Well done, that woman. A delightful, accessible puzzle to start the Indy week, with shedloads of great surfaces.
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 Feline in street showing hesitation gets hit on head and becomes forgetful
SCATTERBRAINED
A charade of CAT inserted into ST, ER and BRAINED.
10 Sheets etc made by rank nationalist
LINEN
A charade of LINE and N.
11 Reprimand cover on floor
CARPETING
A dd.
12 Uncovered unearthly shimmering charm
ENTHRAL
Vigo is inviting you to ‘uncover’, in other words remove the outside letters of, ‘unearthly’ and then make an anagram. So it’s ([U]NEARTHL[Y])* with ‘shimmering’ as the anagrind.
13 I have returned to shelter containing unknown harmful power
EVIL EYE
A charade of I’VE reversed and the mathematical unknown Y in LEE.
14 Suffers after time in shadows
TAILS
A charade of T and AILS.
16 Outline to accommodate labour advisers in space surrounding building
PRECINCTS
An insertion of NCT in PRECIS. NCT is the National Childbirth Trust, the long-established charity for soon-to-be and new parents – so loosely, ‘labour advisers’.
19 Run papers back to heads of the embassy to send for trial overseas
EXTRADITE
A charade of the cricketing ‘run’, EXTRA, ID reversed and TE for the first letters of ‘the’ and ’embassy’.
20 Sun affected rascal
SCAMP
A charade of S and CAMP.
22 Worry about five in court for distribution
CARVE UP
An insertion of V for the Roman numeral ‘five’ in CARE, followed by UP for ‘in court’.
25 Force family to produce fruit
PUMPKIN
A charade of PUMP and KIN. Is it a vegetable? Is it a fruit? Botanically, it’s a fruit, so the setter is on firm ground in her vegetable patch. Only 23 sleeps till Halloween.
27 Area of land left in agreement from France to produce essential oil
PATCHOULI
A charade of PATCH and L in OUI.
28 Snare returned before long to head of estate
NOOSE
A charade of SOON reversed and E for the first letter of ‘estate’.
29 Detective’s date is anticlimax
DISAPPOINTMENT
If the Detective Inspector had a meeting, it would be a DI’S APPOINTMENT.
Down
2 Study rigorous contract
CONSTRICT
A charade of CON and STRICT. CON is an archaic word for ‘study’ or ‘learn by heart’; I’m guessing (I’ll look it up later if I get time) that it’s ultimately related to ‘ken’ (to ‘know’ in northern dialects), and modern German and Dutch kennen. A bit clunky that the definition and the solution start with the same prefix.
3 Compare notes about boxing item for printer
TONER
Hidden reversed in compRE NOTes.
4 Typical EU confusion finds Flora in Oz
EUCALYPTI
(TYPICAL EU)* Not the margarine but the flowering plants.
5 German in uncovered boat
BARGE
An insertion of G in BARE.
6 A crew Independent draws in conveniences
AMENITIES
A charade of A, MEN, I and TIES.
7 Ingenuous knight I embraced in greeting
NAIVE
A charade of N for the chess abbreviation for ‘knight’ and I inserted into AVE! Ave Maria, gratia plena …
8 Stray female cat losing head for day
DIGRESS
The setter is asking you to replace the first letter of TIGRESS with D for ‘day’.
9 Person employing lawyer with legal right to appear in court
CLIENT
An insertion of LIEN in CT. A great surface.
15 Seats on stylish transport
SPACESHIP
A charade of SPACES and HIP.
17 Freedom of divorcee feeling without love but gaining power
EXEMPTION
A charade of EX and EMOTION with the O (‘love’) replaced by a P for ‘power’.
18 Depressed after attempt to provide stern enforcement
CRACKDOWN
A charade of CRACK and DOWN.
19 Eased unevenly around headland and broke free
ESCAPED
An insertion of CAPE in ESD for the odd letters of EaSeD.
21 Minister to the passions of prince and queen
PANDER
A charade of P AND ER. Not to be confused with PHIL AND ER, that well-known married couple.
23 Considers costs
RATES
A dd.
24 God starts to punish lying, untrustworthy, thieving oligarchs
PLUTO
The first letters of the last five words of the clue.
26 Note going up and down
MINIM
The musical note is a palindrome, hence ‘going up and down’.
Many thanks to Vigo.
Hear, hear to your comments Pierre, and many thanks to Vigo for another lovely puzzle, my second of the morning so far and very much in pole position at the mo.
Has Vigo stopped with the ghost stuff or am I just too dense to spot ’em? I well remember the thrill of the chase of half an hour of headscratching, to find that I’d overlooked – silly me – 15 ring tones for a Huawei P63 5″ dual SIM (matt black)
Nothing more to say, really – just wanted to add my thanks to Vigo for a lovely puzzle [and thanks to Pierre for the blog, of course].
Thanks Vigo and Pierre.
Entertaining crossword to start the week and, yes, in pole position. I liked the labour advisers.
Lovely Monday crossword. We whizzed through most of it but then slowed down as there were several clues which needed a bit more thought to make it a satisfying solve. We had to check in Chambers for the existence of PATCHOULI – one of our nominations for CoD, the others being PRECINCTS and DIGRESS.
But we thought Vigo missed a trick with the clue for PRECINCTS – putting a capital L for ‘Labour’ would have been a nice misdirection.
Thanks, Vigo and Pierre
Thanks Vigo
I too liked CLIENTS as well as EUCALYPTI and ESCAPED, and much fun overall.
Thanks Pierre
Firstly I would like to add my thanks to both Vigo and Pierre for our excellent entertainment today.
I would only add an amendment to your blog Pierre at 16across “loosely, but BRILLIANTLY “. Lovely disguise that had me trying to squeeze TUC in there until the crossers made it impossible!
You can always depend upon Vigo to produce an excellent puzzle with good surface reads.
Hard to play favourites but 1&16a are probably sharing pole position here.
Many thanks, Vigo, and thanks to Pierre for the blog.
Paws up. Thanks and purrs to Vigo and Pierre.
What a joy this was from start to finish, and what a splendid start 1a made.
Many thanks to Vigo and to Pierre.
7dn was my LOI. You wouldn’t believe the number of times I read the first word of the clue as “Ingenious”.