A good, fair puzzle. Thanks, Peto (love the name, by the way).
| Across | ||
| 1 | DECAMP |
Split in Democratic party over the onset of Europhobia (6)
D for Democratic plus E, the first letter of Europhobia plus CAMP, a faction or party |
| 4 | WALLER |
Fighting to include lines by European poet (6)
WAR with LL for lines and E for European inserted. We presume the poet concerned is Edmund Waller (the writer of Go, Lovely Rose), but it could also be Robert Waller, a much more recent poet. |
| 8 | COLDISH |
Somewhat chilly and quiet after last couple leave POW camp (7)
COLDI (Colditz minus the last couple of letters) plus SH for quiet. |
| 9 | ENCHANT |
Delight in French song (7)
EN (French for in) plus CHANT (song) |
| 11 | HEAVY METAL |
Have May let Dicky lead perhaps (5,5)
An anagram (dicky) of Have May let |
| 12 | VIAL |
Sassoon loses top of disinfectant bottle (4)
The celebrity crimper Vidal Sassoon minus D, the first letter of disinfectant |
| 13 | SHRED |
Republican cuts get rid of a small amount (5)
R for Republican inserted into SHED, dispose of |
| 14 | TURGENEV |
Press baron finally introduced to left-leaning screen writer (8)
URGE (press) plus N (final letter of baron) in TEV (vet, or screen, backwards or left-leaning) |
| 16 | BAR CHART |
It shows comparative amounts of bass and troutlike fish caught by trickery (3,5)
B for bass plus ART (trickery) with CHAR (a trout-like fish) inserted. |
| 18 | CAMEL |
Train traveller arrived at Malmo Central (5)
CAME (arrived) plus the middle letter of Malmo. Think camel train. |
| 20 | REAR |
Miserable daughter left behind (4)
Drear minus d for daughter. We liked this one. |
| 21 | COR ANGLAIS |
Carol sang and I played an instrument (3,7)
An anagram of Carol, sang and I |
| 23 | CROONER |
In Norfolk town working for Miles as a singer (7)
Cromer (you can bet the Norfolk town will be Cromer or Diss in crosswords) with the m for miles replaced by on (working) |
| 24 | AINTREE |
Excellent books about England’s earliest racecourse (7)
AI (excellent) plus NT (New Testament or books) plus RE (concerning) plus E (first letter of England) |
| 25 | MASKED |
What Zorro was requested to answer after mass (6)
M for mass plus asked (requested) |
| 26 | DETAIL |
Small part from the East German song about thanks (6)
DEIL (a reversal or from the East of Lied, the German word for song) with Ta ot thank you inserted |
| Down | ||
| 1 | DRONE |
Extremely dapper – the same as Bingo Little for example (5)
DR (the extreme letters of dapper) plus ONE as in one and the same. Bingo was Bertie Wooster’s chum and fellow-member of the Drones Club. |
| 2 | CADAVER |
Stiff clergyman upset after cocaine is found on girl (7)
C for cocaine plus ADA, a girl, plus VER (Rev backwards or upset). “Stiff” is criminal argot for a dead body. |
| 3 | MASS MEDIA |
Academic dispute missed by American newspapers for instance (4,5)
An anagram of MA (an academic) plus MISSED plus A for American |
| 5 | ANNUL |
Girl meeting Quilp oddly neglected to cancel (5)
The girl is ANN. The even letters of Quilp are U and L (oddly neglected). |
| 6 | LE HAVRE |
Port Vale hero failing to finish surprisingly (2,5)
An anagram of Vale and Hero (without its final letter o) |
| 7 | RING A BELL |
Stream outside oddly began to sound familiar (4,1,4)
An anagram of began placed inside RILL (a stream). |
| 10 | STATUTORY |
Teacher involved in check required by law (9)
Tutpr (teacher) placed inside Stay (check). |
| 13 | SNARE DRUM |
Rub out answer about recipient of beating (5,4)
Murder (rub out) plus ANS(answer) all reversed. |
| 15 | RECONDITE |
Little known version of eastern doctrine (9)
An anagram of E (eastern) plus doctrine. |
| 17 | CURIOUS |
Unusual when a scoundrel promises to pay (7)
Cur (scoundrel) plus IOUS (I owe you notes or promises to pay). |
| 19 | MILITIA |
I follow it during training of Mali reservists (7)
IT followed by I placed inside an anagram of Mali. |
| 21 | CREPE |
Evident in mediocre performer’s material (5)
Hidden (or evident) within mediocre performer’s. |
| 22 | IDEAL |
Perfect piece of imitation wood (5)
I for imitation plus Deal (wood) |
Thanks all three.
LOI was Turgenev, which left me ashamed as he is one of my favourite writers.
Thanks Peto and D&L
A backlog puzzle that I started on a plane trip back from Queensland. Was able to finish all but TURGENEV (always struggle getting him when he’s clued) and DRONE (haven’t read any Wodehouse, so plumped for DRONE from the wordplay and needed to verify who ‘Bingo Little’ was and how he related to a Drone).
Needed help with the parsing of DECAMP (got caught up with trying to use DP for Democratic Party) and COLDISH (didn’t recall Colditz as a POW camp).