We don’t see Beale Quiptics very often. This struck me as a sound puzzle, but there were one or two where it took me some time to see the parsing.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Fortune left in church near the altar
CHANCEL
A charade of CHANCE and L.
5 One making cuts journalist identified
HACKSAW
Another charade: of HACK and SAW.
9 Match in sea green
AGREE
Hidden in seA GREEn.
10 Works out perspectives on relative non-starter
UNTANGLES
Beale is asking you to put [A]UNT before ANGLES.
11 Sort of beer labourer gets in advance
BEFOREHAND
(OF BEER)* before HAND.
12 Attach label to small animal
STAG
S plus TAG.
14 Doubt if new net curtain has yard added
UNCERTAINTY
(NET CURTAIN)* plus Y.
18 Strangely, Claire never detects red herring
IRRELEVANCE
(CLAIRE NEVER)*
21 Joint attempt caught out
RACK
[C]RACK. If you have a CRACK at something. you ‘attempt’ it; and you may well be having a RACK of lamb over the holiday.
22 He may be in danger of crashing
SLEEPYHEAD
A cd, relying on the fact that to ‘crash’ is an informal term for ‘to go to bed’.
25 Around most of settlement, worker has to go out for entertainment
GALLIVANT
A reversal (‘around’) of VILLAG[E] and ANT for the setter’s favourite worker.
26 Excuse for one trailing after a Liberal
ALIBI
A charade of A, LIB and I.
27 Madman knocked over one container after another
NUTCASE
A CASE is one ‘container’; a TUN or barrel is another. Reverse the latter and put it before the former and you’ve got your answer.
28 Noise better when ends cut off instrument
PIPETTE
A noise could be a PIP, and ‘better’ with its ends cut off is ETTE. And the instrument is a glass one found in science labs.
Down
1 Without headrest, taxi driver gets irritable
CRABBY
You need to take ‘without’ as meaning ‘outside’ and R as the first letter, or ‘head’ of Rest. And then stick R in CABBY. Although I think I would always write CABBIE.
2 Insecure at publicity given to break-up
ADRIFT
A charade of AD and RIFT.
3 Voice support quite happily
CHEERFULLY
Well, it’s a whimsical way of saying that if you voiced support, you’d CHEER FULLY.
4 Hard on the ear without a joke
LAUGH
Again, you need to consider ‘without’ as ‘outside’. LUG for ‘ear’ and H for ‘hard’ outside A.
5 It’s touch-and-go following accident
HIT-AND-RUN
‘and go’ is AND RUN; put HIT for ‘accident’ before it to get the answer.
6 Pretentiousness about books
CANT
A charade of CA for circa or ‘about’ and NT for the ‘books’ of the New Testament.
7 Aim to take apart damaged lock
SPLIT END
I’m not mad keen on this one. I think Beale is playing with the idea that END is an ‘aim’ and that ‘take apart’ is SPLIT, but how we are supposed to know that one goes before the other, I don’t rightly know.
8 Group of women find Home Counties men to be cocky types
WISE GUYS
A charade of WI for that fine institution who dissed Tony Blair, SE for South East or ‘Home Counties’, and GUYS.
13 Carrying fine pasty meal prepared for miner’s companion
SAFETY LAMP
An insertion of F for ‘fine’ in (PASTY MEAL)*
15 After a drink, student trainee misses end of procession
CAVALCADE
A charade of CAVA, L for ‘learner’ or ‘student’ and CADE[T].
16 Something in the air made intern go crazy
NITROGEN
The gas that makes up the majority of air is (INTERN GO)*
17 Couple hire the band
BRACELET
A charade of BRACE and LET.
19 Fight off weird sister
RESIST
(SISTER)*
20 Instruction to give bill to holder
ADVICE
A charade of AD for advertisement or ‘bill’ and VICE. Bill Posters will be prosecuted; Bill Posters is innocent, as the old joke goes …
23 Advice to consumer
EAT UP
A cd.
24 Passionate about singer
DIVA
A reversal of AVID.
Many thanks to Beale for today’s Quiptic.
I found this puzzle harder than today’s Rufus, but maybe that was because we don’t see Beale too often. I agree that some of the wordplay was on the tricky side for a Quiptic, particularly that for CRABBY. CHEERFULLY was my LOI, although it wasn’t the hardest of the clues.
I think you mean
in 6 down.