Just right for a Wednesday, the gentleness of whose crossword was established for many years by Dac. This is a worthy successor: the excellent clues are not write-ins, but there is nothing really difficult so far as I can see.
Definitions in maroon, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics.
I don’t think Tees does Ninas. At any rate I haven’t looked for one, and therefore no doubt there is something staring us all in the face.
| Across | ||
| 9 | OBSERVANT | Alert old maid perhaps as bee-keeper? (9) |
| O (b) servant — the bee-keeper is the keeper of the bee, or the letter b | ||
| 10 | ALONE | Man performing with saxophone at last gives solo (5) |
| Al on {saxophon}e | ||
| 11 | NARRATE | Eastern sailor hurried back to tell tale (7) |
| (E tar ran)rev. | ||
| 12 | ARSENIC | As more highly ranked, soldiers dropped in line (7) |
| ar(seni{OR})c — this always catches me out: As is the chemical symbol for arsenic — another common one to look out for is He for helium | ||
| 13 | ORBS | Old Scottish bank has eyes for poet (4) |
| o RBS — Royal Bank of Scotland — orbs are a poetic word for eyes | ||
| 14 | MECHANICAL | Bottom for one without intelligence (10) |
| 2 defs — Bottom in Midsummer Night’s Dream was a ‘rude mechanical’ | ||
| 15 | NO SWEAT | That was easily done on waste ground (2,5) |
| (on waste)* | ||
| 17 | CATFISH | Tiger shark? Something less dangerous! (7) |
| cat [= tiger?] fish [= shark] | ||
| 19 | RETIREMENT | Pulling back and turning in (10) |
| 2 defs | ||
| 22 | SLUR | Speak as drunk in Paris on consuming litres (4) |
| s(l)ur — in Paris, ie in French, on = sur | ||
| 23 | TOPICAL | Developments in Capitol interesting now? (7) |
| *(Capitol) | ||
| 24 | IMPINGE | Magical creature stripped vocalist to make impression (7) |
| imp {s}inge{r} | ||
| 26 | RIOJA | Wine I love in jar that’s cracked (5) |
| r(I 0)ja, the rja being (jar)* | ||
| 27 | BOLOGNESE | Italian doctor, keeping diary, given start in Ercolano (9) |
| bo(log)nes E{rcolano} | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | POINT OF NO RETURN | Crucial moment for ace? (5,2,2,6) |
| An ace in tennis is a service which isn’t even touched, so certainly isn’t returned | ||
| 2 | ASCRIBES | Assigns berth in stormy seas (8) |
| as(crib)es. the ases being *(seas) | ||
| 3 | ORCA | Toothed whale beheaded Spanish poet (4) |
| {L}orca | ||
| 4 | BASEMENT | Tendency to cover same ground in cellar (8) |
| b(asem)ent, the asem being (same)* — my only ever so slight criticism of this crossword: Tees used the same anagram indicator in 15ac | ||
| 5 | ATTACH | Fix power supply in that broadcast (6) |
| att(AC)h, the atth being (that)* — that’s three out of the last four clues that I’ve explained in that way | ||
| 6 | BASSINET | Sleeping place for baby, at home, that dog guards (8) |
| bass(in)et | ||
| 7 | COGNAC | May become cold — turning warmer? (6) |
| (can go c)rev. | ||
| 8 | PENCIL-SHARPENER | Writer’s device that emphasises point? (6-9) |
| CD | ||
| 16 | EUROCRAT | Brussels employee has firm regret over tax cut (8) |
| (co rue)rev. rat{e} — not for Tees over = surrounding; it’s my impression that the best setters, like Tees, don’t do this; but until you see it in front of you there’s no certainty | ||
| 17 | CANAILLE | Opening cold beer, fix for rabble (8) |
| c a(nail)le | ||
| 18 | ISLANDER | Man’s man is moon explorer (8) |
| is lander — the Man’s man bit refers to the Isle of Man: a man who lives on the IOM is an islander | ||
| 20 | TOP DOG | Champion boxer perhaps? (3,3) |
| CD I think; for otherwise I can’t quite parse this: the definition is evidently ‘champion’, but if so then why is a boxer a specifically top dog? | ||
| 21 | MALIBU | African country to purchase endless beach (6) |
| Mali bu{y} | ||
| 25 | PAGE | Summon boy in knight’s service (4) |
| 2 defs | ||
*anagram
Very enjoyable. Used a word fit to get MECHANICAL. Thought it was probably to do with the Shakespeare character but not my forte. Didn’t know CANAILLE but was easy to guess once I had the crossers.
Don’t have any problems with TOP DOG. The top dog at at Crufts say could be a boxer with the question mark denoting the fact that it is just one possibility.
Thanks to Tees and John.
Unlikely to be a pit bull.
One of those extremely rare days in Crosswordland where every crossword you solve is a delight (and I’ve done them all apart from today’s Times which I’d done shortly after the Championships)
Thank you to Tees for the fun – I particularly liked 22a – and to John for the blog
Apart from needing a wordfinder for COGNAC (Doh!) we solved this unaided and fairly quickly. We did wonder if there was going to be a nina when we saw P _ O B A B _ _ I in the top row of unches, suggesting ‘probable/y’, but the remaining answers soon showed it was just coincidence.
We liked the two long answers on the right and left, as well as RIOJA (we like the latter at any time!).
One small quibble – the use of ‘ground’ twice as an anagrind.
Thanks, Tees and John
Another really good crossword from Tees. All good but 12a, 1d and 8d particularly enjoyed.
Thanks Tees and John.