Thanks to Armonie!
Nothing too taxing here. Didn’t know “LAG” as convict so took a while to parse 1a. Stumbled across LABURNUM recently or wouldn’t have found that easy either. Otherwise all quite straightforward, as expected from Armonie on a Monday. Thanks to the setter!
| Across | ||
| 1 | LATEST THING | It’s trendy for convict to get out of trial and fine (6,5) |
| LAG (convict) to get out of TEST (trial) and THIN (fine) | ||
| 7 | CAD | Scoundrel caught Bill (3) |
| C (caught) + AD (bill) | ||
| 9 | BLEAT | Sovereign tucking into buffet gets bellyache (5) |
| L (sovereign, (£1 coin)) tucks into BEAT (buffet) Bellyache here as a verb |
||
| 10 | RACONTEUR | Doctor ran to cure storyteller (9) |
| (RAN TO CURE)* (*doctor) | ||
| 11 | REMISSION | Discharge soldier’s duty (9) |
| RE + MISSION (soldier’s duty) | ||
| 12 | RATES | Speaks, when scratching head, of taxes (5) |
| [o]RATES (speaks, when scratching head) | ||
| 13 | UNLEASH | Heartless relative remains free (7) |
| UN[c]LE (heartless relative) + ASH (remains) | ||
| 15 | EATS | Tuck in a sweatshirt (4) |
| [sw]EATS[hirt] | ||
| 18 | PEER | A noble spy (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 20 | CORTEGE | Get upset in centre of procession (7) |
| (GET)* (*upset) in CORE (centre) | ||
| 23 | ACRID | Bitter cold in desert (5) |
| C (cold) in ARID (desert) | ||
| 24 | ADAM’S WINE | Water is a barrier to pigs (5,4) |
| A DAM (a barrier) to SWINE (pigs) | ||
| 26 | REPLENISH | Help rinse new stock (9) |
| (HELP RINSE)* (*new) | ||
| 27 | DWELL | Glen keeps wife in lodge (5) |
| DELL (glen) keeps W (wife) | ||
| 28 | TEA | Have a cup of China in the chateau (3) |
| [cha]TEA[u] (in) | ||
| 29 | TRENDSETTER | Nurse keeps Rex, the dog, for arbiter of taste (11) |
| TEND (nurse) keeps R (rex) + SETTER (the dog) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | LABURNUM | Wood produces a fire in the chimney (8) |
| A BURN (a fire) in LUM (chimney) | ||
| 2 | THERMALS | Rex wears Hamlet’s specially designed clothing (8) |
| R (Rex) wears (HAMLET’S)* (*specially designed) | ||
| 3 | SITES | Locates spectacles, we hear (5) |
| “SIGHTS” (spectacles, “we hear”) | ||
| 4 | TARNISH | Water is hot giving discolouration (7) |
| TARN (water) + IS + H (hot) | ||
| 5 | INCENSE | Anglican in pub getting directions? Holy smoke! (7) |
| CE (Anglican, Church of England) in INN (pub) getting S+E (directions, South + East) | ||
| 6 | GENERATOR | Producer needs knowledge and time to meet peak (9) |
| GEN (knowledge) + ERA (time) + TOR (peak) | ||
| 7 | CREATE | Found ecstasy in container (6) |
| E (ecstasy) in CRATE (container) | ||
| 8 | DURESS | Pressure has Don going round the bend (6) |
| DRESS (don) going round U (the bend) | ||
| 14 | AMENDMENT | Man met end making revision (9) |
| (MAN MET END)* (*making) | ||
| 16 | SEDIMENT | Despatched to find coin in mud (8) |
| SENT (despatched) to find DIME (coin) | ||
| 17 | JEWELLER | Hector accommodates healthy craftsman (8) |
| JEER (hector) accommodates WELL (healthy) | ||
| 19 | REALISE | Become aware that lies are risky (7) |
| (LIES ARE)* (*risky) | ||
| 20 | CLASHED | Charlie’s beaten and rattled (7) |
| C (Charlie) + LASHED (beaten) | ||
| 21 | CARROT | Incentive for a bishop in bed (6) |
| A RR (a bishop) in COT (bed) | ||
| 22 | GRAPPA | Doctor accepts rebuke when getting a drink (6) |
| GP (doctor) accepts RAP (rebuke) when getting A | ||
| 25 | SEDGE | Small border plant (5) |
| S (small) + EDGE (border) | ||
For 12a, I went with [p]rates. Didn’t think of the more obvious [o]rates.
Nicely Mondayish – thanks to Armonie and Teacow
28 is ambiguous: I had CHA at first, which fits equally well.
Goujeers@3 – whilst not the most obvious ‘lurker’ indicator, the clue does say ‘in’ the chateau, not in front of the chateau
Minor pedantic whinge; in 23a, “arid” cannot be a synonym for desert, as one is an adjective, the other is a noun…
George @5. I’m afraid “desert” is also an adjective so 23a works for me.
On a minor note, although I think crypticsue has a point @4, to say the letters CHA are “in” CHATEAU isn’t without precedence. I would say “strictly in” if I wanted to rule out end combinations.
Thanks to Armonie and Teacow. A good Monday puzzle. I chose TEA over Cha but had never come across ADAMS WINE as opposed to Adam’s ale (where the alliteration adds to the effect).
Thanks Armonie and Teacow
Yep … pretty simples with all going in without issue. Mostly elegant clueing throughout although JEER = hector wouldn’t have been my first thoughts as synonyms.
Was surprised to see Rex=R used in both 29a and 2d.
Did like the clues for BLEAT and GRAPPA.
Finished in the NW corner with THERMALS (which took longer than it should have to unscramble) and that BLEAT (where the L=sovereign took a little while to gel).
Nice puzzle with a couple of stumpers. Bruce @5, I too was stumped by BLEAT – thought ‘sovereign’ meant monarch so kept trying to fit R or ER in somewhere. Thanks, Armonie and Teacow.