Bradman seems to be cropping up quite regularly in the Thursday slot of late, which is fortunate for me from a blogworthiness standpoint. 14A features a potentially new clue type (the subjective &lit), and I’m far from confident of having cracked 16A correctly.
Across
1 SPARE RIB – the wordplay (sorry Don, subsidiary indication!) is too sly for me to have figured it out yet.
6 DOUGHY – dough{t}y
9 BARNES – bar + nes{t}.
10 ROMANIAN – mania in {w}ron{g}.
11 SHOE – 0 in she. A smattering of definition by example, but well-flagged by the question mark, and it makes for a seamless surface.
12 RIOT SHIELD – (soldier hit)*.
14 BLAIRITE – lair in bite. I guess it’s down to your personal political persuasion whether this one counts as an & lit or not!
16 PINS?? – p in {s}upply?? But unable to reconcile that in any way shape or form with “Quaker”. On edit: PENN – William of that ilk. penn{y}.
18 CURD – cur + d{inner}.
19 BLANDEST – land in best.
21 TOURMALINE – (mineral out)*. I think the idea here is to read the clue as a literal instruction.
22 MUSE – M + use. I enjoyed the definition “influential female”.
24 GYRATING – g + Y + rating.
26 DENIAL – NI (Northern Ireland) in deal.
27 BENDER – double def’n.
28 SCREAMER – me in (carers)*.
Down
2 PEACH – double def’n.
3 RANGEFINDER
4 RESTRAIN – rest + rain. Again, a slightly whimsical indicator for the second part, but it’s certainly not inaccurate and is a very snug fit for the overall surface. Alternatives could have been “what might stop play” or “[for] cats and dogs”.
5 BURN ONES BRIDGES – (sober nun)* + [Robert] Bridges. The clue conjures up an amusing image; certainly worth straying from the cliched Burns/Bridges duet for.
6 DEMISE – hidden.
7 URN – homophone of “earn”. Re: The Ashes.
8 HEADLINES – he + Ad + lines.
13 IMPEDIMENTA – PE in (timid men)* + a.
15 LEUCOCYTE – C in (you elect)*. More political allusion in the surface. Our setter must be girding his loins for the imminent election.
17 CALENDER – C. + a lender.
20 WAVIER – vie in war.
23 SHAME – sham + e.
25 AID – {r}aid.
Thanks for the blog Mr S. 1A is no more than a cryptic definition (making a joke of the anagram) and the Quaker is Penn (a US state was named after him). 14A is not an & lit as the definition is separated from the subsidiary indication (or ‘wordplay’ as the modern trendies call it)– unless you want it to be a semi & lit. (no comment).
PS Penn is penny shortened of course.
Thanks for the blog, smiffy
The anagrams in 21ac and 15dn were quite a struggle for me.
I think the solution to 16ac is PENN
William Penn, the Quaker, and a tailless coin.
A monster puzzle from the Don.
Thanks gents. I suppose you could say that I quite literally missed the Penny-dropping moment!
As I typcially end up chugging along the I-80 interstate highway through Pennsylvania around twice a year on average, my oversight is all the more embarrassing. That route is littered with signs for Penn DOT and Penn State (University).
Pretty much a satisfactory puzzle, again in the Ximenes style. Not so many firework in these types, but a nice plod.