Thank you to Bartland. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
A Happy New Year to one and all.
Across
1. Aggressive former royal, one with beef (7)
BUTCHER : BUTCH(aggressive/macho) + ER(abbrev. for “Elizabeth Regina”, former Queen, a royal).
Defn: … literally.
5. Women chop the first of our bananas (6)
WHACKO : W(abbrev. for “women”) + HACK(to chop/cut with heavy blows) + 1st letter of(the first of) “our“.
Defn: …/insane.
9. Disorganised purser is a turn up for the books (8)
SURPRISE : Anagram of(Disorganised) PURSER IS.
Defn: Event that happens against the odds.
10. Protruding lip in head of fallen angel, smashed to bits (6)
FLANGE : 1st letter of(head of) “fallen” + anagram of(…, smashed to bits) ANGEL.
Defn: …/a projecting rim.
12. Appetizers rushed over, so messy (4,8)
HORS D’OEUVRES : Anagram of(… messy) RUSHED OVER, SO.
15. Ms Earhart reportedly dined better (10)
AMELIORATE : Homophone of(… reportedly) “Amelia”(Ms … Earhart, pioneering American pilot) + ATE(dined). Seems like “R” is missing from the wordplay?
Defn: To …/to make things ….
17. Broad sample of new ideas (4)
WIDE : Hidden in(sample of) “new ideas“.
19. Refuse to let go of castle, in part (4)
KEEP : Double defn: 2nd: …, or, part of a castle, specifically the strongest tower in it.
20. Down-to-earth Ms Stubbs fixed leader’s criminal defect (10)
UNAFFECTED : UNA(Ms Stubbs, British actress, remembered – by me, for one – for playing Alf Garnett’s daughter in “Til Death Us Do Part”, among other roles) + 1st letter of(… leader) “fixed” plus(…’s/has) anagram of(criminal) DEFECT.
22. Law enforcers slim down policy (4,4,4)
THIN BLUE LINE : THIN(slim/slender) + BLUE(down/sad) + LINE(policy/an agreed approach by a particular group, as in “to toe the party line”).
Defn: Term that refers to the police/law enforcers collectively – who figuratively form the line between law and order and chaos, in their blue coloured uniforms.
26. Single now? Aye, after a fashion! (3-3)
ONE-WAY : Anagram of(…, after a fashion) NOW? AYE.
Defn: …, referring to a ticket for travel to a destination but no return trip.
27. Originally galvanised iron formed the warming pan’s decorative covering (4,4)
GIFT WRAP : 1st letters, respectively, of(Originally) “galvanised iron formed the warming” + RAP(to pan/to criticise severely).
28. Length of previous pavilion (6)
EXTENT : EX-(prefix denoting “previous”/once upon a time) + TENT(a pavilion/a marquee).
29. Gong due to be melted down to make little silver fish (7)
GUDGEON : Anagram of(… to be melted down) GONG DUE.
Down
1. Scrub either of two ex-Presidents (4)
BUSH : Double defn: 1st: Stunted vegetation; and 2nd: … of the USA, namely, father and son George H.W. and George W. Bush.
2. Change the lid or the pedestal of that vase (4)
TURN : [1st letter of(the lid, in a down clue) or last letter of(the pedestal of, in a down clue)] “that” + URN(a vase).
3. Describing wave damage touching Icelandic coasts (8)
HARMONIC : HARM(damage/injury) + ON(touching/about/concerning, say, a particular subject) + 1st and last letters of(… coasts/edges) “Icelandic“.
4. Increases in critical incidents after leader has fled (5)
RISES : “crises”(critical incidents/times when important decisions have to be made) minus its 1st letter(after leader has fled).
6. Rehash old upholstery’s stuffing to make bolster (4,2)
HOLD UP : Hidden in(…’s stuffing) “Rehash old upholstery“.
Defn: To …/to support.
7. Swindlers seeing their leader tucking into flaky croissant (3,7)
CON ARTISTS : 1st letter of(… leader) “their” contained in(tucking into) anagram of(flaky) CROISSANT.
8. Doctor proves intentions for budget deficits (10)
OVERSPENDS : Anagram of(Doctor) PROVES + ENDS(intentions/objectives).
11. Supervisor to flounder to some extent? To some extent (4,2)
SORT OF : Hidden in(… to some extent) “Supervisor to flounder“.
13. Pat gets support, coming first in swimming event (10)
BACKSTROKE : STROKE(pat/a quick light touch with the hand) placed below(gets …, coming first, in a down clue) BACK(to support/to champion).
14. Philanthropic act associated with misplaced fine American coin (10)
BENEFICENT : BE(to act as/to represent, as in “to be the bad guy”) plus(associated with) anagram of(misplaced) FINE + CENT(coin equal in value to one-hundredth of an American dollar).
16. Record the cost of call (4,2)
RING UP : Double defn: 1st: … something on a cash register; and 2nd: … on the phone.
18. Chaotic retinue ultimately agreed and met again (8)
REUNITED : Anagram of(Chaotic) RETINUE + last letter of(ultimately) “agreed“.
21. Get love by taking an interest now, for starters (6)
OBTAIN : O(letter representing 0, love in tennis scores) + 1st letters, respectively, of(…, for starters) “by taking an interest now“.
23. Positioned prominently in group’s sample (5)
LYING : Hidden in(…’s sample) “prominently in group“.
24. Authentic feet on somewhat prettier ormolu jardiniere (4)
TRUE : Last letters, respectively, of(feet on, in a down clue) “somewhat prettier ormolu jardiniere“.
25. 50% of nepotism’s flipping obvious (4)
OPEN : Reversal of(…’s flipping) 1st 4 letters of(50% of) “nepotism“.
Thank you, scchua, for your signature pictorial. I couldn’t equate single with one-way, but it’s pretty obvious once explained. Be/act in 14d was a head scratcher. All else was good fun, thank you, Bartland.
I think the homophone for AMELIORATE is the “Miss Earhart dined”, rather than just Miss Earhart. Cue first discussion of the year on homophones. Thanks to Bartland and Scchua
Thank you, scchua. It was, of course, Dandy Nichols who played Mrs Ajf Garnet; Una Stubbs played their daughter.
Thanks Bartland and scchua
A bit repetitive in constructions – hiddens, first/last letters, anagrams.
Favourite FLANGE.
I think Crispy is right about AMELIORATE. I foolishly put butcher for BUTCHER.
Bitcher even autocorrect knows better than me.
(Sitting in the pedants’ corner) Chambers says HORS D’ŒUVRES is OK in English but from my side of Channel the final S is incorrect. Not that I care a toss… Happy and prosperous New Year to one and all.
Thanks Balfour, for putting me right. I’ve corrected the blog.
Is 15 a sop to rhotic speakers? “Amelia” could be pronounced “Ameliar”?
Quite a tough Quiptic, I was happy to be able to complete it.
I was unsure how to parse 2d which seemed overly wordy.
Thanks, both and Happy New Year to everyone!
AMELIORATE is already my favourite clue of the year.
I interpreted 2d TURN as did our blogger, but isn’t the construction a little unusual? We see triple definitions occasionally, but I don’t remember ever seeing wordplay where you get two cracks at a part. In this case, it’s not even necessary for the surface.
It was a nice Quiptic, well pitched for the slot. I did interpret AMELIORATE as a homophone for Amelia ate, if you’re one of those people who puts an R rather than a glottal stop between the two words. I’m not, but it’s amusing enough that I’m not complaining, either.
Oh, and I am SO proud of Bartman for finally being the one brave enough to clue Amelia and Una as “Ms. Earhart” and “Ms. Stubbs” rather than “girl” or “woman.” That’s God’s work, man–keep it up.
Er. Bartland. Sorry.
I once had a teacher who pulled us up with “Who’s Russ?” whenever anyone said “for us” without a glottal stop.
Nice, easy introduction to the New Year. Thanks, Bartland.
UNA Stubbs for me was one of the team captains in “Give Us A Clue”.
Thanks Bartland and scchua for a lovely Quiptic and great blog. Happy New Year to all.
Oh! Re: 15A I am very familiar with how non-rhotic British accents tend to be. However, once I did encounter a woman who had a very rhotic accent. I distinctly remember her pronouncing HIPPA (the patient privacy act in the US) as “hipper”. I had never encountered such an extra-rhotic accent before. So I’m with muffin@9: Ameliar-ate. Finally, we can get grousing in the other direction, heh.
Geoff@16 Bah. The consonant lengths of the rs of “for us” and “for Russ” are different, even without the glottal stop. Well, assuming that’s true for both Australian and American varieties of English, though.
Khitty Hawk @19 and others. Re the intrusive/linking /r/. Worth a read, and gives examples from various parts of the planet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linking_and_intrusive_R#:~:text=The%20phenomenon%20of%20intrusive%20R,between%20them%2C%20even%20when%20no
Happy New Year to all, and many thanks for all of the positive feedback and encouragement. The discussion about the “AMELIA{r}ATE” clue was most informative and reminds me of the extent to which my own accent must guide the way in which homophones form in my head! Special thanks to @scchua for the excellent blog and to Everyman for the editorial guidance.
Somewhat tough for a quiptic but thanks all the same