Thank you to Lark. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
5. Rabbi’s love for one prepared to learn (6)
ABSORB : Anagram of(… prepared) [ “Rabbi’s” with O(letter representing 0/”love” in tennis scores) replacing(for) “I”(Roman numeral for “one”) ].
Defn: …/to take in and understand.
7. Can drinking whiskey after French garlic ultimately yield gust from behind? (8)
TAILWIND : TIN(a metal can/cylindrical container) containing(drinking) [ W(letter represented by “whiskey” in the phonetic alphabet) placed after(after) AIL(French for “garlic”) ] + last letter of(ultimately) “yield“.
11. City traveller must circumnavigate to get back (7)
RECOVER : EC(the London postcode area which includes almost all of the City of London) contained in(… must circumnavigate) ROVER(a traveller/a wanderer).
12. A gold plate conducting current with variable physical property (7)
AGILITY : A + GILT(a gold plating/gold paint applied in a thin layer to a surface) containing(conducting) I(symbol for electric current in physics) plus(with) Y(in mathematics, a symbol for a quantity which can vary).
Defn: …, specifically the ability to physically move quickly and easily.
13. Death‘s edge about to slice one looking stunned (4,6)
GRIM REAPER : [ RIM(an edge/boundary) + RE(with reference to/about) ] contained in(to slice) GAPER(one who is gaping/looking stunned, staring with mouth open wide in shock).
14. Inappropriate looking dance, in retrospect (4)
LEER : Reversal of(…, in retrospect) REEL(a lively Scottish or Irish folk dance).
16. Hotel program reader’s to receive hot drink now at a discount (5,4)
HAPPY HOUR : H(letter represented by “hotel” in the phonetic alphabet) + APP(an application/a program or piece of software designed for a specific purpose) + YOUR(in grammar, the second person possessive pronoun/reader’s, with the reader as the second person, and the setter being the first person) containing(to receive) H(abbrev. for “hot”).
Defn: A period in the day when one can drink at discounted prices in a bar, say. And happy hour can last more than 60 minutes.
22. Run boat’s propeller and make a din (4)
ROAR : R(abbrev. for “run” in cricket scores) + OAR(boat’s propeller/a pole used to propel a rowboat).
23. Hide in Magaluf with Eco novel (10)
CAMOUFLAGE : Anagram of(… novel) [ MAGALUF plus(with) ECO].
Defn: To … by blending in with one’s environment.
… hidden in plain sight.
26. Newton with true confusion concerning particle (7)
NEUTRON : N(abbrev. for the Newton, the unit of force in physics) plus(with) anagram of(… confusion) TRUE + ON(concerning/about).
Defn: …, part of an atom.
27. Plain, quiet, less stuffy royal brought to the fore (7)
PRAIRIE : P(abbrev. for “piano”, the musical direction to play softly/quietly) + [ AIRIER(less stuffy/with more air circulating) with “R”(abbrev. for “Royal”) moved from last to first position in the word(brought to the fore) ].
28. Fearless journalist to trade leaders: show restraint (4,4)
HOLD BACK : BOLD(fearless/brave) + HACK(a journalist producing dull, unoriginal work) with 1st letters, respectively, changing places(to trade leaders).
Aka a Spoonerism.
29. Briefly put off by court notice (6)
DETECT : “deter”(to put off/discourage) minus its last letter(Briefly …) plus(by) CT(abbrev. for “court”).
Down
1. Shower naked, holding cloth (7)
BARRAGE : BARE(naked/without covering) containing(holding) RAG(a piece of old cloth).
2. Mental image interrupted by extremely sexy companion (7)
PSYCHIC : PIC(short for “picture”/an image) containing(interrupted by) [ 1st and last letters of(extremely) “sexy” + CH(abbrev. for Companion of Honour, a British Commonwealth honour) ].
Defn: …/relating to the mind.
3. Article about unknown American soldiers by the cut-off Israeli city (8)
NAZARETH : Reversal of(… about) AN(an article in English grammar) + Z(in mathematics, an unknown variable) + A(abbrev. for “American”) + RE(abbrev. for the Royal Engineers, a unit of soldiers in the British Army) plus(by) “the” minus its last letter(cut-off).
4. Hit at random, unfortunately I fall (5)
FLAIL : Anagram of(unfortunately) I FALL.
6. Minister starts to embarrass Rishi Sunak with a large U-turn? (8)
REVERSAL : REV(short for “Reverend”, title for a minister/a member of the clergy) + 1st letters, respectively, of(starts to) “embarrass Rishi Sunak” plus(with) A + L(abbrev. for “large”).
A comment on current British politics?
8. Writer’s covering President endlessly, as before (6)
IBIDEM : I’M(“I am”/contraction of “writer is”, with the writer self-referentially using the first person pronoun) containing(covering) “Biden”(currently President of the USA) minus its last letter(endlessly).
Defn: …/in the same place, in Latin.
9. Appliances from Q’s successor in antithesis of Bond film? (6)
DRYERS : R(Q’s successor/letter after Q in the English alphabet) contained in(in) DR. YES(what you may term as an antithesis of “Dr. No”, a James Bond film).
And, of course, Q was the code name of the character that supplied hi-tech appliances to James Bond.
10. Manure always contains organic compound (4)
UREA : Hidden in(… contains) “Manure always“.
15. Allow doing away with European era voting rights (8)
SUFFRAGE : “suffer”(to allow/to tolerate) minus(doing away with) “e”(abbrev. for “European”) + AGE(an era/a distinctive long period of time).
… suffering for suffrage.
17. Don’t be cruel talking about flavourless dessert (4,4)
PLAY NICE : Homophone of(talking about) “plain”(flavourless/bland) “ice”(short for “ice cream”, a dessert).
18. Noisily eat cold late morning meal without starter (6)
CRUNCH : C(abbrev. for “cold”) + “brunch”(late morning meal, between the usual breakfast and lunch times) minus its 1st letter(without starter).
19. Muse vaguely about a liberal prophet (6)
SAMUEL : Anagram of(… vaguely) MUSE containing(about) A + L(abbrev. for a Liberal, a member of the Liberal Party).
20. Obstacle arranged to block coffin bearer (7)
BARRIER : ARR(abbrev. for “arranged”) contained in(to block) BIER(a moveable frame on which a coffin is placed prior burial or cremation).
21. Nothing to support idea propagated by books and film (7)
MEMENTO : O(letter representing 0/nothing) placed below(to support, in a down clue) [ MEME(an idea that spreads within a culture by imitation) plus(by) NT(abbrev. for the New Testament, a collection of books in the Bible) ].
Defn: A 2000 mystery thriller ….
24. Rings husband’s dropped – how clumsy! (4)
OOPS! : “hoops”(rings/circular bands) minus(…’s dropped) “h”(abbrev. for “husband”).
Defn: An exclamation to show recognition of one’s own clumsiness resulting in a mistake or accident.
25. Bird ascending east German mountain (5)
GREBE : Reversal of(ascending, in a down clue) [ E(abbrev. for “east”) + BERG(German for “mountain”) ].
… hitching a ride.
Thanks scchua and Lark.
Quite difficult – top half esp…7a, 12a and 6d, tricky.
Needed parsing for DRYERS; clever.
Likes
ABSORB, HAPPY HOUR, PSYCHIC,
DRYERS: The very best of the lot.
Liked HOLD BACK and PLAY NICE as well.
Thanks, L (for a lovely puzzle) and s (for a comprehensive blog)!
Good puzzle. I had to enter DRYERS from the definition; a pity to have missed the amusing wordplay. Didn’t know MEMENTO as a ‘film’ but wordplay and crossers filled in the gaps. I liked the topical surface for REVERSAL and the no “Spooner” in sight in the wordplay HOLD BACK.
Thanks to Lark for puzzle number two and to scchua
I’m another who hadn’t heard of the film “memento”, but the wordplay was clear. Also didn’t know the French for “garlic”. Loved DRYERS.
I remember way back in my student days embarrassing myself by asking a librarian where I could find the journal “ibid.”. He had to explain it referred to the same journal as the one in the previous reference. My Latin O’level didn’t come to my aid.
23a reminds me of the Frank Carson joke:
So the Sergeant Major shouted at me: ‘Carson! I didn’t see you at camouflage practice this morning’. So I replied: ‘Thank you, sir.’
DRYERS is wonderful. I wish I’d seen it. I was thinking or DYERS as the opposite of You Only Live Twice. [Hovis your story about ibid. reminds me of the apocryphal person who was amazed at the size of the German town AUSFAHRT. Every exit seemed to go there.]
Good puzzle all round. I have seen Memento but had completely forgotten it which given the plot seems appropriate.
I think the answer at 8D only involves losing the last letter of the current president.
Thanks to Lark and scchua.
Pleased to see that I wasn’t alone in not knowing the film – thank goodness for checkers! I’m also far more familiar with ‘nicely’ as the second word of 17d but I guess ‘nice’ is the term some people use.
Favourite was DRYERS with a wry nod to GRIM REAPER.
Thanks to Lark and to scchua for the review – always nice to get a few pictures included.
Right, DuncM. Blog amended.
I loved this one, and even got most of the answers without help – may not sound like much to seasoned solvers, but I’m still learning all the British slang and abbreviations that crop up in these puzzles.
Looks like a bit of a typo in the writeup for 9D, though – surely you meant to write DR. YES rather than Dr. No twice.
Yes, Nidoking. Once again the blog amended.
Lots of superb smooth surfaces, in fact difficult to find one that isn’t. Must look out for future Larks.
Thanks to him, Scchua for the blog and Hovis for the excellent Carson joke.
A bit challenging in places but enjoyable nevertheless. We particularly liked the wordplay for DRYERS and the Spoonerism for HOLD BACK being indicated without reference to the eponymous Reverend.
Thanks, Lark and scchua.
Very enjoyable indeed some very clever wordplay, something I always appreciate.
I didn’t know the film or the “in the same place” but both easily derivable from checkers and wordplay.
I liked HAPPY HOUR the tropical REVERSAL (aren’t politicians useful to setters) but my favourite has to be DRYERS.
Thanks Lark and scchua