A combination of the puzzle being uploaded to the Indy site very late and my being out most of the day means the blog is somewhat later than usual.
There were a few I didn’t entirely follow and with the rushed nature of the blog haven’t got time to research any further. Contributors will doubtless be able to fill them in.
| Across | ||
| 1 | REBORN | Resurrected revolutionary costume in navy (6) |
| Robe< in RN | ||
| 4 | CHANNELS | After Church two of Henry’s wives take in Latin passages (8) |
| Ch + Annes (Anne Boleyn and Anne of Cleves) around L(atin) | ||
| 9 | MAXIMS | Wounds covering cross gnomes (6) |
| Maims around X | ||
| 10 | PLUGHOLE | Advertise GAP outlet (8) |
| Plug + hole | ||
| 12 | LIFETIME | The seven ages of man in two sentences (8) |
| Life + time (two terms for prison sentences) | ||
| 13 | BACK UP | Rugby player happy to provide support (4,2) |
| Back + up(=happy). Slightly unfortunate that prop up works equally well. | ||
| 15 | RAIL | Storyteller returning to complain bitterly (4) |
| Liar< | ||
| 16 | ALTOGETHER | Great hotel rebuilt entirely (10) |
| (Great hotel)* | ||
| 19 | BLETHERING | Going on about French and English articles held by force (10) |
| Seems to be le + the in bring, although I’m not exactly sure why bring is force. | ||
| 20 | TEXT | Some most extraordinary words (4) |
| Hidden in mosT EXTraordinary | ||
| 23 | TECHNO | Empty theatre and church having no musical style (6) |
| T[heatr]e + ch + no | ||
| 25 | DEBONAIR | Elegant posh girl broadcasting live (8) |
| Deb on air. | ||
| 27 | OVERHAUL | Recondition surplus loot (8) |
| Over + haul | ||
| 28 | FUTILE | Pointless fellow with posh hat (6) |
| F(ellow) + U + tile | ||
| 29 | SERVICES | Maintains Army and Navy (8) |
| DD | ||
| 30 | SELECT | Exclusive group includes heads of Labour Education Committee (6) |
| Set around first letters of Labour Education Committee | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | RAMBLER | Rose maybe better initially turning to right (7) |
| Don’t get this. | ||
| 2 | BOX OFFICE | Fight apparently no longer postponed having shown ability to draw an audience (3,6) |
| Box off ice = fight no longer on ice | ||
| 3 | REMOTE | Far-off meteor exploded (6) |
| Meteor* | ||
| 5 | HELP | Assist some simple-hearted characters ascending (4) |
| Hidden, rev in simPLE Hearted | ||
| 6 | NO GO AREA | Negative about America including Indian region in restricted zone (2-2,4) |
| (No + re(=about) + A(merica)) around Goa | ||
| 7 | E BOOK | Echo expression of disapproval king gives publication (1-4) |
| E (Echo in phonetic alphabet) + boo + k(ing) | ||
| 8 | SLEEPER | Slippery fish returning quietly with queen is secret agent (7) |
| Eels< + p + ER. | ||
| 11 | IMPLORE | Mischievous child learning to beg (7) |
| Imp + lore | ||
| 14 | POINTER | Dog or horse or something moved by mouse (7) |
| Triple def, although most people would call the thing moved by the mouse the cursor. | ||
| 17 | HAEMATITE | I eat meat prepared with bit of horseradish as source of iron (9) |
| H(orseradish) + (I eat meat)* | ||
| 18 | SHANGHAI | Informed about hot husband regularly at it somewhere in China (8) |
| Sang around h(ot) + h(usband) + odd letters of ‘at it’ | ||
| 19 | BUTTONS | Fastens bottom on top of seat (7) |
| Don’t really get this. Is button slang for bottom? So button on s[eat]. | ||
| 21 | TORMENT | Cause great pain to people in unlawful act (7) |
| Men in tort, which is a technical term for acts of wrongdoing such as breach of contract. | ||
| 22 | VOLUME | Book size (6) |
| DD | ||
| 24 | CLEAR | Disengaged and cold Shakespearean king (5) |
| C(old) + Lear | ||
| 26 | MUTE | Silent Greek character outside of Thule (4) |
| Mu + t[h]e | ||
*anagram
Didn’t particularly care for this. Sorry.
In answer to some of the queries in the blog. 1d is GAMBLER (better, someone who bets) with initial changed to R (right). 19d is BUTT ON S.
Nice puzzle!
19a “I couldn’t (bring/force) myself to do it”
Thanks NealH
Sorry you had to blog this one in a rush (though not my fault!). Had this puzzle been available at the usual time, I’m sure someone would have noticed the ghost theme. I’ll offer a further hint later if no one has spotted it.
Better late than never; fortunately this was a fairly simple solve so it didn’t take us too long. We confidently put PROP UP for 13ac, but it was soon corrected when we got 6dn and 7dn. One or two where we saw the parsing only after we got the answers (e.g. SHANGHAI) or even only after coming here (e.g. RAMBLER). No idea, though, about the theme.
Thanks, Vigo and NealH.
Theme? I hardly ever see a theme until someone else points it out – but since you mentioned it, Gaufrid, I had another look. I assume you mean 19d on a TV 3d – with relevant entries at 4a, 20a, 30a, 22d, 24d and 26d, and perhaps also 29a and 5d. Thanks Vigo and NealH.
I think you’re on to something, Quinster. And 2dn is found of a Sky remote, as are 29ac and 5dn.
Thanks to all who spotted the theme. I completely missed it. These nice touches certainly elevate a crossword imho. So a belated well done to Vigo.
Well, I still can’t find it on the Indy site – anyone got the URL for me to follow?
… OK, got it eventually by manual date change.
Thanks Vigo and NealH. A good Monday solve (on a Tuesday.)
I didn’t notice the theme but it wasn’t needed for the solve.