A very enjoyable puzzle with not much to criticise.
There was nothing very contentious or obscure here and the clues were well constructed. Maybe some people won’t like owl for head turner but I thought it made a nice misdirecting definition. Anyone coming to the puzzle to escape Brexit will have been disappointed but the clue which referenced it was very good. 18D, however, was firmly my favourite.
| Across | ||
| 9/6 | GET BREXIT DONE | Being extorted translates to Johnson’s mantra (3,6,4) |
| (Being extorted)* | ||
| 10 | OWLET | Young head-turner hotel worker holds back (5) |
| Hidden, rev in hoTEL WOrker. Owls have the ability to turn their heads up to 270 degrees, so could be described as head-turners. | ||
| 11 | MOPED | Bike was blue? (5) |
| DD | ||
| 12 | ON THE NAIL | Promptly forward after that trouble (2,3,4) |
| On(=forward) + then(=after that) + ail(=trouble) | ||
| 13 | NURTURE | Upbringing having run true to form (7) |
| (Run true)* | ||
| 14 | NEWGATE | Old prison has modern entrance (7) |
| New gate | ||
| 16 | AIOLI | Dressing in calico — plain — regularly (5) |
| Even letters of cAlIcO pLaIn | ||
| 18 | BOA | Stole pig that has no tail (3) |
| Boa[r] | ||
| 19 | LATHE | Turner in endless panic (5) |
| Lathe[r] (in phrases such as “I’m in a lather about that”) | ||
| 21 | SPINNER | Top bowler? (7) |
| DD (spnning top and spin bowler) | ||
| 22 | UPSTAGE | Divert attention from London-bound coach? (7) |
| Up (which can inexplicably mean going to London, although down sounds more appropriate to me) + stage(=coach) | ||
| 24 | HEARTBEAT | Pulse right to coat in warm batter (9) |
| R(ight) in heat (as a verb) + beat | ||
| 26 | RILES | French island annexed by kings in Angers? (5) |
| Ile (French for island) in RR | ||
| 27 | OSCAR | Film award for Hammerstein? (5) |
| DD. Oscar Hammerstein II is best known as a song writer. | ||
| 28 | LADIES MAN | Snail made moves seeing rake? (6,3) |
| (Snail made)* | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | EGOMANIA | Say leader deposed from European state for self-indulgence? (8) |
| EG + [R]omania | ||
| 2 | STUPOR | Accommodates men in drunken state? (6) |
| Accommodates is “puts up” which gives stup + OR | ||
| 3 | TRADE UNION | Order and routine for working organisation (5,5) |
| (and routine)* | ||
| 4 | EXPOSE | Reveal river’s swelling another? (6) |
| Po’s inside(=swelling) Exe | ||
| 5 | STOTINKA | Small whisky in pot and a Bulgarian’s ready (8) |
| Tot(=small whisky) in sink + a. The stotinka is a sub-unit of the Bulgarian Lev. | ||
| 6 | See 9 Across | |
| 7 | PLEASANT | Delightful lake in rustic surroundings (8) |
| L(ake) in peasant | ||
| 8 | ATTLEE | Hostilities having start delayed by English politician (6) |
| [B]attle + E(nglish) | ||
| 15 | WALL STREET | Film everyone in wide thoroughfare (4,6) |
| All in W(ide) (abbrev from cricket) + Street. Famous film from the 1980s with Michael Douglas. | ||
| 17 | OLIGARCH | Ruler over Laks is initially good, then roguish (8) |
| O(ver) L(aks) i[s] g(ood) + arch. The Laks are a people from Dagestan in Russia. I imagine it can be abbreviated to L, although I’ve not seen that confirmed anywhere. | ||
| 18 | BORDELLO | Where one pays for the other doorbell to be fixed (8) |
| Doorbell* | ||
| 20 | EVENSONG | No odd number in service (8) |
| Even song (= not an odd number) | ||
| 21 | SCHOOL | Second husband in sophisticated institution (6) |
| S(econd) + h(usband) in cool | ||
| 22 | UNTIDY | DIY nut disorganised and messy (6) |
| (DIY nut)* | ||
| 23 | APLOMB | Political movement a doctor welcomes in confidence (6) |
| PLO in “a MB” | ||
| 25 | TARN | Strike-breaker up north finds mountain lake (4) |
| Tar< (up) + N(orth) | ||
*anagram
It has been a good day for great Monday crosswords (nice and friendly and leaving the solver smiling) and this one was no exception. I liked the ‘head turner’ and 18d
Thanks to Tees and Neal H
Just what I wanted for an after work Monday evening puzzle. Not too taxing but ON THE NAIL and ATTLEE held me up at the end. It might have helped with the latter if 7d had been ‘clement’, but cement is hardly ‘rustic’.
I hereby nominate 18d as an early candidate for clue of the week.
Thanks to Tees and NealH
Hello. 17d both LAKS and IS are meant to be taken ‘initially’, so no abbrev for Laks is used.
A possible (though far fetched) alternative parsing for 5d:
S (small) TOT (whisky) IN (from the clue) K (Potassium as in pot brom) and A from the clue).
Also liked 18d as well as 17d, 21a.
Thanks all
I enjoyed 18D but can’t see how ‘delayed’ in 8D implies removal of the 1st letter.
If anything I’d have thougbt it meant to move the 1st letter further down the word.
@5 The battle is “delayed” by not starting until the second letter.