Thanks Anto. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Part of final leg rowed briskly (7)
ALLEGRO : Hidden in(Part of) “final leg rowed“.
Defn: A musical direction to play …
5 Caver is disturbed at what’s inside (7)
VISCERA : Anagram of(… disturbed) CAVER IS.
Defn: The internal organs in the body.
9 Take away section after database is depleted (7)
DETRACT : TRACT(a section/an area of land) placed after(after) “database” minus all its internal letters(is depleted).
Defn: … some of the value or worth of, say, an achievement.
10 Type that leans forward for emphasis, perhaps (7)
ITALICS : Cryptic defn: Reference to a font/type used in text for emphasis
11 The high point of kinky hotel porn (5,4)
NORTH POLE : Anagram of(kinky) HOTEL PORN.
12 Live in green environment, initially — a bit bland, perhaps (5)
BEIGE : BE(to exist/to live) + 1st letters, respectively, of(…, initially) “in green environment“.
Defn: A pale sandy colour, from that of natural wool, and which hence could be described as bland or associated with blandness.
13 She sounds out large number (5)
ELLEN : Homophone of(sounds out) the syllables for the 2 letters [“L”(abbrev. for “large”), “N”(abbrev. for “number”) ].
15 Soccer, hit with violation, bounces back (9)
RICOCHETS : Anagram of(… with violation) SOCCER, HIT.
17 Storyteller talked of torture while travelling (9)
RACONTEUR : Homophone of(talked of) [ “rack”(to torture/to cause extreme pain and anguish) + “on tour”(while travelling/on a trip around) ].
19 Exclusive: ‘Waste gas coming back’ (5)
SCOOP : Reversal of(… coming back’) [ POO(animal waste/excrement) + CS(… gas, aka tear gas) ].
Defn: A piece of news from a provider ahead of others.
22 Practise boring routine (5)
DRILL : Double defn. 1st: …/to prepare/to rehearse a particular activity.
23 Offend me and it sets a bad tone (5,4)
WRONG NOTE : WRONG(to offend/to do someone a disservice) + NOTE(a musical example of which is “me”, as in “do re me”).
Defn: …/does not harmonise with the rest.
25 Joining together of Jewish boy and Welsh girl (7)
ELISION : ELI(a male Jewish name) plus(and) SION(a feminine Welsh name).
Defn: Process of joining together or merging things like abstract ideas.
26 Dispatch courier to deliver caricatures (4-3)
SEND-UPS : SEND(to dispatch to somewhere) + UPS(the courier/package delivery company, United Parcel Service).
27 Engineer altered pedal that makes wheel turn (7)
TREADLE : Anagram of(Engineer) ALTERED.
A pair of them:
28 Save papers replacing copyright for what’s left (7)
RESIDUE : “rescue”(to save from a dangerous or difficult situation) with ID(abbrev. for “identity papers”) replacing(replacing) “c”(abbrev. for “copyright”).
Down
1 Article poet put together quite slowly (7)
ANDANTE : AN(an article in grammar) + DANTE(… Alighieri, Italian poet).
Defn: A musical direction to play/ ….
2 Moving sideways behind really odd characters (7)
LATERAL : LATE(behind in time/after the time due) + 1st, 3rd and 5th letters of(… odd characters) “really“.
3 Grind magnet smashed in the middle (5)
GNASH : Middle 2 and 3 letters, respectively, of(… in the middle) “magnet smashed“.
Defn: … one’s teeth.
4 Hire third party to expose informer (9)
OUTSOURCE : OUT(to expose/to make public) + SOURCE(… of information/informer).
Defn: … to perform work on your behalf.
5 Tenor starts to vary oratorio in choral event (5)
VOICE : 1st letters, respectively, of(starts to) “vary oratorio in choral event“.
Defn: A range of pitch in which a person sings, such as the tenor voice.
6 Coffee chain is unfair when ejecting brat doing headstand (9)
STARBUCKS : A reverse clue. STARBUCKS minus(… when ejecting) reversal of(… doing headstand, in a down clue) “brat” gives(is) SUCKS(unfair, as in “life sucks …”).
7 Structure provided in English game … (7)
EDIFICE : IF(provided/on condition that …) contained in(in) [ E(abbrev. for “English”) + DICE(a game played with, well, dice).
8 … explains all you need to complete what you’re doing (7)
ANSWERS : Double defn: 1st: As in “if you commit a crime, you’ll have to answer to the police”; and 2nd: …, viz. solving this crossword.
14 Ring into broken landline that isn’t connected (3-6)
NON-ALLIED : O(letter representing a ring shape) contained in(into) anagram of(broken) LANDLINE.
16 Maybe doctor takes in personal debts for stranger (9)
CURIOUSER : CURER(what one might/maybe term a doctor) containing(takes in) IOUS(“I owe you”s/personal debts).
Defn: …/odder.
17 Socialist currency has little value (3,4)
RED CENT : RED(a socialist/left-winger) + CENT(a unit of money/currency).
Defn: An Americanism for a one-cent coin ie. that which has little value, so named because it was formerly made of copper.
18 Food sign contains one error (7)
CUISINE : CUE(sign for one to start doing something) containing(contains) [ I(Roman numeral for “one”) + SIN(an error/a wrongdoing) ].
20 Booming round and round (7)
OROTUND : O(letter representing the round shape) plus(and) ROTUND(said of a large and plump/round person).
Defn: Descriptive of a person’s voice that is resonant and imposing/booming.
21 Gift that is found under cupboard (7)
PRESSIE : IE(abbrev. for “id est”/that is) placed below(found under, in a down clue) PRESS(short for a press cupboard).
Defn: Informal term for a gift/present.
23 Cringe as Church goes after land (5)
WINCE : CE(abbrev. for the Church of England) placed below(goes after, in a down clue) WIN(to land/to secure, say, a prize).
24 Spies without a place to go (5)
GENTS : “agents”(spies/secret agents) minus(without) “a“.
Defn: A place for males to go/to pee).
Thanks Anto and scchua
I got 1a and 1d first, so was expecting a musical theme, but I don’t think there are any more.
Some odd ones. NON-ALLIED isn’t a common expression. I know that “present” gives PRESSIE, but I’ve only heard and seen it as “prezzie”. “Currency” in RED CENT seems to be doing double duty, to give “cent” and also “currency has little value”.
Pedant’s corner: as the Earth is an oblate spheroid, the North Pole is actually one of the lowest places (as in closest to the centre) on the planet’s surface.
Very enjoyable. My favourites were NORTH POLE, GENTS, ELLEN, SEND-UPS, RESIDUE, SCOOP.
New word for me was OROTUND.
Thank you Anto and scchua.
A much better effort by Anto this time around. Favorites were ANSWERS and RACONTEUR. Didn’t know OROTUND, but it was clear from wordplay and crossers. Thanks to Anto and Scchua.
At the tough end of the Quiptic range, I found, with some unfamiliar words (orotund, red cent, elision, non-allied), some tough clues (edifice, residue, elision) and some dubious ones (that’s not how I pronounce raconteur or spell prezzie).
And I have an additional pedant’s objection to calling the north pole “high”: there’s nothing physical about the earth that means “north” should be upwards, other than outdated eurocentrism.
I agree that was more of a work-out than expected for a quiptic, with a good variety of clue types. “sion” is more commonly a boy’s name (both in Jewish and Welsh naming traditions) being yet another variant on John (like Sean) so that threw me as i was looking for “ffion” (having the i and o crossers). Other than that, I learned a new word (“orotund”) and had to dig deep for “red cent” which I agree was weak, given the overlap in the word “cent” in the wordplay and the definition.
Anyhow, thanks Anto – a witty and smooth puzzle to kick off the week, and thank you Scchua for blogging it.
This was a mixed bag, but that was part of its charm. At first I thought there was a musical theme, though I’m unsure whether only six answers is enough to call it that. Theme-let, perhaps. I grinned at GENTS & NORTH POLE (yes, I do know that there is no ‘up’ nor ‘down’ in space and so no reason other than eurocentrism for the age-old habit of describing north as high or on-top, but this is a crossword for pity’s sake, and meant to be just a bit of fun). I enjoyed the clueing that led to ANDANTE, SMASHED, RACONTEUR & STARBUCKS, and liked the anagrams of TREADLE & RICOCHETS. I’d always spelled the name as “Siân”, but I’m not a welsh speaker and don’t doubt for a moment that other versions exist. I don’t think ITALICS is particularly cryptic, wasn’t wild about ELLEN, and have never, ever, encountered PRESSIE – only prezzie. But it was fun to solve nevertheless, so thanks to Anto for a pleasing start to the week, and to Scchua for help in parsing CUISINE & RED CENT (not being american, I’d never heard of the latter).
I completely agree with everyone else’s reservations: Sion is a boy (Sian is a girl); racon-tour maybe if you’re American; red cent maybe if you’re American; by sounds out large, Anto meant sounds out L; me is an example of a note, therefore needs a ? ; non-aligned, but not non-allied… Et cetera.
Much better than usual Anto. Non-allied is in one dictionary in “Onelook”. Agree about Sion and raconteur. Loved OROTUND. GENTS is an old chestnut. Thanks all.
17A. RAC + ON TOUR doesn’t give raconteur. Is it RAC + EN TOUR?
25D. One dictionary meaning of elision is “the omission of a vowel, consonant, or syllable in pronunciation”. But joining together?
VDS Prasad @9 I think your dictionary is right, but often elision in language is coupled with a requirement to join together. The most obvious examples to come to my mind are in French, where “je adore” is elided to “j’adore” with deletion (elision) of the “e” formally requiring the apostrophe and linking of the words. “Aujourd’hui” is a particularly interesting example, as it derives from “au jour de hui” and the single elision has led to a whole phrase being joined up.
I don’t think you could say the same of English so much, where elision is often a form of laziness in speech (“Oi ‘ad ‘istry today. It were borin'”) as the omission of the “o” in “history” is automatically followed by the rest of the word “closing up”. However, when applied to the more common contractions “I’m” and “We’re” then there is a similar joining up as in French.
Having said that, the second meaning listed in the OED online is “The process of joining together or merging things, especially abstract ideas” which presumably arises from such contractions as I mentioned.
Huge improvement on usual Anto. Enjoyed it and thought level spot on for quiptic
thezed @ 10. Thank you, I do see your point. But the solution doesn’t involve any omission, there is only joining together!
Coffee chain is unfair when welcoming brat doing handstand
I see nothing wrong with “red cent” being defined as it is. The phrase is not used literally very often. That is, “That ain’t worth a red cent” is not actually a statement of monetary value, so you’re safe regarding “currency” as part of the wordplay.
And I don’t understand the criticism of the RACONTEUR homophone. It works fine in my dialect, and is probably a lot closer in most others than your average crossword homophone (or anyway, I’ve seen worse).
Careless setting and careless editing not to check the Welsh name. I know we are a minority language but nonetheless deserve respect.
copland smith @7 points out the need for a definition-by-example indicator in 23a; one is also needed in 5d, as tenor is only one possible voice.
To pile on to the pedantry, the South Pole is quite high (about 2800 m), while the North Pole is at sea level. But I don’t really object to this. The imprecise definition of “elision” did rub me the wrong way.
On the whole, though, this was a fairly good Quiptic.
Great words, loved the headline surfaces. Many thanks, Anto and Sschua