An enjoyable puzzle with some surprising twists and turns. 21 down was the last to fall, but there were plenty of clues with micely misleading wordplay. In particular, I liked the way the definitions were disguised in clues such as 28 across and 20 down.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | SEESAW A in SEES (catches sight of) W (women) |
| 5 | GRUMBLES G[overnment] RUMBLES (uncovers deceit) |
| 9 | SOMBRERO SOMBRE (gloomy) R (weather’s finished) O (love) |
| 10 | DESPOT S[on] in DEPOT (warehouse) |
| 11 | CENTRE CENT (American money) RE (about) |
| 12 | CLEAR-CUT cd |
| 14 | GROWING PAINS GR[eece] OWING (in debt) + *(SPAIN) |
| 18 | PLASTER CASTS *(CARPALS TESTS) |
| 22 | SHANGHAI cd; to be impressed into [naval] service was to be “shanghaied” |
| 25 | RAISIN RAISIN[g] (growing, mostly) |
| 26 | ABODES A[rea}] BODES (forecasts) |
| 27 | SAPLINGS LING (heather) in SAPS (fools) |
| 28 | STURGEON T (source of “tropical”) in SURGEON (doctor) |
| 29 | BAGGED dd |
| Down | |
| 2 | EVOKED [r]EVOKED (officially cancelled) |
| 3 | SABOTAGES *(BOATS + MANAGES minus MAN (“crew”)) At first I subtracted “men” from the fodder. But in the cryptic reading “crew” is meant as a verb |
| 4 | WOEBEGONE WOE (distress) BEGONE (go away) |
| 5 | GNOCCHI *(COACHING minus A) |
| 6 | UNDUE even letters in tUrNeD cUtE |
| 7 | BASER BASE (bottom) R (“pincher,” finally) |
| 8 | ELOQUENT E[nglish] + QU[e]EN (queen with no heart) in LOT (fortune) |
| 13 | AMP A + PM (national leader) reversed |
| 15 | GASTROPUB *(SPROUT) in GAB (chat) |
| 16 | ABSEILING AB (sailor) + homophone of SAILING (at sea) |
| 17 | ALPHABET ALPHA (beginning) BET (gamble) |
| 19 | TUG GUT (belly) reversed |
| 20 | CRIMSON RIMS (borders) in C (“China” started) ON (working) |
| 21 | WIGGLE GG (horse) in (“riding”) WILE (trick). Took me a while to see this wordplay |
| 23 | NADIR RID (free) AN (article), all reversed |
| 25 | HASTE S[on] in HATE (antipathy) |
Thanks, Agentzero. I found this easier than any I can remember. I put in wiggle though I did not understand the wordplay until you explained it.
Slight quibble about the definition of “amp” in 13d. I guess it is a measure of power in the colloquial sense of power as electricity. Saying “current’ would have pehaps mad the clue to obvious, but it was pretty easy anyway.
Also not sure about “supply” being used as anagrind in 5d.
oops! Of course I meant “..perhaps made the clue too obvious…”
Drew a total blank in the NW & SE so not easy for me .
If I’d got the anagram at 18a , might have been different but no matter how I jumbled the letters up I couldn’t see it and didn’t have enough (ok only had 1) crossing letter.
13d An amp is not a measure of power . Amperes and watts are not the same. Is this an error or is ok in crosswordland?
Sorry Tony -somehow missed your comment about amp -must be having an off day