Things went faster after the 2 long answers were entered, after a slow start. Thanks to Brendan. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
9 Author‘s odd email covering sign about last letter (5,4)
EMILE ZOLA : Anagram of(odd) EMAIL containing(covering) [ LEO(an astrological sign) containing(about) Z(last letter in the English alphabet) ].
10, 19 across, 24 down Instructions for shooting 17, 12, 13 across (5,3,4)
READY, AIM, FIRE : READY(slang for “money”, as is answer to 17 across) + AIM(an end;an objective, answer to 12 across) + FIRE(to sack from a job;to dismiss, answer to 13 across).
Defn: … a firearm.
11 Lout‘s gleeful cry (5)
YAHOO : Double defn.
12 You might be in this case, not I (9)
OBJECTIVE : Cryptic defn: In grammar, the pronoun “you”, but not “I”, can be used in the objective case.
13 Refuse to accept part of record is missing (7)
DISMISS : Hidden in(part of) “record is missing“.
14 Runs I later scrambled in test, following failure in first (7)
RETRIAL : Anagram of(… scrambled) [ R(abbrev. for “runs” in cricket scores) + I LATER].
Defn: … test.
17 Money from party that’s awful! (5)
DOUGH : DO(a party;a social event) + UGH!(an exclamation signifying that something is awful).
19 See 10
20 Chapter by unknown writer, or part of one (5)
CANON : C(abbrev. for “chapter”) plus(by) ANON(short for “anonymous”, used to indicate an unknown or unacknowledged writer).
Defn: … chapter, the general assembly of canons of a church.
21 Insectivore finally found in East Asian country (7)
ECHIDNA : The last letter of(finally) “found” contained in(in) [ E(abbrev. for “East”) + CHINA(Asian country) ].
22 It protects the trunk as US car is wrecked (7)
CUIRASS : Anagram of(… wrecked) US CAR IS.
Defn: Defensive armour for the trunk;torso, consisting of a breastplate and a backplate.
24 Purely structural approach supporting African country’s millions (9)
FORMALISM : FOR(supporting;championing) + MALI(African country)‘S + M(abbrev. for “millions”).
26 From part of Greece, where final flight goes? (5)
ATTIC : Double defn: 2nd: …, flight of stairs, that is.
28 Big game at home is taken in by foreign character (5)
RHINO : IN(at home, not out) contained in(is taken in by) RHO(character in the Greek alphabet).
Defn: …, animal that is hunted for food, sport, or profit.
29 Tunes represented in a scroll (9)
CARILLONS : Anagram of(represented) IN A SCROLL.
Defn: … played on bells.
Down
1 Cathedral site south of river bank (4)
RELY : ELY(cathedral site and city in Cambridgeshire, England) placed below(south of, in a down clue) R(abbrev. for “river”).
Defn: …, as in “to bank on”;to count on.
2, 22 down, 23 Instructions for shooting 16, 20, 27 (6,6,6)
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION : LIGHTS(the lungs;answer to 16 down, of sheep, pigs, etc.) + CAMERA(a brand of which is the Japanese Canon;answer to 20 across) + ACTION(a case;answer to 27 down heard in court).
Defn: …, or start of shooting with a camera in a film set.
3 Totally refuted line I dropped after protest (10)
DEMOLISHED : [ L(abbrev. for “line”) + I + SHED(dropped;discarded) ] placed below(after, in a down clue) DEMO(short for “demonstration”;a public meeting or march in protest against something).
Defn: Said of a statement or theory that has been comprehensively disproved.
4 Liable to leak, like a patriotic American hiding nothing (6)
POROUS : [PRO US](supporting the US, like a patriotic American) containing(hiding) O(letter signifying 0;nothing).
5 Leading article male’s written about right herb for cooking (8)
MARJORAM : [ MAJOR(leading;main) + A(an article in grammar) + M(abbrev. for “male”) ] containing(written about) R(abbrev. for “right”).
6 Pot, we hear, animal with valuable skin (4)
CROC : Homophone of(…, we hear) “crock”(an earthenware pot).
Answer: Short for “crocodile”.
7 French citizen taking part in sin — and endlessly (8)
PARISIAN : “part in sin — and” minus the respective last letters(endlessly).
8 Guilty person, at heart, is kind (4)
TYPE : The central 4 letters of(…, at heart) “Guilty person“.
Defn: …;sort.
13 Duke protected by magistrate in escape (5)
DODGE : D(abbrev. for “duke”) contained in(protected by) DOGE(the chief magistrate of Venice or Genoa, formerly).
15 Score includes century after start of play, in line with plan (10)
TACTICALLY : TALLY(that which is counted, eg. the score of a game) containing(includes) [ C(Roman numeral for 100;a century, 100 years or 100 runs in cricket) placed below(after, in a down clue) ACT I(Act 1;the starting act of a play, with the Roman numeral for 1].
16 Carries around new pair found in chest (5)
LUNGS : LUGS(carries a heavy or bulky object) containing(around) N(abbrev. for “new”).
18 Our niche redone in yellow (8)
UNHEROIC : Anagram of(… redone) OUR NICHE.
Defn: …;cowardly.
19 If absolutely necessary, holding a non-violent strike in check (2,1,5)
AT A PINCH : A + TAP(a non-violent strike;a quick light blow) + IN + CH(abbrev. for “check” in chess notation).
22 See 2
23 See 2
24 See 10
25 It’s a very old wicket, so declare (4)
AVOW : A + V(abbrev. for “very”) + O(abbrev. for “old”) + W(abbrev. for “wicket” in cricket scores).
27 Clansmen being oddly selective, for instance (4)
CASE : The 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th letters of(… being oddly selective) “Clansmen“.
Defn: An example;an illustration of some specific thing happening.
I liked this a lot: very ingenious without being too hard.
I thought this was a brilliant idea and hugely enjoyable to solve. OK perhaps not Brendan’s hardest puzzle but nevertheless as good as any.
It can’t be a coincidence that RHINO (slang for money) is in the grid and that a CUIRASS seems to have an alternate def. as some sort of mechanical lung given that LUNGS= LIGHTS.
Many thanks to Brendan and scchua
alternative def, derp
I very much liked this, and hope it shows that a puzzle doesn’t need to be “difficult” (read: frustratingly obscure) to be enjoyable.
I got Solver’s Block halfway through, but when I came back to it the satisfying sound of clues falling like ninepins continued. Well, not so quickly as to leave a feeling of having accomplished nothing – ninepins falling in slow motion, perhaps?
And I loved the two types of shooting instruction.
Many thanks to Brendan for a clever puzzle, and to scchua for the blog.
Given such solutions as Zola, case, dismiss, retrial and Parisian, plus the milItaly elements (even ca[n]on), I suspect a well-hidden theme about the artillery officer Alfred Dreyfus.
Thanks Brendan and scchua
I really enjoyed this. The long ones went in relatively late (though I initially solved DISMISS and CANON from them rather than their clues); I loved them both, and also the beautifully tight clues for FORMALISM and TACTICALLY.
I didn’t know that CARILLONS were the tunes played on bells as well as the bells themselves.
I’m pleased that you didn’t give 12a as a dd, scchua, as the other reading would have to end in “me” rather than “I”.
Thanks to Brendan for a not-too-hard but light-bulbs-going-on solve, especially the two shootings, and the Dreyfus theme, all made for an ingenious puzzle, which is the hallmark of Brendan, whose crosswords are always hugely enjoyable.
A lovely treat for a Friday morning, and I even spotted the theme!
Thanks to Brendan and scchua too
Well-written, not too difficult, and lots of fun.
Thanks Brendan!
I also enjoyed this, though it was quite hard work. It took me a long time to get the shooting instructions. Besides these, favourites were RELY and UNHEROIC. Many thanks to Brendan and scchua.
Loved this, finished it quite quickly for me. I thought RELY was brilliant. Many thanks Brendan and scchua. Good (long) weekend to all.
All those comments like “not too difficult” are enough to get one down. Thank goodness for drofle @10! I’m with you, it took a lot of getting, and in my case, if I hadn’t been a passenger on a long drive north, I might have given up some time ago.
All the sustained concentration was worthwhile however. I enjoyed working out the two long clues, and relating them to the fodder – so CANON came from camera, for example.
I can only agree with all the enthusiasm expressed in all the above. The kind of puzzle that leaves you with a huge smile. I also had a chuckle at the idea that 4 down also works as Por (o) US given Trump and Mexico!
Absolutely wonderful I thought. Found nothing until I got to 25d, which led to 28ac and I was off, though it was hardly a doddle even then. Took me ages to get the shooting phrases, which just made the solve all the more delightful and anticipatory. My favourite of the week. Thanks Brendan. And to sschua. I missed Leo as the sign.
I have nothing significant to add to what’s already been said. For me it was a very clever puzzle at just the right level of difficulty. Thanks to Brendan and scchua
Another top class puzzle – just a shame it was over so quickly.
Thanks to Brendan and scchua
Thanks both. A highly enjoyable solve with some excellent clueing – lagom, as they say in Sweden.
Fine work from Brendan. CUIRASS was the only one to elude me; having to make a guess at the anagram I entered CRISAUS. Oh well. Nice theme.
Thank you Brendan and scchua.
Luckily for me, the puzzle was not over too quickly, there are advantages in being half-baked. EMILE ZOLA is my hero, his open letter, J’accuse, to get the Dreyfus trial re-opened was a very brave act that led in the end to Dreyfus’s exoneration (and probably to Zola’s death from carbon monoxide poisoning, his chimney is thought to have been blocked).
Zola is amazing.
And Brendan not too shabby either
Very enjoyable, thanks. Some words were new to me but fairly clued which is so important.
A very good puzzle.
It was over quickly (as someone has said) because the clues were properly-written, leading to a problem-free solve. Enjoyable though.
Don’t worry, I realise that this is an opinion!
Thanks to Brendan and scchua. I needed help parsing CANON but had great fun with this puzzle.
I was zonked last night and could only get CUIRASS and ATTIC. This morning at all worked its way through and when I first got LIGHTS CAMERA ACTION and then its relation to the other clues it was delightful. Thanks, Brendan, and thanks schhua for the enjoyable blog.
Good old ELY! We haven’t seen it in a while!
How is CANON part of a chapter?
John@5,what besides CAN(n)ON are the military references?
Great fun this morning.
Valentine @24
My first thought was of a body of work too, but, as scchua explains in the blog, it’s an ecclesiastical reference.
As a regular non-finisher, I’m relieved to have managed Brendan’s excellent offering today (with Schoenberg’s glorious Gurrelieder from the proms belting out in the background – no, foreground – urging me on). I’m also indebted to scchua for providing the parsing for 5 & 7.
Didn’t find this as easy as others have done but certainly admired the clever use of the shooting references and associated clues.
Thanks and respect to Brendan and thanks to scchua for the review.
Extremely well crafted as usual but I found this harder to get started on than I usually do with Brendan. The first long answer was a guess and this led me to the second,with parsing an afterthought. Then the rest came quite quickly. I glimpsed the theme rather than having got it. Many favourites and it was nice to see the untreated again!
Thanks Brendan.
For untreated read anteater!
Always a treat to see that the day’s crossword is “a Brendan”. Today was no exception. Loved the shooting instructions theme. I would enjoy seeing Brendan’s offerings more frequently! LOI for me was AVOW, which was mentioned above by another contributor (Xjpotter @14) as FOI. Funny how we all enjoy solving the same puzzle, but for each of us the process can be so different! Happy Friday and weekend to all. Thanks to Brendan and scchua.
Thanks Brendan and scchua.
A most enjoyable solve. I got 10ac etc quickly as I flew back from Japan this week and whiled away the time by watching “Blackadder Goes Forth”, including the episode where Blackadder is about to be shot and there are numerous jokes about the phrase.
Very satisfying solve. I’d love to hear from Brendan whether the Dreyfus theme cleverly suggested by John @5 was intentional or purely accidental.
Oh, and Valentine @24, another military reference is the firing squad order at 10, 19ac, 24d
Definitely not a quick solve but very enjoyable – although after reading DaveMc’s comment I didn’t remember putting AVOW in, and realised 25d was unsolved so this must go down as a dnf! Thanks Brendan and scchua.
In response to Rompiballe and John, I was not conscious of a Dreyfus theme.
I am repeatedly delighted by the ingenuity with which solvers spot connexions of which I had not thought.
As others have said in other ways, what a cracking puzzle to end the week. In recent comments on these pages I have extolled the variety to be found in Guardian crosswords, and here we had an unusual and ingenious theme to enjoy during solving and to appreciate at the end.
I was lucky to ‘see’ READY AIM FIRE with only the first R and M in place, and just as lucky to think of the other phrase without any crossers but with the first phrase in place to lead me there. Otherwise this would have been more of a challenge.
Great clues as always from Brendan, but my favourites were the six that linked synonymously to the two ‘shoot’ phrases.
Many thanks to Brendan and scchua.
As others have said all over too quickly. (The cross referencing from the long clues really did give us too much help!)
Enjoyable nonetheless.
Nice to see the “Theme searchers” finding things that the setter wasn’t aware of. (Best stick to the pangram hunting 😉 )
BNTO @37, whether the setter was aware, or not, of an Emile Zola ‘theme’ is irrelevant; it was marvelous that this crossword reminded several solvers of such an unselfish act.
A pleasant, straightforward solve (though without spotting the Dreyfus theme).
I thought this wss an excellent puzzle, not least because of the impeccably tight clueing throughout, with some gems at 26a and 1d, plus the thematic clues, the solutions to which sometimes aided solving the partner clues.
I’m probably the only one who failed to see the hidden container in 13a until almost the very end, when I got the answer from 24d. POROUS and OBJECTIVE (I’d been trying to justify ADJECTIVE earlier)followed as my last entries.
Brendan @ 37
Why not restrict your comments to the puzzle at hand, rather than your boringly repetitive drones about the editor and pangrams.
Your personal and vituperative attack on muffin and cookie at the end of yesterday’s comments was particularly egregious.
If you haven’t got anything reasoned to say perhaps it would be better to keep your mind open and your mouth shut – I find I learn a lot more that way.
Muffin@6
I too didn’t know that carillons could be tunes as well as sets of bells. St Alban’s Abbey’s has an electric mechanism that seems to have been programmed by an Irish catholic as whenever I hear it on visits to the city it is playing “Hail, queen of heaven”, “O sanctissima, O piisima”, or “Believe me if all those endearing young charms”. It’s difficult not to join in.
Thanks to Brendan and scchua for an enjoyable puzzle and blog. Very rarely do I come across what seems to be a completely fair puzzle – ie I could parse all the answers.
Whoops. O piissima.
Cookie @38
I’m sure that John was “aware” of a mini “Emile Zola” theme. The fact that one of the answers is “Emile Zola” is possibly relevant to this.
However John had not planned a “Dreyfus” theme. Therefore the presence of this theme is purely in its suggestors’ imaginings. I don’t see anything particularly “marvelous” in that. I suppose that the answer “UNHEROIC” must apply to Dreyfus and not Zola! (God knows what ECHIDNA and RHINO suggest?)
I suppose it’s similar to people seeing the word “JESUS” on a piece of toast or the Arabic for ALLAH in a bisected Aubergine. Now that is marvelous.
BNTO @44, the words EMILE ZOLA, RETRIAL and CASE are just so evocative of “The Dreyfus Case”, the word UNHEROIC could apply to Esterhazy, the real culprit, it is a wonder that neither he nor Dreyfus were shot for treason.
Ah, a CANON is a member of the clergy and attends meetings of a cathedral chapter.