This one doesn’t need my usual detailed analysis and so there are few comments (it’s not just laziness on my part 🙂 A good starter for those new to cryptic crosswords but hardly satisfying for more seasoned campaigners. I have a quibble about 15a (see below) but apart from that everything was quite straightforward, although I did need to check the answer to 12a in Chambers before entering it.
Across
1 RENEGADEÂ *(ENRAGED [truc]E)
5 STREETÂ TREE in ST
10 ANGLEÂ cd
11 APOCRYPHAÂ *(CORA HAPPY)
12 ESTUARINEÂ *(ENTIRE USA)
13 WELSHÂ hidden reversal in ‘griffitHS-LEWis’
14 RATINGÂ dd
15 SENORASÂ SARONGS reversed with ‘G’ changed to ‘E’ – I don’t think ‘bands’ is a good indicator for ‘sarongs’; one is a (thin) strip of cloth, the other a piece of cloth that extends from the waist to the ankle
18 CLEAR UPÂ LEAR in CUP
20 SCHISMÂ SCH IS M
22 ADIEUÂ hidden reversal in ”queUE I DAllied’
24 CONSTABLEÂ dd
25 LEGER-LINEÂ *(REEL INGLE) – an alternative spelling of ‘ledger-line’
26 WORLDÂ homophone of ‘whirled’
27 DRESSYÂ hidden in ‘parDRES SYmposium’
28 DEPLOYEDÂ PLOY in DEED
Down
1 READERÂ dd
2 NIGHTMAREÂ *(THE MARGIN)
3 GRENADIER GUARDSÂ *(IN RED GEAR) GUARDS
4 DRAWINGÂ WIN in DRAG
6 THROW IN THE TOWELÂ cd
7 EXPELÂ EX PE L
8 TEA-CHESTÂ EACH in TEST
9 MODELSÂ *(SELDOM) – I can think of better definitions than ‘small cars’; a model can be a small anything (or even large if one includes the human variety)
16 RASPBERRY cd – as in ‘The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town’; a series of sketches performed by Ronnie Barker (Sergeant Balls) and Ronnie Corbett (Inspector Corner of the Yard) and written by that sadly missed comic genius Spike Milligan and a gentleman (Ronnie Barker). David Jason played the raspberry.
17 SCRAWLEDÂ SC *(WARDLE)
19 PACK INÂ PACKIN[g]
20 SINCEREÂ hidden in ‘saluteS IN CEREmonies’
21 MENDEDÂ M ENDED
23 INGLEÂ [s]INGLE
Agreed; the only remarkable thing about this puzzle is the number of “hidden” clue types, one way or another.
15A – you have a typo. “G” to”A” instead of “G” to “E”. Doesn’t detract from your quibble though.
Kudos to your observations re: 16D. A good example of the blog commentary being far more entertaining that the clue itself!
Thanks for pointing out the typo, Smiffy. I had become rather bored with this crossword by the time I’d completed the blog and perhaps I didn’t check it as thoroughly as I normally would.
I was hoping someone would appreciate the comment at 16d. There wasn’t much else to write about!
As a newcomer to crosswords (I’ve been going a couple of months), an easy puzzle now and then is most welcome. Having correctly answered no clues whatsoever in yesterday’s Jason crossword, getting all bar two today means that I won’t be giving up.
This site has been most useful though in guiding me up the learning curve, so many thanks to all the contributors.
25a – Is it too late for an etymological ramble? ‘Leger-line’ actually comes from Fr for a ‘light’ line (added temporarily above/below the stave) so is not truly an alt sp for ‘ledger’, which is from the Dutch for ‘lie’ – which subsequently came to mean a book that stayed where put.
Chevalierdurufle
It’s never too late. Let’s see what the standard references say:
Chambers
leger(1) possibly from the French leger (light) but no mention of leger line
leger(2) see ledger
ledger apparently from OE licgan (to lie), lecgan (to lay) – ledger or leger line
COED
leger line (also ledger line) origin C19, variation of ledger
ledger line – a variant spelling of leger line
ledger origin ME legger, ligger probably from variations of lay and lie influenced by dutch legger and ligger
Collins
leger line – a variant spelling of ledger line
ledger C15 probably from leggen (to lay)
So all three appear to indicate that leger and ledger are variant or alternative spellings.
Apologies – you are of course quite right – and I admire your thoroughness! Even SOED has only ‘ledger line’. I guess I was trying to get past the alt sp thing to the real origin of the word.