what to do.
2. Destroy spirit (6)
SCOTCH : Double defn: 1st: …/demolish; and 2nd: …, in this case Scotch whisky, in its short form.
3. Showman, one playing Paris and Rome (10)
IMPRESARIO : I(Roman numeral for “one”) + anagram of(playing) [PARIS plus(and) ROME ].
4. Supply of suet for juvenile wannabe? (6)
FOETUS : Anagram of(Supply/supplely) OF SUET.
Defn: Cryptically, something that wants to become a baby/juvenile.
5. Infiltrate a couple’s enthralling exchange at last (8)
PERMEATE : PER(a/each) + MATE(to couple/to have sexual intercourse) containing(…’s enthralling) last letter of(… at last) “exchange”.
6. Revolutionary cut more unusual root vegetable (4)
EDDO : Reversal of(Revolutionary) [ “odder”(more unusual/strange) minus its last letter(cut …) ].
7. Average doctor taking nothing on (8)
MEDIOCRE : [ MEDIC(a doctor/a medical practitioner) containing(taking) O(letter representing 0/nothing) ] + RE(about/on as in “on the subject of …”).
Defn: …/nothing special.
8. Claim written language doesn’t include the letter R (4)
POSE : “prose”(written language, ordinary and not poetry) minus(doesn’t include) the letter R.
Defn: …/to state as fact.
13. Where to find classic content to keep, somehow (5)
EPSOM : Hidden in(content to) “keep, somehow”.
Defn: …, specifically The Oaks or The Derby Classics, prestigious horse races run at the Epson Down Racecourse.
15. Quickly leaving a relationship to keep some credibility, primarily (10)
ABSCONDING : A + BONDING(a relationship/an attachment to someone with common interests) containing(to keep) 1st letters, respectively, of(..., primarily) “some credibility”.
16. Crimean War conference site boosted at city close to Turkey (5)
YALTA : Reversal of(boosted, in a down clue) [ AT + LA(abbrev. for Los Angeles, a US city) + last letter of(close to) “Turkey” ].
18. Musical show Oscar’s promoted in one advance article (8)
IOLANTHE : O(letter represented by “Oscar” in the phonetic alphabet) moved one position up(…’s promoted, in a down clue) in [ I(Roman numeral for “one”) + LOAN(an advance/a sum of money lent) + THE(an article in grammar) ].
Defn: …, specifically, the comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan.
19. I reprove criminal on the way out (8)
OVERRIPE : Anagram of(… criminal) I REPROVE.
Defn: …/past its best and starting to decay.
22. Emperor announced what guards should do to escaping woman? (6)
CAESAR : Homophone of(announced) “seize her”(what guards are ordered to do to an escaping woman).
Defn: Roman ….
23. Draw Forth Bridge’s terminus, OK? (6)
ELICIT : Last letter of(…’s terminus) “Bridge” + LICIT(lawful/OK).
24. Jeer King James, perhaps (4)
BOOK : BOO(jeer/to show disapproval) + K(abbrev. for “King”, in chess notation).
Defn: An example of which/perhaps is the Book of James, a Christian epistle.
25. Pressure on animal sanctuary to provide recreation area (4)
PARK : P(symbol for “pressure” in physics) placed above(on, in a down clue) ARK(in the Bible, Noah’s … was an animal sanctuary/safe haven from the global flood).
27. Present introduction from Guardian and two shelfmates (4)
GIFT : 1st letter of(introduction from) “Guardian” plus(and) [ I(short for The Independent newspaper + FT(abbrev. for The Financial Times newspaper – two publications that would be shelfmates of/found on the same shelf as the Guardian) ].
Some lovely clues and what I believe is Budmo’s first Cryptic, usually a Quick/Quiptic setter. From early comments on the G site it looked like the NE would prove trickiest and Indeed it was with the lovely MEDIOCRE last in. Also text for the amusing AFTER, EPHESUS (the wonderful site I visited this January), BONAPARTE, PLAINTIFF, IMPRESARIO, ABSCONDER, YALTA and ELICIT for the nice Forth Bridge trick. I look forward to the next one.
Ta Budmo & scchua..
Thanks Budmo and scchua
Very nice. I didn’t parse PERMEATE, so thanks for that.
MALTOSE is very good, as it’s the sugar that is fermented to make ale!
I don’t see any reason for SLIER to exist when we have SLYER, but apparently it is a valid alternative.
[Tip: if you are ever tempted to prepare eddos (I haven’t seen them for ages), wear rubber gloves – they cause awful skin irritation when raw.]
*ticks
Very nice stuff. scchua, I hope you won’t mind this old hack quibbling with the parsing of 27dn. The Independent hasn’t existed in printed form since 2016, so won’t be found on the shelves of any newsagent. The source of the I in GIFT must therefore be what is now known as The i Paper (but formerly just i), which was originally an offshoot of The Independent and is now owned by the publishers of the Daily Mail.
Despite feeling straightforward throughout, this fun puzzle from Budmo held out for a few minutes longer than expected, partly because I had never heard of EDDO.
The clueing was clear and accurate with coherent surfaces. I feel like I’m going to spot that a = per device up front next time. I’ll pick out DECOMPOSE, ABSCONDING and MEDIOCRE as top clues, but I liked most of them.
Thanks Budmo and scchua
I really enjoyed this; it was chewy enough to be engaging but ultimately do-able. Favourites were ANARCHY, CHOLERA and MEDIOCRE. Many thanks Budmo and scchua.
Thanks (and welcome) to Budlo and Schua
Never heard of Declan Donnelly but fairly clued, and loved the simplicity of gift ( when I finally got it)
Got stuck on the NE corner. Never heard of EDDO
On the contrary, many thanks, moh@4!
Welcome Budlo. That was fun if over a little quickly. IMPRESARIO my favorite. EDDO was new to me but inevitable once the crossers went in.
LOI and unparsed was PERMEATE. One of these days I will recognize the absolutely minimal PER can be hinted at.
Score Update: Budmo 4 : 2 Budlo 😂
Thanks both,
Is ‘prose’ written language without a dbe modifier? Surely poetry can also be written and prose is also spoken. Who was it who was surprised to discover they’d been speaking prose all their life?
Fairly gentle for a Friday although the NE quadrant needed some head-scratching. I liked BONAPARTE’s rib cracked, a couple’s enthralling PERMEATE, Oscar’s musical IOLANTHE, and the Forth Bridge’s ELICIT.
Thanks Budmo and scchua.
Quite gentle for a Friday. Two unknowns but they were very fairly clued.
Surprised to see things Budmo’s first time outside the quick/quiptic.
Liked MEDIOCRE amongst others.
Thanks Budmo and scchua
I took the “shelf” in GIFT to be metaphorical but was sure it would keep the quibblers occupied 🙂
Got off to a flier but things got a bit chewier in the top right corner. Podium places for FOETUS, PERMEATE and pleasingly concise ONE
Cheers S&B
A nice straightforward puzzle, with hints of two classic aural puns (SEIZE HER / CAESAR; BONE APART / BONAPARTE). Thanks Budmo and Scchua.
I lazily put in “yurta” for “Yalta” as I thought they might have met in a tent.
Thanks both.