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I found this a little tricky in places, particularly when trying to parse one or two of the clues. I was not too happy with 4d and 14d (see below), and 25d required the help of Google to determine the first definition (Grant originally). Surely the link between Grant and Leach cannot be considered general knowledge? The first definition for ‘buffalo’ in 19d was also rather obscure in that it involved the use of ‘buffalo’ as a verb, which needed Chambers for confirmation.
Across
1 STONE CIRCLE *(ELECTRONICS)
7,28 RED SEA SEARED (dried up) with its two halves changed round
9 DODGE DO (cheat) [e]DGE (get advantage after losing opening)
10 FLINTLOCK LINT (dressing for wound) in FLOCK (woolly stuff)
11 LOAN SHARK S (shilling) in LO (look) AN HARK (listen)
12 OPERA A REPO (a result of broken hipe-purchase agreement) reversed – ‘repo’ is a short form of repossession
13 MACABRE MA (mother) B[e] (beginning to be) in CARE (charge)
15 RHEA hidden in ‘aiRHEAds’
18 GLIB BILG[e] (piffle has no ultimate) reversed
20 DITTANY AN in DITTY (song) – not a well-known plant but easy enough to get from the wordplay
23 THROW HR (hour) in TOW (drag)
24 FUSILLADE US (FT) ILL (bad) in FADE (lose sparkle)
26 ERADICATE ERA (time) DIC[t]ATE (lay down the law heartlessly)
27 AROMA if reversed (conversely) becomes AMORA[l] (almost unprincipled)
29 SHORT-CHANGE SHORT (brief) CHANGE (shift)
Down
1 SODA LIME DALI (surrealist) in SOME
2 ORDNANCE OR (gold) N (pole) in DANCE (ball)
3 EVENS SEVEN with the S moved to the end (on demotion to bottom rank, 7’s leader) – definition ‘quits’
4 INFLATE IN FLAT (apartment) E (5) – I assume that ‘5’ is referring to the fifth letter of the alphabet which for me is not very satisfactory, ‘apartment 250’ would have been better in my opinion
5 CLINKER dd
6 EXTROVERT EX (former) T (time) ROVER (pirate) T (time)
7 RHODES HORDES (big crowds) with R (right) moved to the front
8 DIKTAT KID (child) reversed TAT (cheap stuff)
14 BULLWHIPS cd – or it could be a charade, either way I am not particularly enamoured with the clue (unless I’m missing something)
16 MACAROON A CAR (a motor) in MOON (satellite)
17 TYPEFACE TYPE (kind) FACE (expression)
19 BUFFALO dd – in N Am, to ‘buffalo’ is to bewilder or fox
20 DISSENT *(SNIDEST)
21 OTHERS E (transcendental number) in *(SHORT) (29) – definition ‘et al’
22 ARMADA MADA[gasc]AR with the end before the beginning
25 LEACH dd – Cary Grant’s real name was Archibald Alec Leach
Hi Gaufrid
I thought 21dn was one of those clues that tries for something very clever but doesn’t quite work. I take it that the anagrind is the CHANGE of SHORT-CHANGE, and E “is factor of” means E is included in SHORT, changed. Which isn’t a very smooth cryptic reading. And of course “et al” means “and others,” not just “others.”
Since flats are often assigned letters rather than numbers, so that “Flat E” might be the fifth apartment, 4dn, accompanied by a qm, didn’t trouble me too much. I’m not following you on “apartment 250,” though. Maybe “apartment 2.718”? 😉
For what it’s worth, I did know Cary Grant was Archibald Leach, just as Fred Astaire was Frederick Austerlitz and Marilyn Monroe was Norma Jean Baker.
…plus…Archie Leach is the name of Cleese’s lead character in A Fish Called Wanda.
I enjoyed this puzzle more than most of late; including 14D (BULLWHIPS), although it’s undoubtedly and an eye-of-the-beholder type clue. So I could be in a minority of one on that.
26A (ERADICATE) took me an inexplicably long time to rumble. Must have become overwhelmed by all the vowels.
Hi Agentzero
I have never come across flats identified by letters rather than numbers so didn’t considerer this possibility but your explanation makes sense. E is the Roman numeral for 250 (though this would mean a rather large block of flats 🙂
Hi Smiffy
I don’t know about a minority of one but let’s just say I won’t be joining you.
I can see no problem with IN FLAT E being synonymous with IN APARTMENT 5, as flats are very often ‘numbered by letter’. But the working parts of this clue won’t work when read in isolation from each other, and I fear that’s what’s been done here!