This enjoyable crossword from Nutmeg provides a tour through most of the tricks a setter uses. I thought it on the tough side for a Quiptic, but fair, since it didn’t use obscure constructions, and mostly avoided over-complicated ones, except perhaps in the NE corner. (Yeah, 5 across, I’m looking at you and your friends.) One clue was made harder by what I can only think is a mistake.
Across
1 Bachelor is eager for dogs (7)
BITCHES
Anyone who has been solving crosswords for more than a few weeks knows that a bachelor is not an unmarried man but a holder of a degree – usually BA or, as here, just B (as in BMus, etc). Today’s graduate ITCHES (is eager), yielding female dogs or BITCHES.
5 Ran through short statute recalled by gumshoe (7)
PIERCED
A statute or DECREE is shortened (DECRE), then recalled (called back: ERCED) and placed by a gumshoe, which is a private investigator or P.I., yielding PIERCED = “ran through”. ‘Recalled’ is one standard device for reversing words; others are coming up at 11ac, 16ac and 20ac.
9 Marvin, eg, mixes sugar with it twice (9)
GUITARIST
(Hank) Marvin is an example of a GUITARIST, so ‘Marvin, e.g.’ defines this word obtained by taking an anagram or mixture of SUGAR with IT twice: (SUGAR IT IT)*.
10 Wee drink full of Eastern delight (5)
DREAM
Fill up a ‘wee drink’ or DRAM with E for Eastern.
11 Position held by retiring anaesthetist (4)
SITE
To retire is to go back, so a retiring anaesthETISt ‘holds’ the answer.
12 Leaders of region very active in depot as result of famine (10)
STARVATION
Not a group of senior politicians at an emergency food depot, but the leading letters of R(egion) V(ery) A(ctive) in STATION: STA(RVA)TION = ‘result of famine’.
14 Irishman leading church’s attempt to raise spirits (6)
SEANCE
A setter’s favourite Irishman is Pat but today we have SEAN, leading CE (Church of England). ‘Raise spirits’ is neatly misleading.
15 Songs from biblical books (7)
NUMBERS
Songs are musical NUMBERS, and the Book of NUMBERS appears in the pentateuch. But why ‘biblical books’ (plural)? There is only one biblical Book of Numbers. It looks like Nutmeg slipped here. Surely she meant ‘Songs from biblical book’, and intended you to think of psalms or canticles before the penny dropped.
16 After retreat of police, heartless killer’s less reliable (7)
DICKIER
Yet another reversal: the CID are retreating, after which the heart or middle is removed from KI(ll)ER: DIC KIER.
18 Ecstasy found in camp, leading to convictions (6)
TENETS
Ecstasy, commonly known as E, in TENTS.
20 Won’t you let me delight over support for bridge? (10)
CANTILEVER
‘Won’t you let me’ = CAN’T I? ‘Delight’ or REVEL is then turned ‘over’ or backwards – yielding one of the methods of supporting a bridge.
21 Press baron holding the door? (4)
JAMB
To press something is to JAM it, and B, besides ‘Bachelor’ which we have seen, can also stand for Baron.
24 Country to store grain, we’re told (5)
GHANA
What ‘we’re told’ is GARNER; but it sounds (at least in most southern accents) like the country.
25 Youth stabs old men after party, presaging disaster (4-5)
DOOM-LADEN
The LAD ‘stabs’, or pierces into the middle of, O (= old) MEN, after a DO or party: DO O M(LAD)EN. A slightly quirky use of ‘stab’, but Nutmeg partly compensates for such complications by giving us MEN straight as we need it.
26 North Surrey dancing establishment for infants (7)
NURSERY
N is North, and ‘dancing’ indicates an anagram of SURREY: N (SURREY)*.
27 Fashion lines not quite the thing? (7)
FORGERY
To fashion something is to FORGE it, and RY on a map indicates a railway, i.e. ‘lines’.
Down
1 Spurious university in Fens (5)
BOGUS
Nutmeg is not casting aspersions on Cambridge, but putting U = University in fens or BOGS.
2 Scots order revision of list in article (7)
THISTLE
A ‘revision’ or anagram of LIST inside the definite article THE: TH(ISTL)E.
3 Fervour in early stage of competition (4)
HEAT
Double definition.
4 When English celebrate, Tory seaside gang runs riot (5,7,3)
SAINT GEORGE’S DAY
‘Runs riot’ here indicates an anagram: (TORY SEASIDE GANG)*. This is provided as an easy clue to get you going; Nutmeg doesn’t expect you to work out a 15-letter anagram to get the answer. ‘When English celebrate’ together with the lengths (5,7,3) suggests the answer, and you can use the anagram to confirm.
5 Fresh help wanted for ET’s orchestral music (5,3,3,4)
PETER AND THE WOLF
Another clue of the same type, with ‘fresh’ as the anagram indicator: take the letters of HELP WANTED FOR ET in a fresh order, and the answer’s this Prokoviev children’s favourite.
6 Costly staff in medical speciality for ducks, perhaps (10)
ENDEARMENT
DEAR (costly) MEN (staff) in ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat). ‘Ducks, perhaps’ tells us not that aquatic birds are being treated but that ‘ducks’ is an example of an ENDEARMENT.
7 Crack team finally removed clamp (7)
CREVICE
A team or CREW, ‘finally removed’ (with the last letter missing), and clamp = VICE, yields this crack: CRE(w) VICE.
8 Son and daughter called up making claims (7)
DEMANDS
Now that we are in the down clues, we can use a different set of tropes for reversing words. S and D, together with NAMED or called, go ‘up’ here: (S D NAMED)<.
13 Expect one meeting with head after escapade (10)
ANTICIPATE
I (one) meeting with PATE (head) after ANTIC.
16 Good feeding ruined deacon’s figure (7)
DECAGON
G (‘good’) is inside, or ‘feeding’, an anagram (‘ruined’) of DEACON.
17 Small coin, gold rand, showing legendary beast (7)
CENTAUR
CENT AU R. ‘Gold’ is usually Au (the chemical symbol) or OR (the heraldic colour), but which? I spent a minute or so wondering about unic-OR-n, but of course, the rest of the clue doesn’t work that way.
19 First couple of twins make rotten bunk (7)
TWADDLE
TW, the first couple (of letters) from TWins, ADDLE (make rotten). What a load of bunk!
22 Exchange runs out of drink (5)
BANDY
R (Runs, in cricket) has been taken out of BRANDY, and to exchange (words, say) is to BANDY them.
23 Procedures set up ignoring English insult (4)
SLUR
RULES have been ‘set up’ or reversed, ignoring the E for English.
Thanks, WH, for a fine blog of an enjoyable Quiptic. I thought Nutmeg hit the spot with this one. I liked DECAGON for the surface and ENDEARMENT for no other reason than DUCK or DUCKIE is the favourite term of endearment where I live. Ey oop, me duck …
I agree with you about NUMBERS.
I agree that this puzzle was just about spot on for a Quiptic, and I also agree that the clue for NUMBERS would appear to contain one “s” too many. FORGERY was my LOI.