Thanks Hynos for an enjoyable puzzle. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Band is overhead overlooking motorway (4)
SASH : “smash”(a shot in tennis hit above the hitter’s head, and thus also called an “overhead”) minus(overlooking) “m”(abbrev. for “motorway”).
Defn: …/strip of cloth.
3 This lot need mostly to unwind, socialising in a lively way (2,3,5)
ON THE TILES : Anagram of(… to unwind) [ “This lot need” minus its last letter(mostly)].
10 Listlessness in monkey eating first of oranges (7)
LANGUOR : LANGUR(a long-tailed monkey from Asia) containing(eating) 1st letter of(first of) “oranges“.
Languorous langurs:
11 Care to wander round British city in novel (7)
REBECCA : Anagram of(… to wander) CARE containing(round) [B(abbrev. for “British”) + EC(abbrev. for “Eastern Central”, the postcode area including most of the City of London)].
Defn: … by Daphne du Maurier, and made into a Hitchcock film:
12 Offensive language recurs excessively? Not completely! (5)
CURSE : Hidden in(… Not completely) “recurs excessively“.
13 A refined group with intelligence receiving Conservative patronage (8)
AUSPICES : A + U(characteristic of the upper class, supposedly refined) SPIES(a group with/collecting intelligence, military or political) containing(receiving) C(abbrev. for a member of the Conservative Party).
16 Better thing that is given round in 80s film (3,3)
TOP GUN : TOP(to better/to surpass) + GUN(a thing that is loaded with/given a round of ammunition).
17 Clear inspector with period of work touring college (8)
DISTINCT : DI(abbrev. for “detective inspector”) plus(with) STINT(a person’s allotted period working as or at a specified activity/place, as in “he had a stint in the overseas branch”) containing(touring) C(abbrev. for “college”).
Defn: …/easily recognised, understood or interpreted, as in “there’s a clear difference between the two”.
19 Boat service without terminal in Kent town has delay (8)
DEFERRAL : “ferry”(a boat service/conveyance by boat over a relatively short distance) minus its last letter(without terminal) contained in(in) DEAL(a town in Kent, England).
21 Force top Frenchman to return in middle of site (6)
IMPACT : Reversal of(… to return) [CAP(a top/a cover or lid) + M(abbrev. for “Monsieur”, a form of address for a Frenchman)] contained in(in) the middle2 letters of(middle of) “site“.
24 Imitation could be a form of this contrived lefty art (8)
FLATTERY : Anagram of(contrived) LEFTY ART.
Defn: A reference to the idiom “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
25 Sign of repetition in pundit tolerated (5)
DITTO : Hidden in(in) “pundit tolerated“.
27 Legal claim reportedly at college produces opinionated piece (5-2)
WRITE-UP : Homophone of(… reportedly) “right”(a legal claim, as in “he holds the rights to the song”) + UP(at/attending college).
Defn: A written piece/account, in particular an article in a newspaper giving an opinion of a news event
29 Striking wit reduced by half in effect (7)
OUTCOME : OUT(striking/taking industrial action) + [“comedian”(a wit/a funny person) minus its last 4 letters(reduced by half)].
30 Advance to get a gin? (4,6)
GAIN GROUND : A reverse clue: Anagram of(… GROUND) GAIN gets you “a gin“.
31 Old Northern entertainer gets approval (4)
OKAY : O(abbrev. for “old”) + KAY(Peter, an entertainer, born in North West England).
Down
1 Reserve mostly shown amid loneliness and anxiety (10)
SOLICITUDE : “ice”(reserve/absence of warmth in manner or expression) minus its last letter(mostly) contained in(shown amid) SOLITUDE(state of being alone/loneliness).
2 Artist boards rickety punts in summery location (7)
SUNTRAP : RA(abbrev. for Royal Academician, an artist who’s a member of the Royal Academy of the Arts of London, England) contained in(boards) anagram of(rickety) PUNTS.
4 Standard gold kept in New Mexico by gangster (6)
NORMAL : [OR(gold/yellow as a colour in heraldry) contained in(kept in) NM(abbrev. for the US state of New Mexico)] plus(by) AL(Capone, the American gangster).
5 Novelist draining last short drink round hotel has difficulty (8)
HARDSHIP : “Hardy”(Thomas, the English novelist) minus its last letter(draining last) + SIP(a short drink/a small mouthful of liquid) containing(round) H(letter represented by “hotel” in the phonetic alphabet).
6 Bill upset club (3)
TAB : Reversal of(upset) BAT(a club).
Defn: … showing what’s due for good or services.
7 Grotesque character given name has support when speaking? (7)
LECTERN : LECTER(Hannibal the cannibal, the grotesque character from book and film “The Silence of the Lambs”) plus(given) N(abbrev. for “name”).
“Lecter” at the lectern:
8 Stamp showing marine animal (4)
SEAL : Double defn.
9 Official brought up difficulty with area cut in review (10)
BUREAUCRAT : Reversal of(brought up, in a down clue) RUB(a difficulty/a snag) plus(with) anagram of(… in review) AREA CUT.
14 Put fear into friend holding papers (10)
INTIMIDATE : INTIMATE(a very close friend/one with whom you’d perhaps share private and personal details) containing(holding) ID(short for identity papers).
15 Files etc not moving for hearing (10)
STATIONERY : Homophone of(… for hearing) “stationary”(not moving/at a standstill).
18 Recognise mug with distorted pout (4,2,2)
FACE UP TO : FACE(slang for is “mug”) plus(with) anagram of(distorted) POUT.
Defn: To recognise, as in “to face up to your fears”
20 One ruling set once collapsed with start of insurrection (7)
FELLINI : [FELL IN](collapsed inwards, as in “the roof fell in, injuring many”) plus(with) 1st letter of(start of) “insurrection“.
Defn: …, a movie set, that is.
Answer: Federico (1920 – 1993), Italian movie director.
22 Pair with right to enter sunless island to create illustrations (7)
ARTWORK : [TWO(a pair/a couple) plus(with) R(abbrev. for “right”)] contained in(to enter) “Sark”(one of the Channel Islands) minus(…less …) “s”(abbrev. for “sol”/the sun).
23 Magnate not coy in flotation? (6)
TYCOON : Anagram of(… in flotation) NOT COY.
26 Son given rebuke is down (4)
SWIG : S(abbrev. for “son”) plus(given) WIG(a severe rebuke/scolding).
Defn: … a drink in large gulps.
28 Something that’s poached say close to fencing (3)
EGG : EG(abbrev. for “exempli gratia”/say/for example) + last letter of(close to) “fencing“.
That took some teasing out.
The underlining has gone a bit astray in 7d. Should be “support when speaking”.
15d reminds me of the witty phrase “No matter how much you push the envelope, it remains stationery”.
Wonder if anyone else got held up by misspelling LANGUOR. Grrr!
Thanks to Hypnos and scchua.
This was very good fun. My only hold up was, like Hovis, initially misspelling LANGUOR.
Many thanks to Hypnos and scchua.
Thanks Hovis. My cursor did go astray.
A little more challenging than some IoS puzzles but we got it all. A few clues, e.g. 21ac, 20dn, put us in mind of setters such as Serpent or even Tyrus. Lots to like, though; favourites included ON THE TILES, FLATTERY and GAIN GROUND.
Thanks, Hypnos and scchua
I too had to check spelling of ‘languor’. I failed on ‘top gun’, my first thought was ‘top hat’ but wrong era of course. Thanks anyway Hypnos and Scchua.
Enjoyable but it took a while and I needed scchua’s explanation to sort out the parsing of 22d – managed to get thrown by ‘sunless’.
I liked ON THE TILES and also INTIMIDATE.
Thanks to Hypnos and to scchua for the review.
A rare visit here from me as I’m mostly in Times Xwrod land. But I was glad I had a go at my first Hypnos crossword. It was lots of fun. Some clever stuff going on and I failed to understand 30A on solving, so thanks for explaining that scchua. I liked SASH, FELLINI, DEFERRAL and ARTWORK for the clever wordplay. Thanks Hypnos and scchua.
Yes, LAGOUR here, unfortunately. It was only coming here that I found where I was wrong.
Or even, LANGOUR.