I found this one from Umpire a little on the clunky side, with a couple of stretchy definitions, but I am only one of the many solvers of this crossword this morning. Others may not feel the same, and will no doubt tell me so below if they feel inclined.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Disaster following maiden through city
CALAMITY
An insertion of A LA and M in CITY. The insertion indicator is ‘through’.
5 Pleased one day to catch Australian runners cycling
AMUSED
An insertion of EMUS with the initial letter moved the end (‘cycling’) in A and D. the insertion indicator is ‘to catch’.
9 Bit of mountaineering equipment touching stone first
PITON
A charade of PIT and ON.
10 Close to goal – end is excited!
ALONGSIDE
(GOAL END IS)* with ‘excited’ as the anagrind.
12 Go over actor’s lines
OGHAM
A charade of GO reversed and HAM. HAM for ‘actor’ is weak, I would suggest: it always implies a level of incompetence or overtheatricality. OGHAM is an ancient British and Irish alphabet, consisting of twenty characters formed by parallel strokes on either side of or across a continuous line.
13 Most composed songs performed about romantic engagements
SEDATEST
An insertion of DATES in SET. The insertion indicator is ‘about’.
15 Crimefighters worldwide mostly pass information to cops, getting in the way
INTERPOSING
A charade of INTERPO[L] and SING.
18 Feeble cards player wanting spades
WET
WE[S]T
20 Recyclable velcro regularly discarded
ECO
[V]E[L]C[R]O Again, I think ECO for ‘recyclable’ is wide of the mark.
21 Drunk select pub is capable of receiving
SUSCEPTIBLE
(SELECT PUB IS)* with ‘drunk’ as the anagrind.
22 Rowdy mob, one overwhelmed by drink, in a state
COLOMBIA
An insertion of (MOB)* and I in COLA. The insertion indicator is ‘overwhelmed by’.
24 Diamonds stolen from transport in London? It’s a puzzle
REBUS
RE[D] BUS
27 Could, given no other choice, some people in Central America rise?
MAY AS WELL
A charade of MAYA and SWELL.
28 Blemish beautiful cereal boxes
ULCER
Hidden in beautifUL CEReal.
29 Onset of trouble I passed on sorted out
TIDIED
A charade of T for the initial letter of ‘trouble’, I and DIED.
30 Female bigged up clothes in a way such as T-shirt
HYPHENED
An insertion of HEN in HYPED. The insertion indicator is ‘clothes’.
Down
1 Rocky poo relic palaeontologist ultimately probes?
COPROLITE
An insertion of T for the final letter or ‘palaeontologist’ in (POO RELIC)* with ‘rocky’ as the anagrind. A cad.
2 Lock large aircraft door that’s not opened
LATCH
A charade of L and [H]ATCH.
3 Note music and poetry, say, American stores
MINIMARTS
A charade of MINIM and ARTS.
4 Amphibian kicked through the air?
TOAD
Aural wordplay (‘through the air’) of TOED.
6 Old woman takes control of shareholders’ meeting that might become a bit rocky
MAGMA
An insertion of AGM in MA. The insertion indicator is ‘takes control of’.
7 Where flies may be undone?
SPIDER WEB
A cd.
8 What begins where boring Greek character mostly lived
DWELT
An insertion of W for the initial letter of ‘where’ in DELT[A]. The insertion indicator is ‘boring’.
11 Short crack on stern of cruise ship
ONE-LINER
A charade of ON, E for the final letter of ‘cruise’ and LINER.
14 Celebrated time of year, so Celt is dancing
SOLSTICE
(SO CELT IS)* with ‘dancing’ as the anagrind.
16 Giant considered mortal
TROLLEYED
A charade of TROLL and EYED. TROLLEYED and ‘mortal’ are both slang words for ‘drunk’. I have only ever heard the latter in the North-East of England personally, but I’m sure it exists elsewhere as well.
17 Tolerate style of rock music with difficulty
GO THROUGH
A charade of GOTH and ROUGH.
19 Highly valued first of trilogy certain to be found in study
TREASURED
A charade of T for the initial letter of ‘trilogy’ and SURE inserted into READ. The insertion indicator is ‘to be found in’.
22 One working with Cupid to recover love lost
COMET
COME T[O]. Think Santa’s reindeer.
23 Swerving shot from service last in game
MASSÉ
A charade of MASS and E. A snooker shot. Here‘s a blast from the past executing it.
25 Vote against taxi that’s hiked fare for some in the morning
BACON
A reversal (‘that’s hiked’, since it’s a down clue) of NO CAB.
26 Trifle son removed from spread
PLAY
[S]PLAY
Many thanks to Umpire for this Monday’s puzzle.
My faves: PITON, WET, MAY AS WELL and BACON.
I agree with the blogger’s comments on ECO and OGHAM.
INTERPOSING
Does ‘to cops’ have any function in the cryptic reading?
Thanks Umpire and Pierre.
Thanks for 3d.
I had MI=note and I couldn’t figure out how NIM meant musical … d’oh!
Thanks both.
COPROLITE was a nice find. KVa I suppose you can only sing to some kind of authority and cops fits nicely with the surface.
I thought the poo relic was clever, but was nowhere near parsing COMET, despite it being the only word that fits the crossers. All in all a bit parson’s-eggish I felt.
Thanks to Umpire and Pierre.
PeterT@3
Thanks for your response.
My point: Pass information =SING
(not pass information to cops).
One will sing to cops. Right?
KVa@1, 15a INTERPOSING: sing = “pass information to cops” by making a full confession, peaching against your comrades, or becoming a CI.
Didn’t find ECO or HAM clunky. [The plant-based BACON in my fridge is another story.]
KVa – yes, you’re correct, though ‘pass information’ wouldn’t really be an adequate definition of ‘sing’ without adding that it specifically means passing information to the authorities (eg cops)
I thought there were some lovely clues in this – thanks to Umpire. My favourites were TOAD, SPIDER WEB and COMET.
OGHAM is a very tough def but a clever, if brutal, clue. I also liked COMET for the def, SOLSTICE for the relevant surface, TROLLEYED for the brevity and TREASURED for the smoothness. COPROLITE is fun.
Thanks Umpire and Pierre
What may have been lost by the definitions was more than made up for by the surfaces most of which read very nicely, for me anyway. Favourite was COPROLITE. Very neat.
Thanks U and P
Thanks both. Well, I certainly struggled with some of these, perhaps as it’s Monday. I shall add ‘mortal’ to the apparently endless list of words meaning drunk; until coming here, I could make no sense of why TROLLEYED justified the definition.
Agree with the blog and TFO@11 re ‘mortal’. Thanks both.
Didn’t know mortal as meaning drunk, though I often am. Liked the cycling emus and the re(d) bus. Good stuff. Thanks both