Thank you to Paul. Definitions are underlined in the clues. (Sorry for the late blog.)
Across
1. Grease, where Virginia McKenna finally has taken lead from Travolta (4,3)
WOOL FAT : WOOLF(Virginia, English writer) + last letter of(… finally) “McKenna” plus(has taken) 1st letter of(lead from) “Travolta”(who, by the way, acted in the movie, Grease).
Defn: … derived from sheep wool, also known as lanolin.
5. Scarf worn by one on border in unconventional community (7)
BOHEMIA : BOA(a long scarf made of feathers or similar material) contained in(worn by) [ I(Roman numeral for “one”) placed after(on) HEM(border/edge) ].
Defn: …, made up of people with unorthodox political or social viewpoints.
9. Wheels land, stunt in the end nailed (5)
MOTOR : MOOR(an expanse of open uncultivated land) containing(… nailed) last letter of(… in the end) “stunt”.
Defn: An informal term for which is ….
10. Hard to see more than 3, 10 high (9)
PIXELATED : PI(a mathematical constant whose value is greater/more then 3) + X(Roman numeral for 10) + ELATED(in ecstasy/high).
Defn: Describing an image broken into large pixels, thus making the total image ….
11. Welsh table has a grammatical term studied by learner (10)
LAVERBREAD : [A + VERB(a grammatical term, in this case, a word describing an action) + READ(studied an academic subject at university) ] placed after(by) L(letter displayed by a learner driver).
Answer: Welsh table/food dish made from laver, a seaweed.
… not at all bread.
12. Record is secreted in the White House, perhaps? (4)
DISC : IS contained in(secreted in) DC(abbrev. for District of Columbia, USA in which several Federal buildings, eg/perhaps the White House are located).
Defn: A phonographic ….
14. Speeding craft has wheel torpedoed by pilot (5,6)
SPACE ROCKET : SPROCKET(a device that is a wheel with one or more rows of teeth on its perimeter) containing(torpedoed by) ACE(a pilot who has shot down many enemy aircraft).
18. Sequence beyond cleansing, ready to go (6-5)
TOILET-TRAIN : TRAIN(a sequence/series of connected events or thoughts) placed after(beyond) TOILET(the process of cleansing/washing oneself).
Defn: To ready/prepare one (a child) to be able to go/use the toilet.
21. Check what comes down gets picked up (4)
REIN : Homophone of(… picked up) “rain”(that which comes down from the sky).
Defn: To …/restrain.
22. Chip in bone has opened cut, note, after surgery (10)
CONTRIBUTE : RIB(one of a series of bones in the upper body) contained in(has opened) anagram of(…, after surgery) CUT, NOTE.
25. Under ten, I adjusted contract (9)
INDENTURE : Anagram of(… adjusted) UNDER TEN, I.
Defn: A legal ….
26. Use energy, and old giant toppled over (5)
EXERT : E(symbol for “energy”, in physics) plus(and) reversal of(… toppled over) T-REX(or Tyrannosaurus rex, a very large dinosaur/an old giant).
27. Salesperson covering carpeting (7)
REPROOF : REP(short for “representative”, a salesperson) + ROOF(a covering, say, over one’s home).
Defn: …/scolding.
28. A bill in play for good work! (7)
ATTABOY! : A + [ TAB(a bill/statement of charges for food and rinks) contained in(in) TOY(to play with/fool with) ].
Answer: Like “good work!”, an expression of admiration to a man or boy for something done.
Down
1. Trash miles below for refuse collector (6)
WOMBLE : Anagram of(Trash) [ M(abbrev. for “miles”) + BELOW ].
Answer: A fictional creature inhabiting Wimbledon Common, London known to pick up litter/collect refuse.
2. Short act over in play – it’s the interval (6)
OCTAVE : Anagram of(… in play) “act over” minus its last letter(Short …).
Defn: In music, … between the first and last in a series of eight notes, one having half or twice the frequency of the other.
3. Why one might have combs in safe places (10)
FORTRESSES : [FOR TRESSES](the answer to why one might have combs/tools for arranging hair/tresses).
4. Half-hearted bowler, say, drunk (5)
TOPER : “topper”(informal term for a top hat, or thing that covers the top, an example of which/say, is the bowler hat) minus its middle letter(Half-hearted …).
Defn: A ….
5. River crossed by dog taking a snapper (3,6)
BOX CAMERA : CAM(the river in eastern England) contained in(crossed by) BOXER(a breed of dog) plus(taking) A.
Defn: … or a device that takes snaps/photographs.
6. Spot of bother showing full amount to the auditor? (4)
HOLE : Homophone of(… to the auditor) “whole”(complete/showing the full/entire amount).
Defn: …/a awkward situation.
7. Spirit broken by cruciverbalist’s stuff, I suppose (8)
METHINKS : METHS(short for “methylated spirit”) containing(broken by) INK(what a crossword solver might use/cruciverbalist’s stuff).
8. Shockingly bad at cutting diamonds, hand back crown (8)
ABDICATE : Anagram of(Shockingly) BAD + [AT contained in(cutting) ICE(slang for diamonds, the precious stones) ].
13. Nickel, say, 20% of that where I had invested in agreement (10)
COINCIDENT : COIN(an example of which/say, is the American nickel) + CENT(one of five which make a nickel/20% of the latter) containing(where … invested) I’D(contraction of “I had”).
15. A rush coming through ocean water – that resembles grass (9)
ASTROTURF : A + [ TROT(a quick-paced movement/a rush) contained in(coming through) SURF(ocean water breaking on a shore or reef) ].
Answer: Artificial grass surface.
16. More violent rioters on the rampage, thousand kettled (8)
STORMIER : Anagram of(… on the rampage) RIOTERS containing(… kettled/confined demonstrators to a small area by the police) M(Roman numeral for a “thousand”).
17. Did it having bagged last of garbage? (6,2)
TIDIED UP : Cryptic reverse clue: Reversal of(… UP) DID IT containing(having bagged) last letter of(last of) “garbage”.
19. Palatial European banks finished (6)
SUPERB : SERB(a native of Serbia, a European) containing(banks) UP(finished/over, as in “your time is up”)
20. Labour led by dope in high society (6)
GENTRY : TRY(to war out/labour) placed below(led by, in a down clue) GEN(informal term for information/dope).
23. Greek character turning up at what time? (5)
THETA : Reversal of(… turning up, in a down clue) [AT + EH?(an exclamation made to request information, like “What?”) + T(abbrev. for “time”) ].
Defn: Character in the Greek alphabet.
24. Hooked on point, object’s hooked! (4)
INTO : Hidden in(…’s hooked) “point, object”.
Defn: …/greatly interested in something.
A bowler is not a topper.
Just came here to say I failed miserably on this. Just not on Paul’s wavelength today. A TOPpER is specifically a top hat (cf Chambers), ‘table’ (11a) for food is dubious, Wombles are not on my radar (I’m from the Noggin The Nog generation), etc. etc. At least the homophone was unobjectionable and there were no multiply-linked clues, so that’s something.
I took Paul to be using ‘topper’ here as a quirky definition of a hat (something that goes on top of the head, of which a bowler is an example) rather than as the usual informal term for a top hat.
Arguably iffy, but I think it works.
Tony@1
Mm, but any kind of hat could be something that goes on top, ie ‘a topper’.
Many thanks to Paul for the puzzle and scchua for the blog.
Sorry, crossed with Rog@3
I needed a few word searches to get this over the line. CONTRIBUTE was clever but took me an age to see the definition. I couldn’t decide whether “topper” was anything that goes on top, a topspin bowler, or just very loose.
A tough but enjoyable puzzle! Got there in the end. Thanks Paul and scchua!
Fabulous fun. Ticks for PIXELATED, TIDIED UP, TOILET TRAIN and many more
But no egregious homophoneys or dubious double-definitions – what’s the world coming to?
Cheers P&S
If it is 3.00 am and I see a Paul, or Vlad, or Enigmatist, I usually close it and leave it until the morning. One consequence of proceeding is that what passes for my brain these days becomes over-stimulated and I cannot get back to sleep. But proceed I did with this, and was duly left with LOI, LAVERBREAD, where I was thrown by ‘table’ but rescued by its having featured by Brockwell only last Friday. Earlier in the solve, BOX CAMERA came readily, having appeared in Vlad’s Prize on the 14th, where it was a ‘shooter’. But needless to say, insomnia followed. I should observe my own precepts.
I struggled with the topper / bowler thing too – exacerbated by the fact I had never come across the word “toper” before.
A glacial solve as is often the case with Paul but made my way through it. ATTABOY and WOOL FAT were new to me.
I was fine with topper being any type of hat. I have come to expect these whimsical synonyms from Paul.
Liked TIDIED UP
Thanks Paul and Scchua
Not happy that “table” just meant something to eat. I was trying to dig up something about word mutations in Welsh instead. Otherwise, all fair clues even though I dnf. Many thanks to blogger for elucidation.
Had a problem spelling PIXELATED properly, but grateful for the education. I found this difficult, particularly in the SE corner (where I groaned at THETA when I eventually saw it). Did get off to a flying start with WOOL FAT though, despite having to find out that that was another term for lanolin. Wasn’t particularly held up up TOPER, though I understand the objections. Did enjoy TOILET TRAIN and METHINKS. Thanks to Paul and Scchua.
Too difficult for me. Needed to check letters to get started on some solutions and this blog for some parsings. In topper, only one of the middle two letters is removed, so half-hearted. Didn’t know toper, so failed on this one. I couldn’t parse 14a, because I had not heard on sprocket. And if I treally want to be fastiduous, scchua, it is “greater than” in 10 across and it looks like the picture for astroturf is actual real grass… Thanks Paul, and scchua for very clear explanations
Yes, I was another one who was convinced PIXELATED was spelled/spelt another way, possibly with a double L. And the SE corner was the last to yield for me too, with GENTRY and SUPERB final two in. TOILET TRAIN typically Paulian. And I wouldn’t care to remember how many years ago it was that the WOMBLEs were strutting their stuff in SW19, so that took a while for the penny to drop.
Many thanks Paul and Scchua…
Very enjoyable. All the objections raised so far had me almost imperceptibly raising an eyebrow, but fell on the side of fair in my opinion. And I certainly want my setters to be distinguishable, so quirkiness from Paul is a good thing.
Whew! Needed a few Check Buttons along the way, but all were confirming, thankfully.
In DISC, would have been happier with the equivalencing of White House and DC if the clue had indicated one was contained in the other (“perhaps” doesn’t really do that), but oh well.
Liked TOILET TRAIN
Staticman1@10 ‘A glacial solve’ is the perfect description of my experience! I was determined to finish it somehow but it took a while and I can’t say I enjoyed it much.
Was the pixelated image of Virginia Woolf?
This was slow going for me but very entertaining. I really liked WOOL FAT for the clever construction and amusing surface, and TIDIED UP which was a great &lit. Also “Why one might have combs” = FOR TRESSES raised a smile.
I had some of the same question marks as other people. On reflection I think “topper” is ok (whimsically) for a hat generally. For LAVERBREAD, I was puzzled by the definition. For “table” the SOED includes “Provision of food for meals; supply of food; fare”, but is that rather an obscure usage?
Many thanks Paul and scchua.
Completely stumped by 11across. Try for play in 28ac is debatable.
Another offering from the complier I no longer enjoy
Before I twigged the dinosaur connection in EXERT, I remembered a cooking fat called TREX, and wondered if it was a deliberate allusive cross-reference to the grease in 1 across.
Too hard for me, but then Paul always is too hard for me. I laboured to the finish having to reveal a few answers when I was totally stuck. In fairness, most of the clues were really clever in particular TIDIED UP and WOMBLE both of which made me smile. Didn’t like topper for bowler.
Paul’s always enjoyable to this crucuverbalist, who uses a pencil or a screen rather than ink.
I thought that “land” in 9 referred to the landing (= mooring) of a ship.
I was hopeless at this last night. I got a few answers on the bottom and none on the top. Morning session over breakfast with the check button and trying random letters finally filled it all in.
nho LAVERBREAD. Didn’t remember Virginia Woolf (shame on me), but did remember lanolin, so WOOL FAT made sense when I finally stopped trying to think of a four-letter creature that wasn’t duck. Didn’t think of pi, though I do know that it’s more than three (I’m sure I’m not the only one to try to work in “four.”)
I learned about Wombles from an earlier puzzle, but didn’t know what they collected.
“Sprocket” is a word I’ve heard but isn’t part of my active vocabulary.
I vaguely remembered that “rep” was some sort of fabric, but couldn’t manage to make a carpet of it.
Nice to see the Cam getting a showing — part of the UK’s national treasure of three-letter rivers, but not seen as often as others. Will we see the Fal soon?
Thanks to Paul and scchua.
Do people actually eat LAVERBREAD? It looks revolting enough to be good for you.
I have to say I did today’s puzzle but derived no pleasure from it.