Sorry Poins old chap, you’ve drawn me yet again and I must admit I found this one quite tough. A week later I still don’t appear to have completed the top left corner of the grid, so I’ll have to retrieve the answers from the internet and do my best to explain them.
I’m not sure I’ve succeeded, of course. One or two of my explanations seem quite shaky.
| Across | ||
| 1 | CROSS | Oppose this means of execution (5) |
| Two definitions, I think. I guess if you “cross” someone you can be considered to be opposing them. | ||
| 4 | PLASTERED | Peter’s lad managed to get drunk (9) |
| (PETER‘S LAD)*. | ||
| 9 | CARPENTER | What Jesus was to find fault with is on record (9) |
| CARP + ENTER. | ||
| 10 | NICHE | Heroin entering French port is aimed at a small specialised market (5) |
| H in NICE. | ||
| 11 | ADVERTISEMENT | Notice hesitation at various times during arrival (13) |
| (ER + TIMES*) in ADVENT. | ||
| 14 | RANT | Largely opposed after Republican’s bombast (4) |
| R + ANT[i]. | ||
| 15 | FIRE SCREEN | Get rid of cover from protective shield (4,6) |
| FIRE + SCREEN. | ||
| 18 | CRIMEAN WAR | Conflict caused by Sadat after an illegal act (7,3) |
| CRIME + ANWAR Sadat. | ||
| 19 | ROSE | Revolted by Bush (4) |
| Two definitions: think “revolt” as in “uprising”. | ||
| 21 | AUTHENTICATED | Note found in haunted attic surprisingly proved to be genuine (13) |
| N in (HAUNTED ATTIC)*. Absolutely lovely clue there. | ||
| 24 | HOIST | Poins introduced to TV presenter in lift (5) |
| I in HOST. | ||
| 25 | CREAM SODA | Best thereupon starts to demolish another drink (5,4) |
| CREAM + SO + D[emolish] + A[nother]. | ||
| 27 | CONGRUENT | Corresponding with Italian fellow about game (9) |
| CON (Italian for “with”) + (RU in GENT). | ||
| 28 | NEEDY | Poor newspaper boss without money in retirement? Just the opposite (5) |
| ED in YEN<. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | COCKATRICE | Nonsense about rat getting to kill monster (10) |
COCK + RAT* + ICE. A new word for me, apparently a mythical beast, essentially a two-legged dragon with a rooster’s head. |
||
| 2 | OAR | Fly without second propeller (3) |
| [s]OAR. | ||
| 3 | SLEARY | Nobleman almost trapped by artful character in Dickens (6) |
| EAR[l] in SLY. Another unfamiliar one, but solvable enough from wordplay and checking. Whilst we’re tempted to think of the familiar character from Oliver Twist, a quick google suggests Sleary was a circus proprietor in Hard Times. | ||
| 4 | PATRICIAN | Knight pursues woman belonging to the aristocracy (9) |
| PATRICIA + N. | ||
| 5 | AGREE | Earl taking time over packing good suit (5) |
| G in (E + ERA)<. | ||
| 6 | TENDENCY | A number outside object to extremely creepy political faction (8) |
| (END in TEN) + C[reep]Y. | ||
| 7 | ROCK THE BOAT | It is sung to create trouble (4,3,4) |
| Two definitions: a well-known song by the otherwise entirely forgotten Hues Corporation, and obviously to create trouble. | ||
| 8 | DEED | Died up river in action (4) |
| D + the river DEE<. | ||
| 12 | VINDICATION | Very close to Mark in defence (11) |
| V + INDICATION. | ||
| 13 | INCENDIARY | Abandoned dairy beyond Nice destroyed by nationalist bomb (10) |
| NICE* + N + DAIRY*. | ||
| 16 | ENACTMENT | Portrayal of girl with hint of trepidation facing fellows in court (9) |
| ENA + ((T[repidation] + MEN] in CT). | ||
| 17 | TESTATOR | One willing to examine a bull’s back (8) |
| TEST + A + ROT<. “Willing” as in leaving a will, of course. | ||
| 20 | ACUMEN | Not entirely correct over copper’s sharpness (6) |
| Cu in AMEN[d]. | ||
| 22 | EMCEE | One presiding over an event in the centre of Bremen getting caught with drugs (5) |
| [br]EM[en] + C + E + E. | ||
| 23 | CHIC | Niece oddly neglected to go after an award for style (4) |
| CH + [n]I[e]C[e]. | ||
| 26 | OWE | Be indebted to a passage from Powell (3) |
| [p]OWE[ll]. | ||
* = anagram; < = reversed; [] = removed; underlined = definition
Fortunately, I had heard of a COCKATRICE but I still couldn’t get 1ac. I guessed CHOPS which could be the answer if you squint and the light is in the right direction.
Couldn’t parse 27ac so thanks for the explanation, but I think your underlining shouldn’t include “with” as it’s part of the word play.
I enjoyed this puzzle. Count me as another whose last three were the ones I think Simon must have had trouble with in the NW corner, and I got them in the order COCKATRICE, CROSS and SLEARY. Despite having read almost all of Dickens the circus proprietor in Hard Times isn’t a character that has stuck in my mind so I had to rely on the wordplay.
Thank, chaps. You’re absolutely right about 27ac of course, DM. Blog duly updated.
Didn’t have too much trouble with this one – but I did have the check button to confirm that I was on the right track at times. Didn’t know ROCK THE BOAT (where have I been all this time?) so thought the clue was a reference to “sit down, you’re rocking the boat”. Btw google tells me there’s another “Rock the Boat” with different words.
Thanks, Poins and Simon