Financial Times 15189 Gaff – Ageless!

This initially daunted me until I caught on to the theme. Still, the last themed answer escaped me, together with its cross-checker, until only just now (cue – I think he’s got it!) …

Gaff has cleverly incorporated into the grid, the quote from the show (30 across): “In Hertford, Hereford, Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen”, as (incorrectly) enunciated by Eliza. Thank you Gaff. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1 Hope Portia’s in a play (10)

ASPIRATION : Anagram of(… play) PORTIA’S IN A.

6 Do little turn over (4)

IDLE : Double defn: 2nd: …, like, say, your car engine in neutral gear.

10 Scarcely is Middle England gripped by obscure author (5)

‘ARDLY : The central letter of(Middle) “England ” contained in(gripped by) HARDY(Thomas, author of Jude The Obscure).

11 Speed of sound punishes planes (9)

‘URRICANES : Homophone of(… of sound) “hurry”(to speed) + CANES(punishment by beating with, well, a cane).

12 Abandoned the German extract Gaff’s forgotten (8)

DERELICT : DER(German for “the”) + “elicit”(to extract, say, information from) minus(…’s forgotten) “I”(first person pronoun used self-referentially by Gaff, the setter).

13 Brief Peter Sellers appearance (5)

TERSE : Hidden in(… appearance) “Peter Sellers “.

15 Humming a rondo variation takes time (7)

ODORANT : Anagram of(… variation) A RONDO plus(takes) T(abbrev. for “time”).

Defn: …;giving off an odour.

17 Stepped back, admitting race is suspended (7)

DORMANT : Reversal of(… back) TROD(stepped on) containing(admitting) MAN(the human race).

19 Town we back in gallant way (7)

‘ERTFORD : Reversal of(.. back) FT(the Financial Times indicated by we;first person pronoun used self-referentially by the publisher of this puzzle) contained in(in) [ HERO(a gallant;a brave adventurous man) + RD(abbrev. for “road”;a way).

Defn: … in SE England.

21 Lower heads before crossing (7)

‘EREFORD : H(abbrev. for “heads”) + ERE(before, poetically) + FORD(a crossing, where you might cross a river, say.

Defn: A creature that lows;moos, or one of a specific breed, to be exact.

22 Take place of a very soft lining layer (5)

‘APPEN : [A + PP(abbrev. for “pianissimo”;a musical instruction to play very softly) contained in(lining;covering an inside surface) HEN(a layer of eggs).

24 Test county that’s cut addition to rent (8)

‘AMPSHIRE : HAM(a cut of meat) + PS(abbrev. for “postscript”;an addition to a book or document, giving more information) + HIRE(to rent).

Defn: English county in which the River Test can be found.

27 Tonic, of course? (9)

REFRESHER : Double defn: 2nd: … of learning to review and update one’s knowledge.

28 Dodge back-stabber (5)

VIPER :  Double defn:  1:  A model made by the Dodge Division of Chrysler Motors; and 2:  A treacherous person, like its namesake.

29 Maybe well-made goal (4)

WISH : Cryptic defn: Refering to what one does at a wishing-well.

30 Woman from W1 missing a show (2,4,4)

MY FAIR LADY : “Mayfair lady”(a woman from the Mayfair district of London with postcodes W1J and W1K) minus(missing) “a “.

Defn: … that first opened in Broadway 60 years ago, to this day, 15th March. It provides the theme for this puzzle.

Down

1 Slightly gaping from a shock (4)

AJAR : A + JAR(a shock;a jolt)

2 Made long, long face about extra (6,3)

PADDED OUT : POUT(a long face pulled by one who is sulking or discontented) containing(about) ADDED(extra;appended to).

Defn: …, by adding extraneous or false information to a document, say. Or even an essay in order to meet the required number of words (who hasn’t done it in school or university?).

3 Lines from The Frost Report (5)

RHYME : Homophone of(… Report) “rime”(frost).

4 Visitor to ancient city is prime target (7)

TOURIST : TO + UR(ancient city in Sumer) + IS + the 1st letter of(prime) “target “.

5 Ring deters wanton magnetism (7)

OERSTED : O(letter representing a ring) + anagram of(… wanton) DETERS.

Defn: A unit of measurement of magnetism.

7 Academic has alternative organ supplier (5)

DONOR : DON(an academic at, say, a university) plus(has) OR(conjunction introducing an alternative).

8 Dieters eat frantically in festal season (10)

EASTERTIDE : Anagram of(… frantically) . DIETERS EAT

9 Queen Mary was not unpunished (4,4)

SCOT FREE : Mary Stuart was Queen of Scotland, and could therefore be said not to be Scot-free.

14 Skeleton’s inside Spooner’s grouse burial mound (4,6)

BONE MARROW : Spoonerism of “moan”(to grouse;to grumble) “barrow”(earthen mound over an ancient burial site).

Defn: Substance to be found inside one’s skeleton.

16 Smeared rear of Old Etonian liberally (8)

ANOINTED : Anagram of(… liberally) [ the last letter of(rear of) “Old ” + ETONIAN].

Defn: … with oil or ointment.

18 Head of Apple deliriously happy restriction of reading text works (9)

APOCRYPHA : The 1st letter of(Head of) “Apple ” + anagram of(deliriously) HAPPY containing(restriction of) OCR(abbrev. for “optical character recognition”;reading text).

Defn: Books appended to some versions of the Bible.

The surface is a topical allusion?

20 Fatal mistake by the lady (7)

DEATHLY : Anagram of(mistake by) THE LADY.

21 Upliftingly broadcast work Gaff markets (7)

EMPORIA : Reversal of(Upliftingly, in a down clue) [ AIR(to broadcast, say, over the radio or on TV) + OP(abbrev. for “opus”, a musical work) + ME(another self-referential pronoun for Gaff the setter) ].

23 Plugs featuring faulty leads discharge kettles (5)

PUFFS : The 1st letters, respectively, of(… leads) “featuring faulty ” contained in(… kettles, as when the police contain a crowd in an enclosed area) PUS(a discharge from infected body tissues).

Defn: Exaggerated praise via an advertisement, say.

25 Always central to false verdict (5)

(H)EVER :  The central 4 letters of “false verdict “.

26 Hear victim’s appeal (4)

PRAY : Homophone of(Hear) “prey”(a victim).