It’s quite a while since I blogged a Brummie puzzle and I can never really remember what to expect from him.
I found I had a longer than usual list of words whose meanings or spellings I thought I knew to look up, just for confirmation.
I found it an enjoyable solve overall – thanks to Brummie.
[Just as I was about to write up the blog, I remembered that Brummie’s puzzles usually have a theme, which I hadn’t been aware of as I solved. Fortunately, a quick review revealed FRET SAW, HACK SAW, SCREW DRIVER, HAMMER, JACK, SET SQUARE, RASP, AUGER and FILE – and there may be more.]
Across
8 Beat second-rate oriental political party (8)
BELABOUR
B [second-rate] + E [oriental] + LABOUR [political party]
9 “Wimble“, the fortune-teller’s announced (5)
AUGER
Sounds like [is announced] augur [fortune-teller] – what a lovely word wimble is [new to me]
10 Flag lifting device (4)
JACK
Double definition
11 Look down on rubbish program range (10)
DISAPPROVE
DIS [rubbish] + APP [program] + ROVE [range]
12 Conservative type seen on the board? (6)
SQUARE
Double definition
14 Ground relies on dramatic location (8)
ELSINORE
Anagram [ground] of RELIES ON, for the location of ‘Hamlet’
16,25 As a potential Superman convert, Yank joins new area of London (7,4)
KENTISH TOWN
KENTISH [like {Clark} Kent – ‘as a potential Superman convert’] + TOW [yank] + N [new]
18 One married, having sex after one was expecting (7)
AWAITED
A WED [one married] round IT [sex] after A [one]
21 Furtive and hot inside enclosure holding duck (8)
STEALTHY
H [hot] in STY [enclosure] round TEAL[duck]
23 Put your foot down as a plantsman (4,2)
HEEL IN
Cryptic definition, I think
24 Sell a very large quantity of paint mixed with pitted oil in glue (2,8)
GO PLATINUM
Anagram [mixed] of PAINT + O[i]L in GUM [glue]
I don’t think I was familiar with this but, as expected, it means ‘(of a recording) achieve sales meriting a platinum disc’
26 Sea mist that allows instrumentalist to stop (4)
FRET
Double definition – the first word that sprang to mind, with no crossers, was ‘haar’
27 Pay No 10, possibly (5)
SCREW
I guessed this was another double definition but was struggling with the second, then discovered / remembered that No 10 is a type of tobacco
28 Who aims to settle a dispute? (8)
DUELLIST
Cryptic definition, I think, referring to ‘Ready, take aim, fire’
Down
1 Bowls Quant designed with number one wrapping (8)
PETANQUE
PEE [number one] round [wrapping] an anagram [designed] of QUANT – Brummie is not known for his surfaces but I liked this one
2 Hut, entrance gone, fell (4)
HACK
[s]HACK [hut]
3 It’s easy to act “daughter led astray” (6)
DODDLE
DO [act] + D [daughter] + an anagram [astray] of LED
4 Beastly breast flutter’s hidden danger (7)
BRISKET
BET [flutter] round RISK [danger]
5 Catch on topless grate (4)
RASP
[g]RASP [catch on]
6 Magnify sum of money one invested in sage manoeuvre (10)
AGGRANDISE
GRAND [sum of money] + I [one] in an anagram [manoeuvre] of SAGE
7 It motivates split between US parties (6)
DRIVER
RIVE [split] between D [Democrat] and R [Republican]
13 Walker might precede it with impertinence in Tube (3,7)
ART GALLERY
GALL [impertinence] in ARTERY [tube] with a reference to Liverpool’s Walker Gallery
15 Saying “clean up”, endlessly (3)
SAW
Reversal [up] of WAS[h]
17 Where to film a burrow? (3)
SET
Double definition – the second more usually has a double t
19 Pepys possibly swallowing lie about reason for getting fit (8)
EPILEPSY
Anagram [possibly] of PEPYS round [swallowing] an anagram [about] of LIE
20 Male children’s book character heard singing in church? (7)
HYMNODY
Approximate homophone [heard] of him [male] + Noddy [children’s book character]
22 Philosophy causing communist to swap sides (6)
TAOISM
MAOIST [communist] with the first and last letters exchanged
23 Shape of a twice-married female externally (6)
HAMMER
A MM [a twice-married] in HER [female]
26 Crocodile document holder (4)
FILE
double definition
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