Guardian Cryptic 29,955 by Vulcan

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29955.

The utility that I normally use to blog crosswords is not available for whatever reason, so here is a hash up with a lot of cut-and-paste. Definitions are identified by italics, which is confusing for double definitions – you just have to guess where the break comes. There’s no grid, and blank lines have crept in, and I cannot find how to eliminate them.

ACROSS

1 Looking like a Teletubby with a sour expression? (2-5)

PO-FACED A reference to the Teletubby character Po.

5 Material is wonderful and no end costly (6)

FABRIC A charade of FAB (‘wonderful’) plus RIC[h] (‘costly’) minus its last letter (‘no end’).

9 Airborne soldier without his dog tag is unnecessarily fearful (8)

PARANOID A charade of PARA (‘airborne soldier’) plus NO I.D. (‘without his dog tag’).

10 Meat spread left in light shade (6)

PASTEL A charade of PASTE (‘meat spread’) plus L (‘left’).

12 Send girl to do work for tree specialist (12)

DENDROLOGIST An anagram (‘work’) of ‘send girl to do’.

15 She dropped everything to tour Midlands town (4,6)

LADY GODIVA A reference to the well-known legend of her naked ride through Coventry.

17/19 Cannon and Ball (3-3)

POM-POM Double definition, the first a gun, and the second often rendered without the hyphen.

20 Like the part of Africa that is below the sand? (3-7)

SUB-SAHARAN Cryptic definition, depending on interpreting ‘below’ as southerly, as usual in a map with north at the top.

22 Faulty information on the computer (5,7)

ERROR MESSAGE Slightly cryptic definition.

26 An interval before VAT comes back reduced (6)

OCTAVE A hidden (‘reduced’) reversed (‘back’) answer in ‘beforE VAT COmes’.

27 Religious leader who’s gone off the record (8)

ANTIPOPE  Cryptic definition, the ‘record’ being the list of popes.

28 Very small, or a little high (6)

TIDDLY Double definition.

29 What dogs do, pleased to see bird (7)

WAGTAIL WAG TAIL (‘what dogs do’).

DOWN

1 Without permission snaps A-lister’s breasts (4)

PAPS Double definition, the first being a verb formed from paparazzo.

2 Tyson’s rage (4)

FURY A reference to the boxer Tyson Luke Fury.

3 Meet to study a strip of grass (8)

CONVERGE A charade of CON (‘study’) plus VERGE (‘strip of grass’).

4 What’s definitely decided is cut with this (5)

DRIED A reference to the expression “cut and dried” (‘definitely decided’).

6 The river that moves vast quantities of goods (6)

AMAZON Double/cryptic definition, the second being the on-line market place.

7 Later I failed to leave car in out-of-town centre (6,4)

RETAIL PARK A charade of RETAIL, an anagram (‘failed’) of ‘later I’; plus PARK (‘to leave car’).

8 Remember: ring for the babysitter? (4,2,4)

CALL TO MIND Definition and literal interpretation.

11 The pack, or a whole team (6)

WOLVES Double definition, the first being the animals, and the second Wolverhampton Wanderers FC.

13 Warmly received, returning to pavilion, exhausted (7,3)

CLAPPED OUT Definition and literal interpretation.

14 Vaguely outlined throwing mud at beard (10)

ADUMBRATED An anagram (‘throwing’) of ‘mud at beard’.

16 Put out needing two days to cross river (6)

DOUSED An envelope (‘to cross’) of OUSE (‘river’) in D D (‘two days’).

18 Clubs embracing in-your-face charity collection (8)

CHUGGING A charade of C (‘clubs’) plus HUGGING (’embracing’).

21 Material for path of serious length (6)

GRAVEL A charade of GRAVE (‘serious’) plus L (‘length’).

23 Strength of wines intoxicated (5)

SINEW An anagram (‘intoxicated’) of ‘wines’.

24 Scrap part of an alphabet (4)

IOTA Double definition; in the second, the ‘alphabet’ is Greek.

25 Phone to America from prison (4)

CELL Double definition, the first being the American usage answering to a mobile phone.