Thank you to Tees. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Groovy district in an English county? (7)
RUTLAND : RUT-LAND(how you might describe a district/a region that has ruts/grooves in it).
5. Adult rabbit going outside to get drink (7)
ALCOPOP : A(abbrev. for “adult”) + LOP(a kind of rabbit, one with floppy ears) containing(going outside) COP(to get/to catch).
Defn: …, in particular, a sweet fizzy drink with a low alcoholic content.
9. Inspector‘s wife visiting stormy isle (5)
LEWIS : W(abbrev. for “wife”) contained in(visiting) anagram of(stormy) ISLE.
Defn: … in the BBC TV series, “Lewis”, a spin-off from “Inspector Morse”.
10. Single portion fills in snack in two sections (9)
BIPARTITE : [ I(Roman numeral for “one”/single) + PART(a portion/section of a whole) ] contained in(fills in) BITE(a snack/a titbit).
11. Disease in which mercy a goal potentially (10)
ACROMEGALY : Anagram of(… potentially) MERCY A GOAL.
Defn: … resulting in excess growth of certain parts of the human body.
12. Kay previously called for joint (4)
KNEE : K(the letter “Kay”) + NEE(previously called/name when born, used to introduce a married woman’s maiden name).
14. Singer one seen in uproarious 20 2: we must leave! (6,5)
TAYLOR SWIFT : I(Roman numeral for “one”) contained in(seen in) anagram of(uproarious) “FAWLTY TOWERS“(answer to clue 20down 2down) minus(… must leave) “we“.
18. Endlessly dangerous Romeo up for fun indoors (7,4)
PARLOUR GAME : Last letter deleted from(Endlessly) “parlous”(archaic term for “dangerous”/perilous) + R(letter represented by “Romeo” in the phonetic alphabet) + GAME(up for/eager and willing to do something challenging).
21. Prickly shrub took an upward course (4)
ROSE : Double defn: 1st: Thorny/prickly shrub.
22. Plant at least three detectives in Vauxhall? (10)
ASPIDISTRA : [ PI(abbrev. for “private investigator”/detective) + DIS(abbrev. for more than 1 “Detective Inspector”) ](making 3 or more detectives) contained in(in) ASTRA(a model of car manufactured by Vauxhall Motors Limited).
Aka the cast-iron plant.
25. Office workers‘ duck croaks having swallowed article (3,6)
TEA LADIES : TEAL(a small freshwater duck) + DIES(in slang, croaks/kicks the bucket) containing(having swallowed) A(article in English grammar).
26. Principle that is absorbing Democrat completely? Almost! (5)
IDEAL : IE(abbrev. for “id est”/that is) containing(absorbing) D(abbrev. for “Democrat”) + “all”(completely/entirely) minus its last letter(Almost).
Defn: … to be aimed for.
27. Dope dealer in seconds confessed in A&E (7)
ASSANGE : [ S(abbrev. for “seconds”, in time notation) + SANG(slang for “confessed”/admitted to committing a crime, and perhaps implicating others as well) ] contained in(in) [ A and E].
Defn: What you might call one who divulges/deals out secret or inside information/dope, in this case the founder of WikiLeaks.
28. Grass and tree riddled with insects (7)
TIMOTHY : TI(a genus of tropical trees) + MOTHY(riddled/infested with moths, a group of insects).
Down
1. Get the next round in? (6)
RELOAD : Cryptic defn: Not a round of drinks, but an amount of ammunition in order to fire another single shot from a weapon.
2. See 20
3. Arrogance shown in an RC feast? (10)
ASSUMPTION : Double defn: 1st: …/presumption; and 2nd: A feast in honour of the reception of Mary bodily into heaven, celebrated by Roman Catholics.
4. Remove trousers — bad egg to miss a good thrashing (5)
DEBAG : Anagram of(… thrashing) “bad egg” minus { “a” + “g”(abbrev. for “good”) ].
Defn: … off someone as a joke or punishment.
5. Shock when pair climbing spotted mount (9)
APPALOOSA : APPAL(to shock/horrify) + reversal of(… climbing, in a down clue) [ AS(when/at that particular moment, as in “as you enter”) + OO(I’m not sure about this: letters representing a pair of eyes? Spectacles? Breasts? Or is it just a pair of letters) ].
6. I’m surprised by king in Irish city (4)
CORK : COR!(expression meaning “I’m surprised”) plus(by) K(abbrev. for “king”, in chess notation).
7. Margaret covering one with Nancy’s black dressing-gown (8)
PEIGNOIR : PEG(short version of the name “Margaret”) containing(covering) I(Roman numeral for “one”) plus(with) NOIR(“black” in the language of Nancy, a French city).
8. In crowd Treebeard for one holds out (8)
PRESENTS : PRESS(a crowd/a mass of closely packed people or things) containing(In …) ENT(species of tree-like people whose leader was Treebeard, in J.R.R. Tolkein’s fantasy, The Lord of the Rings).
13. Austere existence is seen among cats at war with mice (10)
ASCETICISM : IS contained in(seen among) anagram of(… at war …) [ CATS plus(with) MICE ].
15. Husband in jeopardy back in times past finds pig (9)
YORKSHIRE : [ H(abbrev. for “husband”) contained in(in) reversal of(… back) RISK(jeopardy/danger) ] contained in(in) YORE(times past/long ago).
… poor Babe!
16. French pop excessive American consumes for entertainment (8)
OPERETTA : PÈRE(French for “father”, for which “pop” is an informal term) contained in(… consumes) [ OTT(abbrev. for “over the top”/excessive) + A(abbrev. for “American”) ].
17. Lock spring breaks giving uninvited access? (8)
TRESPASS : TRESS(a long lock of a woman’s hair) containing(… breaks) SPA(a spring of mineral-rich water).
19. Setter barking shows way (6)
STREET : Anagram of(… barking /crazy) SETTER.
20/2. Drag queen’s chasing buggy we hear in sitcom (6,6)
FAWLTY TOWERS : [ TOW(to drag/pull along) + ER(abbrev. for “Elizabeth Regina”, the Queen)‘S ] placed below(chasing, in a down clue) homophone of(… we hear) “faulty”(buggy/filled with bugs/faults).
23. Map detail — it describes three main points (5)
INSET : IT containing(describes) N,S,E(abbrev. for , respectively, “north, south, east”, three main compass points).
24. Wrongdoer renouncing evil without real worth (4)
VAIN : “villain”(wrongdoer/a criminal) minus(renouncing) “ill”(evil/harm).
Defn: …/failing to achieve what was intended.
Not mentioned in the blog that the ‘i’ is the ‘one seen’ in the anagram fodder for 14a. Liked the ‘dope dealer’ and ASSUMPTION having just read Richard Dawkins on how the theological mind works. ‘Never mind whether there’s any evidence that Mary was assumed bodily into heaven; it would be good for people to believe she was’ [according to Pius XII]. Thanks schuaa and Tees.
Thanks Sofamore. Blog amended.
Thanks Schuaa and Tees
I think for the Appaloosa the cluing of OO as pair is in cricketing parlance. If you get a pair in a test match you have zero (00) in both innings.
It’s not a rat it’s a siberian hamster…
I liked everything except TIMOTHY. I had heard of neither the tree nor the grass. Bit too much to have unusual words in both clue and solution.
Loved Fawlty Tower and the partial anagram of same
I took it that O. O within 5d was the classical ‘pair’ in cricket – a duck in the 1st innings and a duck in the second – nought and nought.
Thanks Tees and schuaa.
We crossed !
Nice to know Taylor Swift could almost have appeared on the Fawlty Towers sign – along with Farty or Warty Towels; Watery Fowls, Flay Otters, Fatty Owls or…
Flowery Twats
9a LEWIS (and Morse) batted for “the other side” (sense 2).
Some unexpectedly tough solutions in here – APPALOOSA, ACROMEGALY and TIMOTHY (including one of its constituent parts – TI) were all nho. Add to that a very good but not spotted cryptic def in RELOAD and a definition I did not spot in VAIN and I was in need of assistance to close out the grid. NHO rabbit = LOP either so not a good morning! I enjoyed discovering the overlap between TAYLOR SWIFT and FAWLTY TOWERS and the ‘at least three detectives’ trick.
Thanks Tees and scchua
nho TIMOTHY nor PRESENTS, and took the APPALOOSA to be this kind of pair (sense 11 ‘Grow a pair, mate’).
Given the number of times the grass TIMOTHY has appeared in previous crosswords, I was surprised how many didn’t know it. Didn’t know ACROMEGALY, COP or TI and only vaguely recall APPALOOSA and PEIGNOIR. Missed VAIN altogether.
Oops – apologies for not noticing the system has remembered setter mode from Friday.
And, on re-reading my comment, ‘not a good morning’ refers to my ability to solve rather than to the puzzle!
BTW, I wonder if TEA LADIES still exist? Early in my career, I did work for a firm that employed two who did the rounds with coffee mid morning and tea mid afternoon. It goes without saying, asking for the alternative option was unthinkable and would have been met with withering scorn. Their appearance was a welcome diversion and a marking of the hours. They were also a fabulous source of gossip (some of which, we began to suspect, they simply made up). I doubt one could justify their existence these days.
Thanks both. Not a great innings by me, as I was lacking much of the knowledge already referenced here, and I came here partly in the hope somebody declares they have not heard of FAWLTY TOWERS….or the billionaire Canadian singer, for that matter, whereupon I may feel a little better about it all.
I could have pondered dope dealer for the rest of the year and not come up with the solution. Not really a fan of including names of characters of fleeting notoriety as solutions.
TEA LADIES raised a smile though. I hear that ladies who make the teas for between innings in local cricket matches are also a vanishing breed.
Thanks Tees and scchua.
Thanks Tees for an intelligent as well as entertaining crossword. Of the many excellent clues my top picks were TAYLOR SWIFT, PARLOUR GAME, IDEAL, RELOAD, and INSET. I used a word finder for ASPIDISTRA and the blog for its parsing. I also had problems fully parsing ALCOPOP and TIMOTHY but both are crossword staples easy to guess from the definitions with a few crossers. Thanks scchua for the enlightenment.