The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29909.
Another cracking crossword from Paul; on first scanning the clues, about the only thing that was clear was the presence of scattered players, which it turns out pointed to 1D PIANIST, with many taking a bow in other clues. As I often find with Paul, clues that at first seem impenetrable gradually resolve in a very satisfying – and amusing – way.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PICARO |
Choose a line to read out for villain (6)
|
| Sounds like (‘to read out’) PICK A ROW (‘choose a line’). | ||
| 4 | FOUGHT |
Reportedly, army post was combative (6)
|
| Sounds like (‘reportedly’) FORT (‘army post’). | ||
| 9, 15 | FACE CARD |
Meet character in Jack, say (4,4)
|
| A charade of FACE (‘meet’) plus CARD (‘character’). | ||
| 10 | MOUNTEBANK |
Hustler, 1 Down nabs fresh bun with tea (10)
|
| An envelope (‘nabs’) of UNTEBA, an anagram (‘fresh’) of ‘bun’ plus (‘witn’) ‘tea’, in MONK (Thelonious, ‘1 Down’ – pianist). | ||
| 11 | TISSUE |
Delicate material put out on time (6)
|
| A charade of T (‘time’) plus ISSUE (‘put out’). | ||
| 12 | THESPIAN |
Player in turn penning one article after another (8)
|
| A charade of THE (‘another’ article) plus SPIAN, an envelope (‘penning’) of A (‘one article’) in SPIN (‘turn’). | ||
| 13 | STATISTIC |
Nobody in fact? (9)
|
| Double definition – a STATISTIC is ‘nobody’ in particular. | ||
| 15 |
See 9
|
|
| 16 | AUNT |
Female relative in grandma? Untrue (4)
|
| A hidden answer ‘in’ ‘grandmA UNTrue’. | ||
| 17 | LEND-LEASE |
Old tennis player with effortlessness defending Act of Congress (4-5)
|
| A charade of LENDL (Ivan, ‘old tennis player’) plus EASE (‘effortlessness’) For the definition, see Wikipedia. | ||
| 21 | STAR SIGN |
Archer perhaps with string as tight (4,4)
|
| An anagram (‘tight’) of ‘string as’, the ‘archer’ being Sagittarius. | ||
| 22 | MYSORE |
What I find tender in Indian city? (6)
|
| MY SORE. | ||
| 24 | WELLINGTON |
1 Down on back of cow – something afoot? (10)
|
| A charade of W (‘back of coW‘) plus ELLINGTON (Duke, ‘1 Down’ – pianist). | ||
| 25 | HOPI |
Native Americans shaving 1 Down (4)
|
| [c]HOPI[n] (‘1 Down’ – pianist; Frédéric was his first name, not that it is often used) removing the outer letters (‘shaving’). | ||
| 26 | LIFTED |
Organ in song amplified (6)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of FT (Financial Times newspaper, ‘organ’) in LIED (‘song’). | ||
| 27 | BORAGE |
1 Down fed a herb (6)
|
| An envelope (‘fed’) of ‘a’ in BORGE (Victor, ‘1 Down’ – pianist). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | PIANIST |
Part taken by 12 Across is torturous for player (7)
|
| A derived hidden answer in thesPIAN IS Torturous, where THESPIAN is the answer to ’12 Across’. | ||
| 2 | CHESS |
Musical overture from concert 1 Down (5)
|
| A charade of C (‘overture from Concert’) plus HESS (Myra, ‘1 Down’ – pianist). | ||
| 3 | RIMLESS |
As hat may be when lacking an edge, lacking an edge – lacking an edge! (7)
|
| A subtraction: [b]RIMLESS (‘as a hat may be when lacking an edse’) minus the fisrt letter (‘lacking an edge’ for the second time of asking). | ||
| 5 | OUTLET |
Valve released in reverse? (6)
|
| LET OUT (‘released’) with the two words exchanged (‘in reverse’). | ||
| 6 | GO BY PLANE |
Fly open, ably sorted out after last bit of wiggling (2,2,5)
|
| A charade of G (‘last bit of wigglinG‘) plus OBYPLANE, an anagram (‘sorted out’) of ‘open ably’. | ||
| 7 | TANKARD |
Cheers before drunk drank – pint in that? (7)
|
| A charade of TA (‘cheers’) plus NKARD, an anagram (‘drunk’) of ‘drank’. | ||
| 8 | SUSTAINED NOTE |
Mark on musical score held, Estonian duets played (9,4)
|
| An anagram (‘played’) of ‘Estonian duets’. | ||
| 14 | TENOR CLEF |
Retuned, cornet went briefly – would that be symbolic for 1 Down? (5,4)
|
| A charade of TENORC, an anagram (‘retuned’) of ‘cornet’) plus LEF[t] (‘went’) minus its last letter (‘briefly’). | ||
| 16 | ACT WELL |
1 Down secures first place in competition – to be a decent player? (3,4)
|
| An envelope (‘secures’) of C (‘first place in Competition’) in ATWELL (Winifred, ‘1 Down’ – pianist). | ||
| 18 | DOMINGO |
1 Down inspiring good singer (7)
|
| An envelope (‘inspiring’) of G (‘good’) in DOMINO (Fats, ‘1 Down’ – pianist), for Plácido DOMINGO. | ||
| 19 | STROPHE |
That man overcome by mood, part of ode sung (7)
|
| A charade of STROP (bad ‘mood’) plus (‘overcome by’) HE (‘that man’). | ||
| 20 | MINNIE |
Mouse wee in one’s ear? (6)
|
| Sounds like (‘in one’s ear’) MINI (‘wee’, small). | ||
| 23 | SCHWA |
Southern bloke cut short defending wife – ‘e flipped? (5)
|
| An envelope (‘defending’) of W (‘wife’) in S (southern’) plus CHA[p] (‘bloke’) minus its last letter (‘cut short’). The symbol for a schwa is an inverted e. |
It was the Iron Duke’s boot that gave the musical Duke, and then borage gave Victor B and confirmed 1d. Great fun, thx Paul and Peter.
A good, eclectic collection of 1 Downs, ingeniously clued, I thought. I was listening to MONK playing ‘Misterioso’ with Sonny Rollins just last night. You would have to be of a certain age to recall 17D’s Winifred on TV back in the 1950s, so I think there may be a bunch of NHOs as the comment thread develops later.
Of course, I was looking for pee for wee for MINNIE, so properly fooled, and thus my LOI.
Great puzzle, thanks Paul and PeterO