Dante is back in his accustomed spot this week. A somewhat heavy reliance on anagrams; I count nine (excluding clues where an anagram is only part of the wordplay). The best of these, I thought, was 13 across (“Pictures a mince pie”). Other standout clues for me were 10 across and 2 down.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | ADMIRE M[aiden] in A DIRE (grave) |
| 4 | HEADREST *(HE TRADES) |
| 9 | HANDLE *(HELD + AN) |
| 10 | CRABWISE CRAB (sign [of the Zodiac]) WISE (initiated) |
| 12 | MASTIFFS MA’S (art master’s) TIFFS (pets) |
| 13 | CINEMA *(A MINCE) |
| 15 | DRUM D[ead] RUM (spirit) |
| 16 | PROSPERITY *(PROPERTY IS) |
| 19 | STEPHENSON cd referring to the engine built by George Stephenson |
| 20 | NUMB NUMBER (one, for example) without ER (hesitation) |
| 23 | RESUME R[ight] + *(SUE ME) |
| 25 | DISLODGE *(DOGS IDLE) |
| 27 | TOP-NOTCH POT (snooker shot) reversed + NOTCH (score) |
| 28 | SWATHE *(HATS WE) |
| 29 | SNEAKERS *(SEES RANK) |
| 30 | TRASHY This must be ASH (remains) in TRY (attempt), but I think “futile” is a stretchy definition |
| Down | |
| 1 | ASHAMED *(HAS MADE) |
| 2 | MINUSCULE MINUS (lacking) + *(CLUE) |
| 3 | RELAID ALE (beer) reversed in RID (free) |
| 5 | EARN cd |
| 6 | DUBLINER DUB (name) LINER (ship) |
| 7 | ELITE TILE (hat, in slang) E (finally “leave”) |
| 8 | THERAPY THE + *(PRAY) |
| 11 | AFFRONT d&cd |
| 14 | ESTONIA *(ON A SITE) |
| 17 | INUNDATES I (one) NUN (sister) DATES (appointments) |
| 18 | SHAMROCK SHAM (put on) ROCK (heavy music) |
| 19 | STRATUS R[ight] in STATUS (position) |
| 21 | BREWERY cd |
| 22 | BLOWER cd; “blower” is old slang for a telephone |
| 24 | SUPPÉ SUPPER (evening meal) minus R[ight]; reference is to Franz von Suppé |
| 26 | SCAR I am not entirely sure but I think this is a cd referring to the fact that a fatal wound would not heal and thus would not leave a SCAR. |
Hi Agentzero, I should have been in bed by now, but.
I’m a bit surprised by this blog appearing now, as it normally does on a Wednesday.
As to the crossword, nothing controversial whatsoever.
Just ok clueing, and, yes, your parsing of 26d is ok, methinks.
Howver, I didn’t put one single plus on my copy – so alright, but mediocre.