Another good Sunday workout from Kairos, if perhaps a shade gentler than last time.
No Ninas (ninae?) that I can spot this time around, just a good variety of clues. Last one in was probably 2 down, partly due to unfamiliarity, though it seems entirely fair given the checking letters.
| Across | ||
| 1 | IN THE FIRST PLACE | Primarily I then refined gold? (2,3,5,5) |
| (I THEN)* + FIRST PLACE. | ||
| 9 | CLEARED | Brought in and acquitted (7) |
| Two definitions. “Brought in” in the sense of “earned”. | ||
| 10 | SHINGLE | Stones record about heroin (7) |
| H in SINGLE. | ||
| 11 | DRAKE | Globetrotting hero rejected some of the Kardashians (5) |
| Hidden and reversed in [th]E KARD[ashians]<. I probably don’t need to clarify that this must be Sir Francis. | ||
| 12 | SPEARMINT | Paid to bottle prime bit of Indian flavouring (9) |
| (ARM + I[ndian]) in SPENT. | ||
| 13 | NIGHT OWLS | Those who delay retirement reportedly champion members of Parliament? (5,4) |
| Homophone of “Knight” + OWLS. | ||
| 15 | TANGO | Relish old dance (5) |
| TANG + O. | ||
| 16 | ALLEY | One has to shout about bowling lane (5) |
| A + YELL<. | ||
| 18 | TOSCANINI | Italian over for university in Italy sees conductor (9) |
| (O in T[u]SCAN) + IN + I. | ||
| 20 | MANICURED | Well kept islands preserved (9) |
| Isle of MAN + I + CURED. | ||
| 23 | THRUM | Buzz coming from almost all of the game before noon (5) |
| TH[e] + RU + M. | ||
| 24 | SCORPIO | Timeless porticos redesigned for house (7) |
| POR[t]ICOS*. | ||
| 25 | BARGE IN | Rudely interrupt deal when bridge player replaces second ace (5,2) |
| From BARG[a]IN, with E replacing the second A. | ||
| 26 | CENTRE OF GRAVITY | This may move up if recovering fatty exercises! (6,2,7) |
| (RECOVERING FATTY)*. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | INCIDENTAL MUSIC | Part of film maybe naturally attached to rock? (10,5) |
| INCIDENTAL + MUSIC. I had to check, but “incidental” can indeed mean “naturally attached”. | ||
| 2 | TREPANG | Cut a disk from good sea cucumber (7) |
| TREPAN + G. Perhaps not the easiest clue. Trepanning was the process of removing part of your skull to let out “evil spirits”. | ||
| 3 | EARNESTLY | Determinedly advanced to capture hideout (9) |
| NEST in EARLY. | ||
| 4 | INDUS | Discover American fellow leaving for river (5) |
| [f]IND + US. | ||
| 5 | SUSPENSES | Delays impressions describing product differentiator (9) |
| USP in SENSES. | ||
| 6 | PRIOR | More important pair replacing director in fashion house (5) |
| PR + [d]IOR. | ||
| 7 | ANGLIAN | Church of England fires Catholic of German descent (7) |
| ANGLI[c]AN. | ||
| 8 | ELECTRONIC MONEY | The Spanish supply economic entry for Bitcoins? (10,5) |
| EL + (ECONOMIC ENTRY)*. | ||
| 14 | WATER POLO | Petty officer involved in battle losing final game (5,4) |
| PO in WATERLO[o]. | ||
| 15 | TRATTORIA | Excellent rhubarb dish served up in restaurant (9) |
| (A1 + ROT + TART)<. | ||
| 17 | LINCOLN | See type of green car (7) |
| Three definitions, no less. | ||
| 19 | ISRAELI | Middle-eastern airlines flying without navigator at first (7) |
| AIRLI[n]ES*. | ||
| 21 | CAPER | Better leading lady for play (5) |
| CAP + ER. | ||
| 22 | DEBUG | Young girl and judge regularly put things right (5) |
| DEB + [j]U[d]G[e]. | ||
* = anagram; < = reversed; [] = removed; underlined = definition; Hover to expand abbreviations
Thanks Simon. Gentler or not, there was a great deal of ingenuity in the word play, making this offering by the always appreciated Kairos a real pleasure to solve.
Btw I recall trepanning being much discussed during the Summer of Love – though I don’t know that any flower children actually went through with it.
I recall that there was a trepanning party stood in a few seats in the 1979 general election.
Personally I need trepanning like I need a hole in the head.