Times for the Times

On the gentler end of the Mephisto scale this week, I thought - I managed to get all but a bit of the right hand side out without needing to check in on the dictionary (though I made a mess of things originally by confidently writing in SPORTS for 2 down and in a rather brilliant flash of not-brilliance, ASPEN at 20 across.

Quite a few -Y modifications to words, very crosswordy, and maybe Manleyy

Awayy we goey

Across
1	PASS(pledge),US
5	PHARMA: sounds like FARMER, often prefaced with "big" in my part of the world
9	ANTHOCARPOUS: ANT(worker), then (A,CROP)* in HOUS(e) (building, briefly)
10	PAEON: PEON containing A - a poetic foot
12	ST(hush),RUCK
14	POSTICHE: POSE(attitude) containing TICH
15	OCTUPLET: anagram of COUPLE with the first letters of Tend Them
16	AOSTA: A, TA containing OS - not a place I knew, but wordplay was clear
18	POULP: PULP surrounding O
20	TUART: or TU ART
24	STRIA: AIRTS(directions) reversed
27	LERNAEAN: (NEAR)* in (LANE)*
29	A,RM,CH,AIR
30	REEKED: RED(as in red light) containing EEK!
31	HOST,A
32	CRASSAMENTUM: anagram of MAMA+CURTNESS
33	SCRYER: anagram of SORCERY less 0
34	YE,A,STY

Down
1	PAP-BOAT: PAPA, T surrounding B.O.
2	STENTS: TENT(wine) in S.S.
3	SHOYU: anagram of HIDEOUSLY - DELI
4	SCR,0,LL: SCR is Senior Common Room
5	PAS(dance),SEE(deem)
6	APRI~~(l)~~,COT: COT for the merlot grape has come up before
7	ROUCOU: anagram of COLOUR less L, containing U
8	ASKER: double definition - the newt one is found in Chambers under ASK
11	ACCOUTRE: ACE(tennis serve) outside an anagram of COURT
13	CHILIAST: CHI, LAST containing 1
17	TRICKSY: sounds like TRIXIE(Beatrix)
19	PANGAMY: AMY(a little woman) after PANG
21	ASMEAR: anagram of AREAS containing MOP without OP
22	VEADAR: ADA in REV reversed
23	RISMY: ISM(type of belief) in PRY
25	REASTS: RESTS with A(afternoon) inside
26	NARCS: SCRAN(food) reversed
28	ANONA: ANON, then A~~(utumn)~~

24:19. I always used to associate Jeff Pearce with straightforward, plain vanilla puzzles. There's nothing wrong with that, of course: variety is the spice of life, need to cater to all abilities, no-one wants a Dean Mayer monster every week, etc etc. More recently though I have the impression that Jeff has been ratcheting up the difficulty level of his puzzles, and this was certainly a case in point. After my first pass through the clues I only had a handful, and much of the rest had to be painstakingly teased out from the wordplay. Personally I like the new, slightly tougher Jeff: I enjoy a bit of a challenge, particularly on a Sunday when I have a bit more time.

Now that I've finished writing up the blog I can't see why I found this so difficult. As I've said before, I regard this is a sign of a well-put-together puzzle.

Across
1	Playing pianissimo soloist covers right damper
	SPOILSPORT - (PP, SOLOIST)* containing R. Shades of the indirect anagram here, but perfectly fair.
7	Drummer missing old metal band
	RING - RINGo.
9	Fine if caught running this?
	RED LIGHT - CD.
10	Here we play or lie about
	RESORT - RES(OR)T.
11	Poor attempt to conceal rum
	SHODDY - SH(ODD)Y.
13	Cork has a blue cottage
	BUNGALOW - BUNG, A, LOW.
14	Bloomer — type of roll round hot dog
	IRISH TERRIER - IRIS (flower = bloomer), TERRIER containing H. A TERRIER is 'a register or roll of a landed estate', apparently. Fortunately for me this knowledge was not required to solve the clue.
17	Upset girl’s given position
	DISAPPOINTED - or DI'S APPOINTED.
20	Put cannabis on slate for joint preparation
	POT ROAST - POT (cannabis), ROAST (reprimand, slate). For a long time I thought this would be some sort of cream for treating swollen ankles, until I twigged the right sort of joint. This is a method I associate more with birds, particularly pheasants, which can be a bit dry if you roast them conventionally.
21	Leave pudding after speech
	DESERT - sounds like 'dessert'.
22	Soldier carrying old instrument displays muscles
	GLUTEI - G(LUTE)I. I have been seeing a physio recently who has set me exercises designed to strengthen my glutes, so this came to mind quickly.
23	Attractive cockney giving you clues about 6?
	INVITING - 'IN(VI)TING. I considered trying to work 6dn into this but 1) it had too many letters and 2) I hadn't solved it.
25	Short walk and a hop
	PROM - short for 'promenade', and also a dance, like it says in the song.
26	Place incense in front of unguarded hives
	NETTLE RASH - NETTLE (incense, anger), RASH (unguarded).

Down
2	Earnest request involving god causes embarrassment
	PLETHORA - PLE(THOR)A. 'Embarrassment' as in 'of riches', although bizarrely the example Chambers gives is 'embarras du choix'!
3	Harsh billionaire has it both ways
	ILL - contained both forwards and backwards in 'billionaire'. I wasn't sure about 'harsh' for ILL, but it's in Collins as one of the definitions with the example 'ill will'.
4	Wet both sides of grayling in Asian sauce
	SOGGY - SO(G~~raylin~~G)Y.
5	Boycott and Hobbs regularly seen with Royalty at this time of year
	OCTOBER - every other letter in Boycott, Hobbs, then ER.
6	Run down train station loses its awful director
	TARANTINO - (TRAIN STATION - ITS).* Does this work? 'Loses its awful' suggests that you have to take out an anagram of 'its', but there isn't one. I'm probably just being over-fussy.
7	Stormy Turners combined with awful tat and scribbles primarily — we scoff at these!
	RESTAURANTS - (TURNERS, A~~wful~~ Tat And S~~cribbles~~)*. Like others I suspect I thought this was an anagram of TURNERS, TAT and S~~cribbles~~. I would never have noticed it wasn't if I hadn't had to blog it. Just to be absolutely sure with anagrams I always put the fodder into my Chambers app and in this case it gave me 'no anagrams found', so I had to rethink. I confess I thought for a while that it was a mistake. Oh me of little faith!
8	In the end Usain Bolt is fine
	NARROW - ~~usai~~N, ARROW.
12	Essential fact about deer is badly presented
	DESIDERATUM - DATUM (fact) containing (DEER IS)*. I was more familiar with the plural, 'desiderata'. And by 'more familiar' I mean 'not very familiar at all'. I thought the definition was a bit odd, because it sounds more like something desired than an 'essential'. But ODO says 'something that is needed or wanted', so complain to them if you disagree.
15, 21	Vicious little Aussie prepared vast Indian meal
	TASMANIAN DEVIL - (VAST INDIAN MEAL)*.
16	Barges in strange locations
	BEARINGS - (BARGES IN)*.
18	New England sportsman gets clap at orgy
	PATRIOT - PAT (clap), RIOT (orgy). The New England PATRIOTs are an America Football team based in Boston. A very naughty surface reading that nonetheless sounds plausible.
19	Post cutting directly opposite wood
	POPLAR - PO(P)LAR. P is for 'post' in p.m., for instance.
24	Go off to climb this?
	TOR - reversal of ROT. Semi-&Lit.

A puzzle that I thought was at the tougher end of the scale, with some less than commonplace vocabulary.

The crossword can be found here if the usual channels are unavailable: http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20151026/10374/

Definitions are underlined.

Across
1	Peel's first deed, producing treaty (4)
	PACT - P (Peel's first, i.e. the first letter of "Peel") + ACT (deed)
3	Steala Kandinsky painting, for example? (8)
	ABSTRACT - double definition, the second referring to the Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky, who (per WIkipedia) is "credited with painting one of the first purely abstract works"
9	Rhode Island's one and only savoury dish? (7)
	RISSOLE - RIS (Rhode Island's) + SOLE (one and only). Chambers: "A fried ball or cake of minced seasoned meat or fish coated in breadcrumbs"
10	Rodent has change of heart, seeing big creature with horns (5)
	MOOSE - MOuSE (Rodent) but wth the middle letter U (heart) changed to an O. Interestingly, this set of checkers cropped up in the first preliminary of the Times Crossword Championships just over a week ago, though with the answer MYOPE (and obviously a very different clue) - it took me ages to get MOOSE out of my mind at the time.
11	Picked up sound made by group of animals, say (4)
	HEARD - homophone (say) of HERD (group of animals)
12	Abduct child, then take forty winks (6)
	KIDNAP - KID (child) + NAP (take forty winks)
14	Way Essex town's character is an aid to progress (8-5)
	STEPPING-STONE - ST (Way, i.e. street) + EPPINGS (Essex town's) + TONE (character)
16	Energetic person's awful Monday! (6)
	DYNAMO - anagram (awful) of MONDAY
19	Daggers supplied by old boy and priest (5)
	OBELI - OB (old boy) + ELI (priest). An obelus (singular) is one of these: †
22	In maturity the Italian is nimble (5)
	AGILE - IL (the Italian, i.e. an Italian word for "the") inside AGE (maturity)
23	Recently clothed in bright colour - as mother and daughter are (7)
	RELATED - LATE (Recently) inside (clothed in) RED (bright colour)
24	Regretful writer, one given shelter (8)
	PENITENT - PEN (writer) + I (one) + TENT (shelter)
25	Musical atmosphere met by Handel at first (4)
	HAIR - H (Handel at first, i.e. the first letter of "Handel") + AIR (atmosphere). The rival of Evita for the title of Crosswordland's most popular musical.

Down
1	Buyleverage (8)
	PURCHASE - double definition
2	Conspirator involved in Guernica's capture? (5)
	CASCA - hidden(involved) in GuerniCA'S CApture. One of Caesar's assassins.
4	Chicken thieves may do it, and also if caught in the act! (5,4,1,3)
	BREAK INTO A RUN - double definition, the first literal and referencing a chicken run
5	Mousy chap a girl's thrown over (5)
	TIMID - TIM (chap) + reversal (thrown over) of DI (a girl)
6	Fruit provided by a very old accountant at party (7)
	AVOCADO - A + V (very) + O (old) + CA (accountant) + DO (party)
7	Arduous march leaders of the Royal Engineers finally undertook (4)
	TREK - TRE (leaders of the Royal Engineers, i.e. the first letters of "the Royal Engineers) + K (finally undertook, i.e. the last letter of "undertook")
8	Delay in violent robbery? (4-2)
	HOLD-UP - double definition
13	Display greater ferocity to confuse (8)
	BEWILDER - BE WILDER (Display greater ferocity)
15	Blissfully happy Welsh girl supporting Cambs city (7)
	ELYSIAN - SIAN (Welsh girl) after (supporting) ELY (Cambs city). Probably most often encountered in the phrase "Elysian fields", which itself is probably most often encountered as the French "Champs-Elysees".
16	Damagesbooty (6)
	SPOILS - double definition
18	Expert in a small section of store (5)
	ADEPT - A + DEPT (small section of store, i.e. a shortened version of the word "department"). My second Quick cryptic in a row with this answer.
20	Exceptionallywide, for example (5)
	EXTRA - double definition, the second referring to an example of an extra in cricket
21	Possesses penny to get hinged plate (4)
	HASP - HAS (Possesses) + P (penny)

Solving time: 33 minutes

Music: Wagner, Die Walküre Act III, Furtwängler/VPO

It took a few minutes to get started, as I ended up having to begin operations in the bottom half, but I soon got rolling. My solve involved a lot of biffing, not all of it entirely successful, so I had to keep my eraser ready. I still have to parse a few of the more obvious answers, but that shouldn't be hard.

I really have no idea whether this puzzle was that difficult or not. Some of the clues were a bit convoluted, but there were many where the literal was all too obvious.

Across
1	GASBAG, GAB SAG all backwards, a bit of a semi &lit, and my LOI.
4	CHIMERIC, CHIMER + I + C[ampanologists].
10	GRILLROOM, GR(ILL, R)OOM. This might be two words or hyphenated in some usages.
11	TUDOR, T.U. + ROD backwards. This style of building was popular in U.S. suburbs in the 20s, but the houses have turned out to be difficult to maintain properly. A stucco exterior is no match for New England winters.
12	LAG, double definition. Don't get it? Let me quote OED definition #4: "To cover (a boiler) with 'lags', strips of felt, etc". So now you know!
13	SONG SPARROW, SON + G(SPAR)ROW. That must be the answer, but how 'mate' = 'spar' I cannot say. I suspect an obscure bit of nautical slang, but research has turned up nothing.
14	WEAPON, NO PA(E)W backwads. I had biffed 'tenpin' and had to erase.
16	EVOLVER, [r]EVOLVER.
19	ANTIOCH, ANTI + O + CH.
20	DRENCH, [chil]DREN + CH.
22	WILLIAM TELL, WILL I (AM) TELL? Rossini crosses with Debussy.
25	VIE, VIE[nna], as in tonight's orchestra.
26	SOMME, S[quadron] + O.M. + ME.
27	UNTUTORED, anagram of NUT OUT + [f]R[i]E[n]D. When coming up with an acronym, it is probably a good idea to avoid unfortunate implications.
28	SCRATCHY, SC(RAT, C)H + [pla]Y.
29	INSANE, IN(S.A.)N + [her]E. I nearly biffed 'nearby', but thought better of it.

Down
1	GIGGLE, GIG + anagram of LEG. A 'caution' is, in this case, an amusing person.
2	SWINGBEAT, S(WING, BE)AT. I'm sticking to Wagner, thank you very much.
3	ATLAS, A + SALT upside-down. the mountain range in North Africa.
5	HAMPSTEAD HEATH, HA(M.P.)STE + AD + HEATH. When you see 'politician' and 'London' with this enumeration, this is a fairly safe biff.
6	METHADONE, MET + HAD ONE.
7	RIDER, [st]RIDER.
8	CAREWORN, CA(ROWER upside-down)N.
9	DOWN IN THE MOUTH, double definition, one jocular.
15	PROMINENT, PROM IN [arg]ENT[ina].
17	VICE VERSA, VI(C, EVER)SA. I thought for a long time that I was looking for an obscure type of military pass.
18	MAE WESTS, anagram of MATES SEW.
21	VENDEE, double definition. I had originally put in 'Condee', but then saw that 'Vendee' was the answer.
23	LA MER, hidden in [centra]L AMER[ica].
24	LATIN, N ITAL[y] upside-down.

This looks like a decent challenge for a QC - no unusual vocabulary (well, except for polled maybe) but not a breeze through either. No time here due to distractions but an enjoyable solve.

7. Owlet - wise young thing. Anagram (ordering) of TOWEL.
8. Parsnip - vegetable. Standard (PAR), bargain (SNIP).
10. Rooster - early bird. W(O)rms inside register (ROSTER).
11. Suite - set of matching furniture. Homophone (we hear) of sweet (delightful).
12. Spectator - witness. Anagram (suspect ) of PROTECTS A.
14. Foe - enemy. In the clue (arrested), backwards (retired) polic(E OF)ficer.
15. Ass - idiot. Like (AS), (S)impleton.
16. Whitebait - fish. Anagram (gathered) of A BIT WET I plus fis(H).
18. Cider - it's the drink. Anagram (drunk) of CRIED.
20. Seattle - US city. SETTLE around A.
22. Romance. (C)remona, (E)xonerated after Italian (ROMAN).
23. Cross. Double definition.

DOWN

1. Morris Dancer - traditional English performer. Anagram (version) of RECORDS MAIN plus sita(R).
2. Bloomers - double definition.
3. Stet - mark of a printer. Anagram (out) of TEST.
4. Spirit - double definition.
5. Preserve - keep. Quiet (P), book (RESERVE).
6. Anti - adversary. Soldier (ANT) with one (I).
9. Present Tense - in current form. Grant (PRESENT), anxious (TENSE).
13. Towering - mighty. Anagram (anyhow) of TIGER WON.
14. Fraction - a bit. (R) ough inside party (FACTION).
17. Issues - more than one edition. IS SUE'S.
19. Damn - oath. Homophone (they say) of dam (barrier).
21. Arch - curved structure. Tree L(ARCH) with the first letter cut off. Polled being clipped or sheared. Maybe also to do with pollarded vs coppiced as in trees (as learnt by me in Epping Forest).

A somewhat strange puzzle that took me the best part of 45 minutes to solve as there were a number of words or meanings unknown to me and I have detailed these below. On the other hand some of it was very easy indeed and wouldn't have been out of place in a Quick cryptic.

Across
1	WATER TABLE - ER (Queen) goes inside WATT (engineer), ABLE (clever). This is not a meaning I have come across before. It's a moulding attached to a building to prevent rainwater running down the walls, hence 'solution to rain problem' as the definition.
7	COPT - P (quietly) inside COT (bed). I'd heard of 'Coptic' without knowing specifically what it is, but COPT is a new one on me.
9	CO-WORKER - COW (disagreeable woman!), {p}ORKER (pig - with P for power removed)
10	CHADOR - HAD (was forced) inside COR (my). Another new one on me, this garment. Apparently it is also spelt 'chuddar, 'chadar' and 'chaddar' so I suppose we shall have to learn them all for future reference.
11	OLEFIN - Hidden inside {h}OLE FIN{ally}. And yet another unknown. We had a -fin chemical only the other day and I've already forgotten it , but I don’t think it was this one as it's not found when I search in TftT. Prior to that I'd only heard of 'paraffin'.
13	LAUNCHER - A{nnoyance} inside LUNCHER (diner)
14	EXTRAMARITAL - EX (no longer), TRAM (means of transport), A, RITA (woman), L (left)
17	WEATHERBOARD - Anagram [after wrecking] of A ROWER BATHED. More protection against the rains!
20	FALL FLAT - FALL (Autumn), FLAT (accommodation)
21	COSHED - SHE (novel) inside COD (guy - as in hoax, parody, spoof)
22	OFFICE - If something's been put to one side it can be said to be 'on ice' so when it's 'no longer in abeyance' it must be OFF ICE
23	PETITION - PETIT (little, French), then 0 (love) inside IN (home)
25	GLAM - L{atin} inside GAM (school - as of whales)
26	THREATENED - Anagram [getting wilder] of THE RED ETNA

Down
2	APOPLEXY - A, then PLE{a} (short request) inside POXY (rotten)
3	EGO - E (energy #1), GO (energy #2)
4	TOKEN - TO, KEN{t} - where the Canterbury pilgrims were bound
5	BURGLAR - GRUB (food) reversed, LA{i}R (den)
6	ENCOUNTER - EN{d} (death), COUNTER (feature of board game)
7	CHANCELLORS - CHANCEL (one part of church), LO (look), R{idiculou}S
8	PROVEN - PRO (in favour of), VEN (archdeacon)
12	FORT WILLIAM - FOR (favouring), TWILL (woven fabric), I AM (this writer is)
15	MEASLIEST - Anagram [forcing] of A SET SMILE
16	GRUESOME - Sounds like "grew" (developed), SOME (very much)
18	HOTSPUR - Anagram [badly] of HURT SO enclosing P (quiet)
19	LAWFUL - {schoo}L, AWFUL (bad)
21	COTTA - C{athedral}, OTT (extravagant), A
24	TEE - T{r}EE (oak's not right)

Feeling somewhat doped and sluggish after yesterday's tooth implant job, I expected to struggle this morning with the usual Wednesday fare; but no, it seemed more like a Monday, I flew along and had all done and understood in a mere 12 minutes - an equal PB for me, even if probably several Magoos. I've done several Quickies which were harder. GK of another name for the poplar tree was the only slight obscurity, and that was do-able from wordplay.

Across
1	SUNLIGHT - SIGHT = view, surrounds UN (the French) L(ake); D natural illumination.
5	VERMIN - VER = REV retired, M, IN, D obnoxious people.
9	CATACOMB - a CAT COMB is a pet grooming device, insert A; D burial-place.
10	OSTLER - Elbowing person is a JOSTLER, remove the J(udge): D one held one's horses.
12	OFFENSIVENESS - OFFENSIVE = attack, NESS = head; D objectionable manner.
15	ABELE - ABLE = having resources, insert E; D Poplar, a white barked variety, more often so named in America.
16	GREENGAGE - G(ood), RE-ENGAGE; D it bears fruit. Chestnut, as well.
17	COCKATIEL - CO (senior officer), (CATLIKE)*: D bird.
19	REIGN - D a rule; sounds like RAIN, as in raining cats and dogs. The French don't say 'chats et chiens', they say 'il pleut en cordes' or more often, 'il pleut comme vache qui pisse.' Well, you might need to know, on your holidays.
20	WHAT DO YOU KNOW - DD, one straight, one colloquial.
22	CAMPER - CAMP = affected, ER = the weather ultimately; D holidaymaker.
23	DELICATE - ELI, the usual priest, C(aught), inside DATE; D requiring careful handling.
25	MANTRA - D incantation, hidden in HU(MAN TRA)GEDY.
26	STRETCHY - STRETCH = prison term, Y = youth leader; D flexible. Well, extensible, would be better.

Down
1	SACROSANCT - (SCORNS ACT A)*, the A from archbishop; D inviolable.
2	NET - Decade, TEN, reversed; D capture.
3	INCENSE - &lit. cryptic DD.
4	HUMMINGBIRDS - HUMMING = very active, BIDS = attempts, insert R = first of rare; D pollinators.
6	EASTERN - EARN = bring in, insert (SET)*; D from Taiwan, possibly.
7	MOLESTATION - MOLE = spy, STATIN = drug, insert O = ring; D abuse.
8	NORA - (A)ARON reversed; D girl.
11	REDEPLOYMENT - RED (revolutionary), EMPLOYMENT (position); remove the M (spymaster for 007); D new posting.
13	FRENCHWOMAN - Sir John French commanded the BEF; W, OMAN (state); D Nice woman, perhaps, and probably a nice woman as well, although it's an expensive place to meet her.
14	TEENY-WEENY - TEE = driving assistant, WE, E (note), visiting NY twice; D diminutive.
18	AMATEUR - (TEAM)* inside A UR (Biblical city): D non-professional.
19	ROUTINE - D unvarying activity; sounds like RUE TEEN = vocally, bemoan youngster. Groan.
21	SCAM - CAM = eccentric, holding up S(tradivarius); D fiddle.
24	ARC - AC = bill, insert R = last letter of Kreisler; D bow.

I struggled with this one much more than usual. The type of legal hearing was new to me, and I was on a very different wavelength at 5dn and 19dn, which all held me up. Also the abbreviation at 24ac, which I wanted to check for the blog after I bunged the answer in, is either one I have not seen before or have never stopped to notice.

There are sparkles of humour and wit in here, too. My favourite was 4dn, but working out the correct route through the wordplay at 1ac and 2dn was also fun.

Definitions underlined.


1	Room at the top in construction just starting (5)
	ATTIC - first letter of (just starting) At The Top In Construction.
8	Omit a teen troublesome once? (2,3,4)
	AT ONE TIME - anagram of (troublesome) OMIT A TEEN.
9	Mark, Saint, foremost of authors, popular (5)
	STAIN - ST (saint), first of Authors, and IN (popular).
10	Taught and reformed rude tot (7)
	TUTORED - anagram of (reformed) RUDE TOT.
11	Lady, English, thin, Tory at heart (7)
	ELEANOR - E (english), LEAN (thin), and middle letters (heart) of tORy.
12	Business on the up, perhaps, broadcast policy (7)
	AIRLINE - AIR (broadcast) and LINE (policy).
16	Inhibit lover, a Welshman? Not entirely (7)
	OVERAWE - hidden in (not entirely) lOVER A WElshman.
17	Postscript about Queen has reduced power maybe (7)
	PERHAPS - ER (Queen), HAs (reduced, missing last letter) and P (power), all surrounded by PS (postscript).
20	On return trod around guy, sleeping (7)
	DORMANT - reversal of TROD around MAN (guy).
22	Instituted legal proceedings against eastern leather (5)
	SUEDE - SUED (instigated legal proceedings against) and E (eastern).
23	Played lacrosse followed by European dish (9)
	CASSEROLE - anagram of (played) LACROSSE, and E (european).
24	Swindler possibly succeeded — pay attention! (5)
	SHARK - S (succeeded) and HARK (pay attention).


1	Part of supermarket area surrounded by water, we hear (5)
	AISLE - homophone of ISLE (area surrounded by water).
2	Painting elevated over poetry — getting cross! (8)
	TRAVERSE - ART (painting) written up (elevated) and VERSE (poetry).
3	Preserve operating rule (5)
	CANON - CAN (preserve) and ON (operating).
4	Avoiding issue? Protection can potentially (13)
	CONTRACEPTION - anagram of (potentially) PROTECTION CAN.
5	Our group back film (7)
	WESTERN - WE (our group) and STERN (back).
6	Row right after match (4)
	TIER - R (right) following TIE (match).
7	See Dad excited at a Middle East location (4,3)
	DEAD SEA - anagram of (excited) SEE DAD, next to A.
13	Arrived during dreadful rain for such a hearing (2,6)
	IN CAMERA - CAME (arrived) inside anagram of (dreadful) RAIN.
14	Argument against Channel’s behaviour (7)
	CONDUCT - CON (argument against) and DUCT (channel).
15	One purring about simple floor show? (7)
	CABARET - CAT (one that purrs) around BARE (simple).
18	Fruit seeds on regular basis in upward slopes (5)
	RISES - regular letters from fRuIt SeEdS.
19	Tiny spot in glasses King needed for son (5)
	SPECK - SPECs (glasses) with K (king) replacing s (son).
21	Move fast in plant (4)
	RUSH - double definition.

A 22.35 solve for me, which puts it in the mildly tricky class, possibly stretched a bit by needing to be sure of understanding everything before submitting in case any of you had queries. The presence of early high value Scrabble™ letters raised expectations of a pangram, not to be disappointed. Indeed, today's setter only missed a double by 4 letters, one of which I found useful in filling in the questionmarks in 28ac - not, perhaps, one you would expect to be of that ilk. I do believe we have a previously unseen device being employed to excellent effect. There's also some interesting fringe vocabulary and GK around, including several Bible references, but all fairly clued and gettable. I also found several places where I might query the numeration. No matter, here's the result of all my explorations

Across

1 VOICE BOX Speechmaker
Raising hopes of another gentle stroll, a V(olume) followed by n0thing and an ICEBOX serving as a cooler. I thought it a single word, but the enumeration and all the usual sources have the temerity to disagree.
6 BELONG Fit
If you continue a marathon, you're going to BE LONG. Or in my case, late. As in the late Z8b8d8k
9 ADIT Passage
Normally the entry way into a mine, here a poster or AD with IT, (sex) appeal as found in crosswords.
10 GAS GUZZLER Expensive car
I'm not aware of this device appearing before. "Talk" provides the GAS , and the rest is provided by the gottle og gear producer's attempt at "puzzling", which is, perhaps, doubly "perplexing" for the stomach speaker. Back in the day, we had a character called Archie Andrews, a ventriloquist's dummy who appeared on the radio show "Educating Archie" in the 50s. You couldn't see the lips move, which was just as well because the ventriloquist was one Peter Brough.
11 JOCKEY CLUB sports administrators
Must be the oldest extant sporting body, founded in 1750. C(arbon) is included in JOKEY, full of (wise) cracks, CLUB for "strike" follows. Anyone else try visualising the surface meaning of the clue? Just me, then.
13 RUDD Relative of carp
So a fish then, and I believe the only freshwater fish I have ever caught. RUDDy is our shortened cussword, perhaps as devised by our tame ventriloquist.
14 AMUNDSEN He visited pole
And German gives UND, add S(on) and enclose both as instructed in AMEN for "let it be"
16 ON SONG performing well
More German, this time Lied for SONG, with ON, about, leading the way.
18 SNUGLY closely
The team at (Bridge) table, are N(orth) and S(outh). If UGLY, they are presumed not to be attracting each other, but, hey, ugly people need soulmates too. It's only a matter of time before such appearancism becomes a crime
20 MUD PUPPY N American native
A species of salamander, as it says native to the US and Canada. My internal image system produces children splashing in grubby places, along the lines of mudlarks, but apparently that's only by extension. The last letter of celebritY and the letters UP DUP MP combine in restructured format. Not, perhaps, the most opaque anagram, especially when mostly in stand out capitals.
22 FAVE popularly preferred
For which read what the dictionaries sniffily call an (inf) version of favourite. F, the musical version of loud, then AVE, your greeting for Caesars and blessed virgins.
24 ANNE BOLEYN She....
A pretty good &lit, an anagram of SHE'S ONLY BEEN plus the end of queeN, wretched the anagram announcer.
26 QUICKTHORN May
Or indeed hawthorn. Not slow QUICK, however THO', and sailors RN
26 AWAY out
My LOI, Now where's the setter put his W? Ah, being resourceful, I find A WAY to answer my own question.
29 CAREER calling
A minder is a CARER, the transported E the setter's drug of choice, so much easier to use in a clue than methylene-dioxymethamphetamine
30 IOLANTHE opera
G&S ouevre, not the most hummed. A plainly signalled anagram of HIS ALONE

Down

2 ODD JOBMAN casual worker.
An anagram of MOOD BAN with formal wear, the D(inner) J(acket) inserted.
3 CATSKIN hide from queen
Not, perhaps, the most common of hides, though I found this slightly disturbing one. A queen is a lady cat, the disapproving TSK is surrounded by the fratricidal CAIN
4 BUGGY Early form of transport
Not drawn from Georgette Heyer: early in the sense of for early years. There's a second definition in "beset by defects". Take your pick.
5 XIS Letters from abroad
If indeed Greece is abroad for you. SIX, definitely "a number", reversed.
6 BLUE BLOOD classy descent
Supposedly because fair and noble skin showed blue veins more clearly. A BLUE is a distinguished Oxbridge sports person. To BLOOD is to initiate
7 LAZARUS miracle man
Cf John 11: 1-44. Most of LAZy for idle, AS for while, and R(ugby) U(nion) for the (inserted) game, much forgotten by the English.
8 NO END a lot
The Bible Land is NOD (cf Genesis 4: 16) to which Cain (cf 3dn) was exiled. The tips of EuropeaN provide the "visiting" letters
12 LINKMAN Anchor
L(eft) INK, black liquid at least sometimes, and the Isle of MAN
15 SPYMASTER Top agent
Take MY for (goodness) gracious and PS for something I might add, reverse them as instructed by "turning over", and add ASTER a plant. Of some sort.
17 NAPPY RASH an affliction of the very young
Refusal, NAY, "keeps" PP, music for very quiet, and RASH for "not considered"
19 GLENCOE Depression Sxcottish hiker could enter
Though you can also get in by road. An "injured" anagram of ONCE LEG
24 UNLEARN Forget
A remarkably long every other letter example tUnNeL-rEpAiRiNg
23 ARUBA Island
Not the sound of an old fashioned motor horn, then. Off the coast of Venzuela, but then you knew that. The A(utomobile) A(ssociation) binds RUB for "cause friction"
25 BANAL far from original
The Idol (from the unbeliever's point of view), is BA'AL (cf 1 Kings 18 et al). Chuck in a N(ame)
27 OBI charm
Not Wan Kenobi, then. "Passed on" gives OBit, and one's just I. In Roman, if you please.

8 minutes for this one which was the easiest for some days, I thought. I am doing an emergency blog for Macavity so no clues today and comments are minimal. If further help is required please ask.

Across
1	SUDANESE - SUE (woman) encloses [entertains] DANES (people from Copenhagen maybe). D: African
5	SCOT - S (small), COT (place to sleep). D: Northerner
8	ORANGERY - O (old), RANGER (park keeper), Y (yen). D: conservatory.
9	ANNE - Hidden in {Americ}AN NE{wspaper}. D: name of girl
11	ATTACHMENT - Anagram [moving deviously) of THAT CAT encloses MEN (people). D: fondness
14	HOODIE - HOOD (outlaw - Robin), IE (that is - id est). D: youth wearing sweatshirt
15	PRISON - Anagram [dilapidated] of RIPON'S. D: jail
17	WELL-HEELED - WELL (enjoying good health), sounds like [so to speak] "healed" (cured). D: like the rich
20	LEAD - Two definitions: heavy metal / main singer
21	CLOTHIER - CLOT (foolish type), then I (one) inside HER (female). D: trader
22	GREW - Odd letters of G{a}R{d}E{n} W{e}. D: cultivated
23	TRENDIES - Anagram [disturbed] of RESIDENT. D: fashionable folk

Down
1	SNOW - S{pring} [first sign of], NOW (today). D: wintry weather
2	DRAB - BARD (poet) reversed [gets upset]. D: dreary
3	NIGHT NIGHT - Sounds like [reportedly] "knight knight" (two members of King Arthur's court). D: sleep well
4	STREAM - Two definitions: current / way to set pupils
6	CONVERSE - Two definitions: chat / the opposite
7	TWEETING - TWEE (rather cute), T{h}ING [not hard]. D: posting messages
10	CHARLESTON - CHARLES (King), NOT reversed [up]. D: dance
12	SHOW A LEG - A straight definition: get up. Plus a cryptic hint: forget to wear a stocking?
13	SOULMATE - Anagram [organised] of MEALS OUT. D: husband for example
16	TELLER - Two definitions: reporter / one who counts votes?
18	MINI - MINI{m} (note - music) [cut short]. D: dress
19	EROS - ER (queen), OS (unusually big - clothing size). D: statue, with the usual reservation that the famous statue is actually of Anteros etc etc

Solving Time: About 40 minutes in only one session, which is unusually fast for me. I infer that this is an easier example than most in recent months. I notice that at the time of writing there are four times under 20 minutes on the club leaderboard, albeit two of them have an error.

cd = cryptic definition, dd = double definition, rev. = reversed, anagrams are *(--), homophones indicated in ""

ODO means the Oxford Dictionaries Online, OED = Oxford English Dictionary, etc.

Across
1. Answer with wit about my and others’ not being tailed (8)
ANOUROUS - A, + OUR (my and others') in NOUS (wit)
9. Mate with no new problems rebutted contrasting rhetoric (8)
CHIASMUS - CHI(N)A (mate) + SUMS (problems) rev.
10. Stopping to dwell briefly, see city in Ukraine (4)
LVIV - V (see) in LIV(E) (to dwell). A place that will forever be Lvov to me, fortunately the wordplay is clear
11. Usual juror Joe surprisingly hasn’t succeeded in meeting immediate needs (2,4,2,4)
AU JOUR LE JOUR - *(U(S)UAL JUROR JOE). Foreign words and phrases are common in this particular crossword.. this one is in Chambers, though not Collins or the ODO.
13. Half-square threaded back through woman’s underwear and loose outerwear (6)
BURQAS - BRA with SQU(~~ARE~~) "threaded back" through alternate letters. Always have trouble with words with a Q but no U
14. Crook’s lousy chat declining each year (8)
CRUMMACK - CRUMM(Y) (Y)ACK. Crummock would be more common but again, the wordplay is clear.
15. Spicy paste ingredient of Bihari’s sauces (7)
HARISSA - hidden in BiHARIS SAuces
16. Vary one’s working in French Department (7)
AVEYRON - *(VARY ONE). A fourth successive easy clue..
20. Swift’s relative rejection of governor’s lead in Indian rule, weak (8)
NIGHTJAR - all rev: RAJ (Indian rule) + G(~~overnor~~) in THIN (weak). According to the rather wonderful Wikipedia entry, nightjars may or may not be endangered (or in at least one case, actually extinct) - we simply don't know..
22. Perhaps size of crowd paying to see rugby featuring rucks (6)
RUGATE - cd, "RU GATE," ha ha..
23. Due to drink wine over time in boozer’s vat full of preservative? (9-3)
POWDERING TUB - hmm, it is RED (wine) rev. in OWING (due) + T(~~ime~~), all in PUB (boozer)
25. Dormouse stretched out in gloomier setting? (4)
LOIR - hidden in gLoOmIeR. I know about dormice (the cat brings one in occasionally despite lectures) but only the hazel dormouse is native to England. A Loir is more commonly known by the rather unfortunate name of Edible Dormouse. They are all edible to a cat, of course
26. An inferior wine’s too much to start with in miniature flute (8)
OTTAVINO - OTT (too much) + A VINO. Vino is just Italian or Spanish for wine. Why a vino should be regarded as inferior is a total mystery to me. Neither Collins nor Chambers has this meaning, but ODO says "Wine, typically that which is cheap or of inferior quality." How very English...
27. Eleven intend to include outsiders thereof, according to cryptic crossword principles (8)
XIMENEAN - E(~~leve~~)N in XI (eleven) + MEAN (intend). Surely a write-in for most who do this crossword! Though I cordially dislike the many who take his name in vain. I am pretty sure he never meant or wanted to be the straitjacket or stern authority he has become. What he wanted was fairness, not rules as such. I have been so pleased in recent years to see the occasional indirect anagram (for example) creeping shyly back into the daily cryptic, now and then. "Rules are for the guidance of wise men, and the observance of fools," one of the most apposite of all sayings, that our jobsworth age should learn from.

Down
2. Maybe Sillitoe’s written contrarily about very critical ward, which keeps church incensed? (8)
NAVICULA - V(~~ery~~) + ICU (critical ward, the Intensive Care Unit) in ALAN rev. Alan Sillitoe very well known in my youth, less so now. "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning" taught the teenaged me a few new words, and some interesting ideas about how to spend a Friday night...
3. Large vehicle boxed in by French one which took off, still victorious? (12)
UNVANQUISHED - VAN (large vehicle) in UN QUI (one which, in French) + SHED (took off).
4. Humorously defeats judge in Open University trials (8)
OUTJESTS - J(~~udge~~) in OU TESTS.
5. Sound of packing snow, say, with school crossing cold ski slope (7)
SCRUNCH - C(~~old)~~ + RUN (ski slope) in SCH (school)
6. Kit initially seen on eg Man Utd for a month (6)
KISLEU - K(it) + ISLE (eg Isle of Man) + U(~~nited)~~. Most would say kislev, it is either the third or the ninth month of the nightmareish Heberw calendar, depending on your point of view.. it starts on 13 November in 2015, so not long to wait..
7. Head dismissed by big boss (4)
UMBO - (J)UMBO. Umbo is a familar enough word in crossword circles but surely not in the world at large, shields not being in such common use these days...
8. Bit of broken vessel or tank, so battered (8)
OSTRAKON - *(OR TANK SO) ... another word seldom needed. Chambers: "A potsherd or tile, esp. one used in ostracism in Greece..." .. and now the whole country is..
12. Pound of muscle protein, with pound brought down under Callaghan, familiarly (5-7)
JIMMY O'GOBLIN - hmm, to parse this you need to know that MYOGLOBIN is a protein that stores oxygen in muscles. The L has moved ("with pound brought down") and JIM is a reference to the recently deceased Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC. A principled politician, but a failed one, being mainly responsible for the Winter of Discontent and one of our nation's most embarassing fiscal moments, a cap-in-hand crawl to the IMF and subsequent devaluation of the pound...
15. Muscat raised as an introduction: how nice! (8)
HANEPOOT - TO OPEN (as an introduction) + AH (how nice, or so I suppose), all rev. One of a truly astonishing number of synonyms for the Muscat grape.. see the Wiki entry. Difficult clue
17. White hellebore or green lily with a central inversion (8)
VERATRUM - VERT ARUM (green lily) with the central T & A reversed..
18. Aggressive call on jerk roughly fencing island’s nut tree (8)
OITICICA - OI (aggressive call) + I(~~sland~~) in TIC (jerk) + CA (circa, ie roughly)
19. Shakespearean bighead such as Hal or Hamlet cut down bovine creature (7)
PRINCOX - (PRINC(E)) + OX
21. Old cab driver’s clash with rival (6)
JARVIE - JAR (clash with) + VIE (rival). Does this clue work OK? I would have said not, since vie and rival are not really synonyms.. but the OED has obsolete meanings that fit.
24. Scots point the finger at husks of woolly thistle (4)
WYTE - W(~~OOLL~~)Y T(~~HISTL~~)E. You do rather wonder how the Scots managed to communicate at all, given all their esoteric vocab., and the Gaelic as well...

All seemed to be going swimmingly and I thought I was on for a fast solve until I came to 8d. Determined not to be tricked by the setter into thinking linesman was anything to do with football, I tried to make it something to do with railways, but soon switched off my timer in a bit of a sulk and resorted to crunching through the alphabet. In the end it was my clue of the day!

Across
1	MINISTER - clergyman; I inside church = MINSTER
5	SPUR - incentive; brief football team = SPUR(S)
9	COMBO - small group; start to bathe = B in Italian lake = COMO
10	GLOWING - fire doing this; hidden word in gettinG LOW IN Gas
11	BAD - unfit to eat; fish turned = reversal of DAB
12	TURNTABLE - where one might find records; go = TURN, board = TABLE
13	ERMINE - fur; hesitation = ER, dig out = MINE
15	LAMENT - bewail; feeble = LAME, set of books = NT (New Testament)
17	FACE-SAVER - this spares one’s blushes; anagram (collapse) of FEAR CAVE’S
19	PHI - foreign character; quiet = P (musical direction), greeting = HI
20	TSUNAMI - a disaster, naturally; MAN backwards inside anagram (rumpled) of SUIT
21	ACUTE - serious; wound = CUT inside Accident and Emergency to start with = A E
22	DAFT - silly; daughter = D, at the back = AFT
23	REVERENT - showing great respect; always = EVER inside cost of housing = RENT

Down
1	MACABRE - gruesome; taxi = CAB inside horse = MARE
2	NOMAD - wanderer; sane = NO MAD
3	SHOOTING STAR - one falling from the sky; murders = SHOOTINGS, sailor = TAR
4	EAGER - keen; hidden in middlE AGE Responsibly
6	PLIABLE - easily persuaded; pressure = P, responsible for = LIABLE
7	ROGUE - villain; non- British accent = (B)ROGUE
8	POET LAUREATE - cryptic definition
14	MACDUFF - Shakespearean character; raincoat = MAC, no use = DUFF
16	TRIDENT - attribute of Neptune; I’D inside river = TRENT
17	FATED - condemned; obese = FAT, pressman = ED(itor)
18	VOICE - say; love = O, inside wickedness = VICE
19	PAUSE - stop; anagram (frothing) of SEA UP

Once again a uniformly excellent Friday puzzle that I did on paper, possibly depriving the Crossword Club of witnessing my off-by-one downfall for the second time in a row. I finished the whole grid apart from 13dn with loads of change, pounds and pounds of change, from the quarter hour... and then sat looking at _H_P_A_L_N for minutes and minutes. It seemed overwhelmingly likely that the second half was FALLEN, but whatFALLEN? WHIPFALLEN? SHOPFALLEN? CHOPFALLEN had a ring to it, down at the mouth, sagging at the chops, and who knows, maybe God just karate-chopped that sinner straight out of Eden? Of course it did occur to me before too long that perhaps your ancestor and mine Adam was more of a CHAP than a CHOP. But who knows what I'd have done under timed conditions. Anyway, I definitely DNK the word (compare and contract to the very familiar CRESTFALLEN) but will be using it all the time from now on, to describe myself after checking the stats on the club site, probably.

As I say though a really nice puzzle with loads of super surfaces, cunning devices, and abundant fun to be had. 20ac was my first one in, perhaps because you can't get away from Bond film ads at the moment, and a couple of easyish anagrams at 5dn and 17dn meant that getting started on this one was not a problem. Talking of anagrams I really liked the better hidden one at 27ac, which evaded my notice for a long time; I enjoyed "Cooke's last Letter from America" a lot at 21d, 1ac was very interesting and elegant too, but my COD has to go to 6dn, with such a good surface reading and referring as it does to my spiritual kindred. Thank you setter!

And so nearly a pangram too. But I just have to say, what's the deal with doing a puzzle the week a new James Bond flick comes out that has Q missing?

Across
1	CROUP - throat trouble: CRO{p s}UP [arises "when coating of P{ill}S is removed"]
4	MEGAPHONE - PA: A GEM [a treasure, "returning"] + PHONE [call]
9	VANCOUVER - "here in Canada": VAN COVER [vehicle \| insurance] "giving" U [universal] "protection"
10	BATON - this mustn't be dropped by team: BAT ON [to stay at the crease]
11	LARVAE - grubs: R [river] put in LAV [can] + {w}A{t}E{r} [water "oddly lacking"]
12	HELL-BENT - with reckless intent: HE'LL BET [what the gambler'll do] "seizing" N [note]
14	SPELLCHECK - validate words of: CHECK [constraint] at end of SPELL [session]
16	JAMB - part of window frame: homophone of JAM ["when called out", fix]
19	DUPE - kid: P [power] "within grasp of" DUE [outstanding]
20	SPITEFULLY - with malice: SPY [agent] "carrying" (FUEL LIT*) ["explosive"]
22	SIDEREAL - dependant (though shouldn't it be dependEnt?) on stars: SIDE [team] + REAL [money from Brazil]
23	SPACER - astronaut: PACE [one step] "described by" SR [senior]
26	OUTRE - unconventional: {acc}OUTRE [attire "a C{ricket} C{lub} initially rejected"]
27	LONGITUDE - location marker on map: (TO INDULGE*) ["criminal"]
28	CASHEW NUT - nutritious food: AS HEWN [as chopped] in CUT [chop]
29	TILED - with protective cover: TI{ll -> L}ED [worked "half-heartedly"]

Down
1	CIVILISED - cultivated: LIS [French lilies] in C IVIED [cape \| covered with greenery]
2	OWNER - one who has: W [wife] enters RENO [divorce centre "from the rear"]
3	PROBABLY - most likely: L [learner] in BABY [pet project] headed by PRO [master]
4	MOVE - suggest: MOV{i}E ["I should be kept out of" the picture]
5	GARDEN CITY - urban development: (DICEY GRANT*) ["messed up"]
6	PEBBLE - "often seen on beach": PE{op -> B B}LE [folks "preferring books to work"]
7	ON THE BALL - alert: (HELL + BATON*) [(first) half of 12(ac) with 10(ac) "unusually"]
8	ERNST - "this drawer": "restricted by" {mod}ERN ST{andards}
13	CHAPFALLEN - melancholy: CHAP FALLEN [report of Adam's transgression?]
15	EXPEDITES - dispatches: P [page] + EDIT [revision] accepted by EXES [old partners]
17	BOYFRIEND - steady: (DERBY INFO*) ["broadcast"]
18	OFFPRINT - copy: OFF [cancelled] + {s}PRINT [run "short of initial"]
21	BREEZE - current: BR [duo starting BR{oadcast}] + "recalled" E ZEE [{Cook}E's last \| Letter from America]
22	STOIC - "I'll bear it": I "invested in" STOC{k} [fund "showing ultimate loss"]
24	CHURL - "he's far from gracious": C [caught] on HURL [pitch]
25	KNIT - double def: what Aran workers may do / to fuse

I could blame the Crossword Championship Finals which were on the same weekend as this one, but that would not be fair - I made a couple of silly errors when submitting this. One I spotted, but the other took some help.

There were a number of unfamiliar words that I needed to check on, but all the clues were fair and the wordplay was clear enough so I don't think there is anything to complain about.

Across
1 CELESTIAL - CELL = little room, around EST(ate), IA = A1 = excellent, reversed
6 SYMPTOMATISES - (MOST MATY SPIES)*
13 RAMEN - RAN = managed, around ME
14 FORTNIGHT - FORT = stronghold, (k)NIGHT = mounted soldier
15 REDOUBT - R.E. = soldiers, DOUBT = lack of belief
16 MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK - cryptic definition
18 TEA PARTY - TEP = PET = favourite, reversed, around A, ARTY = pretentious
20 LIMOUSIN - LIMOUSIN(e) = big vehicle
21 YEMEN - YE MEN = old fashioned way of addressing chaps
23 CHINTZ - CH = church, I = one, N.T. = portion of scripture, Z(echariah)
24 POUNCE - P(iano), OUNCE = cat
25 SHORT-WAVE - as opposed to a long goodbye
28 MINIMALISM - MINIM = note, around MALI'S = African country's
29 MEAT - MAT = dull, around E(nergy)
30 DAMASKS - DAM = mother, ASKS = requests
32 DEPOSIT - DEPOT = storehouse, around SI = IS reversed
34 TIER - TI(g)ER = wild beast
35 CHARLESTON - CHARLTON = part of Greenwich, around E(nglish) S(ociety). I saw The Who play live at Charlton in about 1976, but I had not realised it was part of Greenwich
38 UNSCATHED - (CANE THUDS)*
39 ARABLE - (p)ARABLE = sower story. "And some fell on stony ground"
40 SATANG - SANG = gave musical performance, around TA = thanks. Had to check this one as I did not know the word
43 THAIS - sounds like TIES = bonds
45 TYMPANIC - TYM = sounds like TIM = little boy, PANIC = fright. I entered TIMPANIC and could not find my error, until Mark Goodliffe pointed me in the right direction
47 REVERSAL - REVER(ie) = dream, SAL = Sarah
49 CARRY THE WORLD BEFORE ONE - cryptic definition. Atlas carried the world, and pre-lunch implies before one p.m.
52 POLENTA - POLE = European, (kitche)N, T.A. = volunteers
53 TWENTY-ONE - WENT = disappeared, in T(y)RONE = NI County
54 UTTER - double definition
55 CLANDESTINELY - CLAN = family, LISTENED*, Y = variable
56 SUSPENDED - SUED = petitioned, around SPEND = waste

Down
1 CHROMATIC - C.H. = companion, ROMA(n)TIC = loving
2 LAMENTATION - LAME = poor, NATION = country, around (eviden)T
3 SYNCH - sounds like SINK = founder
4 INFINITE - IN = at home, FINE = OK, around IT
5 LYRIST - LYR(ic)IST = one who writes the words
6 SENSATIONS - (SEASON ISNT)*
7 MAGNETOMETER - (TO MEET GERMAN)*
8 TATTIES - TAT = rubbish, TIES = restricts
9 MARCHING ORDERS - double definition
10 TIDEWAY - YAW = deviation, EDIT = change, all reversed
11 SQUARE MEALS - as opposed to round which is the normal shape of pizzas. Not the home made ones in our house!
12 SETT - SET = ready, T(ime)
17 IN SEASON - INN = pub, around SEA = the drink and SO = therefore
19 ARTEMISIA - ARIA = song, around (IS MET)*
22 COSSETED - SSET = TESS = tragic female, reversed in CO-ED = school
25 SATCHELS - hidden in flowerS AT CHELSea
26 TEMPERATE - TEMP = stand in worker, ERA = time, T(h)E
27 CLUTCH AT STRAWS - double definition, the first mildly cryptic
28 MADE UP TO - MAD = silly, E.U. = type of union, PTO = please move on
31 BETACAROTENE - (NECTAR TO A BEE)*
33 PASSACAGLIA - (ALAS I GASP)* around A C(old). Another one that needed checking
36 TRANSPORTED - TRA(i)N = vehicle, SPORTED = had fun
37 MARIOLATRY - (A LOT MARRY I)*. Yet another to check, and I mistyped this on entry.
41 GOLDEN ROD - GOD = divine being, around OLDEN = ancient and R = king
42 DEAFNESS - DEAN = cleric, around F = loud, final letters in hE getS crosS
44 SHRINED - NERDISH*
46 MAESTRI - (IS A TERM)*
48 ABBOTS - A B(ishop), BOTS = maggots = flies, early on
50 ROUSE - the River Ure becomes the River Ouse as it flows downstream in Yorkshire
51 EPIC - PI = Greek character, in E.C. = Fleet Street area

Okay make that "tomorrow". I was kept away a lot longer than I expected, then there was the rugby final, then something else happened, then my PC crashed and I had to type it up again from scratch this morning (I hate that). Anyway, here it is. Quite an easy one for a Saturday, solved in 10:04 on the train. I think the only obscurity was VAD for nurse (maybe before my time, but I've never seen it before in crosswords either).

Across
1	Current problem about to restrict favourite’s momentum (7)
	IMPETUS - I (current) + SUM (problem) reversed, around PET (favourite).
5	Bird shelters exist in eastern highland region (5)
	TIBET - TIT (bird) around BE (exist).
9	Loves contributing to a paper doing the rounds (5)
	AFOOT - OO (loves) inside A, FT (paper).
10	Ace flew round when sent flying (9)
	WONDERFUL - (flew round)*.
11	Max Ernst possibly Pop Artist? Not right (7)
	DADAIST - DAD (pop) + ARTIST minus RT (not right).
12	Wife oddly resolved to pen note (3,4)
	OLD LADY - (oddly)* around LA (note).
13	US lawyer stumbling across judge in part of India (10)
	DARJEELING - DA (US lawyer) + REELING (stumbling) around J(udge).
15	Unknown individual’s belt (4)
	ZONE - Z (unknown) + ONE (individual).
18	Great writer needs energy to replace old ending (4)
	HUGE - HUGO (writer Victor) with E(nergy) replacing O(ld).
20	Presumption about Republican’s lack of discretion (10)
	IMPRUDENCE - IMPUDENCE (presumption) around R(epublican).
23	Canadian natives getting Cuba and Rio confused (7)
	CARIBOU - (Cuba, Rio)*
24	One’s used to cleandefending from this player? (7)
	SWEEPER - double definition.
25	Pupil finally stops enjoying lecture (7-2)
	TALKING-TO - (pupi)L inside TAKING TO (enjoying).
26	Language that’s divine (one time only) (5)
	INUIT - INTUIT (divine) without one of the T's.
27	Steer clear of old nurse injecting drugs? Quite the opposite (5)
	EVADE - VAD (old nurse) inside E,E (drugs), i.e. the opposite of the wordplay. I'd never heard of a VAD, which stands for Voluntary Aid Detachment, an organization of volunteer nurses in wartime.
28	Following couple around in part of army (7)
	RETINUE - UNITE (couple) reversed inside RE (Royal Engineers, part of army).

Down
1	Home Rule might be appropriate (2,5)
	IN ORDER - IN (home) + ORDER (rule).
2	Venomous creature seen in box one musician keeps hidden (3-5)
	PIT-VIPER - TV (box) + I (one), inside PIPER (musician).
3	That is nothing an idiot will admit (2,3)
	TO WIT - O (nothing) inside TWIT (idiot).
4	Star has depressing experience after drink (9)
	SUNDOWNER - SUN (star) + DOWNER (depressing experience).
5	Hip replacement for the queen arranged, say, finally (6)
	TRENDY - last letters of "replacement for the queen arranged say".
6	Expert oilman oddly heading north for port on East Coast (7)
	BUFFALO - BUFF (expert) + odd letters of "oilman" reversed. According to Wikipedia there are about 20 places in the USA called Buffalo, but none of them are ports on the East Coast. Maybe the setter was thinking of the one in South Africa?
7	He abandons the league match (5)
	TALLY - T (The without HE) + ALLY (league).
8	Snobbish resort I had repeatedly left (3-2-3)
	LAH-DI-DAH - (I had had L)*; anagram of I, "had" twice and L(eft).
14	Food served up in green room, primarily cheese (9)
	LIMBURGER - GRUB (food) reversed, inside LIME (green) and R(oom).
16	Deplore judge supporting senior manager (8)
	EXECRATE - RATE (judge) underneath EXEC (senior manager).
17	One said originally to possess hard grip (8)
	ADHESION - (one said)* around H(ard).
19	Primate, finding question hard, possessing zero answer (7)
	GORILLA - GRILL (question hard) around O (zero), + A(nswer).
21	Record number following new God (7)
	NEPTUNE - EP (record) + TUNE (number) after N(ew).
22	Do a favour for unnamed peer, investing one grand (6)
	OBLIGE - (n)OBLE (unnamed peer) around I (one), G(rand).
23	Share that is for a pretty girl (5)
	CUTIE - CUT (share) + IE (that is).
24	Brief opportunity to overcome resistance (5)
	SHORT - SHOT (opportunity) around R(esistance).

As ever, a highly enjoyable puzzle from Dean, but not as mind-bending as some - and I'm certainly not complaining, particularly as this was my blogging week! The trademark elegance and economy of cluing were all there as usual, and there were a couple of outstanding anagrams.

Did not know the beast at 20dn, but pleased to have made his acquaintance. Enjoyed the surface and wit of 21dn, and I thought 15dn was rather good - albeit possibly a tad obscure to those not overly familiar with cockney rhyming slang.

Struggled a bit with the parsing at 4ac, but I'm sure the assembled company will come to my rescue here. Thanks very much to Dean.

Definitions underlined; DD = double definition; anagrams indicated by *(--)

Across
1	What acne cream should do for tyrant (6)
	DESPOT - De-spot (what acne cream should do)
4	Replace list that includes strange page (8)
	SUPPLANT - Answer is clear enough from definition, but I'm struggling with the parsing here. SLANT (list) "includes" UPP: page gives us P, but does 'strange' give us UP? Maybe - "something's up" suggests something strange might be going on... Or is 'strange' indicating a rearrangement of PUP, with PUP somehow meaning 'page' (slang for a pageboy? - although I couldn't find anything to support this in the usual sources). Maybe I'm missing something obvious here - looking forward to enlightenment...
10	Will split, heading off (5)
	LEAVE - Will being used as in "to will" - i.e. leave to a beneficiary, with the wordplay being {C}LEAVE (split, heading off)
11	Seeing nothing, first sign of blank page? (9)
	OBSERVANT - O (nothing) + B (first sign of blank) + SERVANT (page)
12	Having paying guests moved to Greek island (4,2,7)
	TAKE IN LODGERS - *(TO GREEK ISLAND) with "moved" as the anagrind - a ripper of an anagram
14	Boxer knocked over in Sri Lanka (3)
	ALI - Reversed (knocked over) hidden (in) srI LAnka. And before anyone rushes to the obituaries, remember it's Sunday...
15	Carrier had better sort of anticipation (5,6)
	BATED BREATH - BA (carrier - British Airways) + *(HAD BETTER) with "sort" as the anagrind
17	Seafood and fresh spring water (5,6)
	TIGER PRAWNS - *(SPRING WATER) - another crackerjack anagram
18	It rises in direction of river (3)
	TOR - TO (in direction of) R (river). Small but perfectly formed.
19	One charged for holiday accommodation? (6,7)
	STATIC CARAVAN - Cryptic based on two meanings of "charged"
22	Mad, as in desperate to cut friend (9)
	BRAINSICK - *(AS IN) - with "desperate" as the anagrind - inside (to cut) BRICK (friend) - as in "you are a real brick"
23	Elephant's tail, something like trunk (5)
	TORSO - T (elephanT's tail) + OR SO (something like).
24	Get backing in homeless plan (8)
	STRATEGY - TEG (GET reversed - "backing") in STRAY (homeless)
25	Secret escape from within court (6)
	CLOSET - LOSE (escape from) 'within' CT (court)

Down
1	Broadcast it with talented amateur (10)
	DILETTANTE - *(IT TALENTED) with "broadcast" as the anagrind. One of my favourite words
2	Fizzy drink with deposit in it (9)
	SPARKLING - PARK (deposit) in SLING (drink). Whilst the Singapore Sling comes readily to mind, what I did not know until I asked that nice Mr. Google is that "sling" is actually a generic name for any drink comprising a spirit mixed with sugar and soda water.
3	Love to disguise short daggers (5)
	OBELI - O (love) + BELIE (disguise shortened) giving us the plural of the little dagger-like editorial symbol used in publications
5	Is it overly sweet? (6-4,4)
	UPSIDE DOWN CAKE - Gentle cryptic clue
6	Garden areas in which you hear usual flies (9)
	PARTERRES - The plural of the kind of ornamental garden comprising beds and paths sounds like PAR (usual) + TEARS (flies)
7	Assemble team as security guards (5)
	AMASS - Hidden (indicated by 'guards') in teAM AS Security
8	System for bettertransport (4)
	TOTE - DD
9	Child will be better at going after it (6,8)
	TOILET TRAINING - Cryptic (& Lit, I guess - unless "going" is regarded as figurative rather than literal...)
13	A drummer occupies secure allotment (7,3)
	SHARING OUT - A RINGO (a drummer) 'occupies' SHUT (secure)
15	Attractive thing, glossy, in hair (3,6)
	BAR MAGNET - MAG (glossy) in BARNET (cockney rhyming slang for hair - Barnet Fair)
16	It's run via special sort of software (9)
	ANTIVIRUS - *(ITS RUN VIA) with "special" as the anagrind
19	Part of flight one's taken through sun (5)
	STAIR - I (one) inside STAR (sun)
20	Animal artist has permit rejected (5)
	RATEL - TEL (let - permit - reversed - rejected) in RA artist, giving us the Honey Badger - an impressive looking beast. Did not know this creature, but the wordplay was generous.
21	Hotel group is accommodating AC/DC (4)
	IBIS - IS 'accommodating' BI (AC/DC - as in bisexual). Nice surface with a nod to the Aussie rockers

This is the third very easy Mephisto on the trot, with this one the easiest by far. As a solver I look to Mephisto to provide a challenge and this one failed in that respect completely. To add insult to injury instead of (two words) we had (7,5) and (8,4) and even (3-1-1) for a party ending with "Q". Yes, we need puzzles that encourage new solvers but this one in particular is too easy to even be said to meet that requirement.

Could it be that the three regular setters have become jaded and that we need an injection of new blood?

Across
1	ANNAM - MANNA = windfall reversed; old part of Vietnam;
5	ASEPSES - SEA reversed contains SEPS=snake; without sepsis;
10	NAIR - NAIR(a); naira=money in West Africa; Indian people;
11	ICTERUS - (countries - on)*; jaundice;
12	TRAINER,PANTS - two meanings, one whimsical; what can one say?;
14	BAR-B-Q - BARB-Q; pigeon=BARB; quality=Q; and another give away;
16	PHISNOMY - (in shop)*-MY; clock=slang for face;
17	ALANGS - A-LANG-S; grasslands; nursery slopes clue;
20	ISSEI - ISS(u)E-I(n); profit=issue; for all to see=u; Japanese in Canada and USA:
21	RIPON - RIP-ON; small slightly obscure city in Yorkshire;
23	ENLIST - (m)EN-LIST; desire=LIST;
25	ENRAUNGE - (eager nun)*; old word for enrange;
27	IROKO - IR(OK)O(n); wood; another write-in clue;
30	CANISTER,SHOT - (near scottish)*;
31	VESTURE - V-EST-URE; old word for operation=URE;
32	ASCI - AS-CI(d); cells;
33	EUSTASY - EU-STA(S)Y; sun=S; change to level of shoreline caused by change in sea-level;
34	SYRIA - AIRY-S all reversed; S=society; has Syria ever been an open society?;

Down
1	ANTIPARTICLE - A-N-TIP-ARTICLE; not a particle you would want to meet;
2	NARY - N(AR)Y; never in Nevada; see if you can make this clue any easier - that's considerably harder than solving it;
3	ARIES - (c)ARIES; then do the same with this - another simple write-in;
4	MINING - M(IN)ING; old word for unite=MING; definition not too difficult for you, I trust;
5	ACED - ACE-D; obtained 100% in a test in Texas;
6	STRUMAE - (must fear - f)*; swellings;
7	PRAAMS - P(R-AA)M-S(torm); run=R; rock=AA; fishing-vessels;
8	SUNRISING - SUN-RISING; about as difficult as 12A;
9	SESQUITERTIA - (tes-as-I-r)* surrounds QUITE=rather; out=anagrind; a perfect fourth;
13	DIAPHONES - DI(v)A(PHONE)S; organ stops; mobile=phone=DBE;
15	BYES - B-YES; what follows a=B; bye=farewell=cheers;
18	LIAR - RAIL reversed;
19	SANCTUS - (nutcases - e)*; music;
22	OIKIST - two meanings, one whimsical; OIK=cad; ancient Greek colony founder;
24	NACRES - N-ACRES; and another total gift;
26	UNSAY - (s)UN-SAY; and another;
28	AERY - A-(v)ERY; v=versus=against;
29	FOCI - I-C-OF all reversed;

This is only Juno's third puzzle so far and she (?) last appeared a year ago last week. I think most will find this fairly straightforward as long as they have a working knowledge of musical terminology. Indeed there seems to be something of an Italian theme going on but it's possibly no more than a coincidence. On very late edit: Thanks to anon for spotting the extended Nina that I had missed though I saw a small part of it.

No sun - no moon!
No morn - no noon -
No dawn - no dusk - no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member -
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! -
November!
Thomas Hood

Across
7	Colour having zero scope (6)
	ORANGE - 0 (zero), RANGE (scope)
8	Slowly, a US serviceman gets into trouble (6)
	ADAGIO - A+GI (A, US serviceman) inside [gets into] ADO (trouble). The first of two Italian musical directions in today's puzzle.
9	Old fascist some partizans repelled (4)
	NAZI - Hidden [some] and reversed [repelled] inside {part}IZAN{s}. I don't recall seeing this spelling of 'partisans' before so I was immediately alerted to the possibility of a hidden answer. It might also have signalled the possibility of an anagram but for the enumeration.
10	Discounted what mimic has done? (5,3)
	TAKEN OFF - A straight defintion and a cryptic hint
11	Fisherman MPs hire swimming across river (8)
	SHRIMPER - Anagram [swimming] of MPS HIRE encloses [across] R (river)
13	Graduate I left providing security (4)
	BAIL - BA (graduate - Bachelor of Arts), I (one), L (left)
15	Lake one has gone in before, once (4)
	ERIE - I (one) inside [gone in] ERE (before, once - i.e. an old-fashioned word)
16	Adore Tom moving about at a fair pace (8)
	MODERATO - Anagram [moving about] of ADORE TOM. Our second Italian musical direction.
18	Orchids found in caravan I'll assemble (8)
	VANILLAS - Hidden [found in] {cara}VAN ILL AS{semble}
20	Article and novel together again (4)
	ANEW - A (article), NEW (novel). 'Together' can be taken as an instruction to put the two components side by side.
21	Motorists keeping dry at home - and secure (6)
	ATTAIN - AA (motorists - Automobile Association) encloses [keeping] TT (dry - teetotal), IN (at home)
22	Eg wide, unusual, shoe (6)
	WEDGIE - Anagram [unusual] of EG WIDE. I'm relieved the setter didn’t choose to use the other definition of this word!

Down
1	Swimmer going round about for some respite (8)
	BREATHER - BATHER (swimmer) encloses [going round] RE (about)
2	In semi-final, it somehow becomes very insignificant (13)
	INFINITESIMAL - Anagram [somehow] of IN SEMI FINAL IT
3	Others, cheerful, take it easy (4,2)
	REST UP - REST (others), UP (cheerful)
4	Less light from old vessel in red turning up (6)
	DARKER - ARK (old vessel) enclosed by [in] RED reversed [turning up]
5	Dogs that are large or small aren't boy's (5,8)
	SAINT BERNARDS - S (small), AIN'T (aren't), BERNARD'S (boy's)
6	Hum very loudly after turning in (4)
	NIFF - IN reversed [turning], FF (very loudly - fortissimo, another Italian musical direction). Some may not be familiar with one, other or both of these slang words meaning a bad smell.
12	Self-esteem, for example. and love (3)
	EGO - EG (for example), 0 (love - in tennis)
14	Vaguely prevalent part of tune? (2.3.3)
	IN THE AIR - A straight definition and a cryptic hint
16	No mail unusually in city for Italians (6)
	MILANO - Anagram [unusually] of NO MAIL. 'For Italians' tells us we need the native spelling of Milan.
17	Daughter one's to have to abandon (6)
	DISOWN - D (daughter), IS (I's), OWN (have)
19	Stake hot-head in Sicily raised (4)
	ANTE - ETNA (hot head in Sicily - a cryptic definition of the volcano) reversed [raised]. Yet another Italian reference. The answer is a bet placed e.g. in poker before drawing cards.

A trickier than usual Monday number, in which the right-hand side gave up its secrets before the somewhat more recalcitrant left. Lots of nice stuff, if rather a plethora of insertion-style clues, but my COD nod goes to the saucy 19 down. 33 minutes.

I cannot end this preamble without a word of thanks to New Zealand and Australia for serving up the best world cup final since 2003.

ACROSS

1. PLATONIC – a nice crypticky definition where the addition of the comma makes things a tad more difficult.
5. ACUMEN – AMEN around CU. Hands up who had ‘acuity’? Okay, no one else, as I thought.
10. LURID – L I’D around U R.
11. SANGFROID – anagram* of IF DRAGONS.
12. TENTACLES – TENT + L in ACES.
13. EASES – [c]EASES, with the literal ‘eases’, although, interestingly, ‘stops’ could also be the literal (think rain).
14. LEATHER – LEAR around THE. See ‘hide’, think LEATHER.
16. NOTION – I in NOT ON.
18. SPARSE – S in SPARE.
20. SUBJECT – SUB + C in JET.
22. EARTH – hidden.
24. PORCELAIN – ALICE* in PORN. An interesting image, which has, I am sure, been exploited.
25. CATAMARAN – CAT + AR in A MAN. Over to ODO for cat: ‘informal, chiefly North American (Especially among jazz enthusiasts) a man’. I think it’s time to add and in crosswords to the definition.
26. OFFER – [c]OFFER.
27. MISUSE – IS in MUSE.
28. BERKELEY – BERK + E in ELY. My daughter’s choice for her third-year exchange programme if Cambridge turn her down. Yes, I’m no longer talking to her…

DOWNS

1. POLITELY – ITE[m] in POLLY.
2. APRON – PRO in AN.
3. OLD FATHER THAMES– MOST HALF-HEARTED*. A biffer’s delight.
4. INSULAR – ‘as island’ is the literal; ~~clipped is doing ‘double duty’:~~ INSUL[t] (deletion marked by 'cut') + AR[k/t] (deletion marked by 'clipped'). Nice clue. [Thanks to eagle-eyed lurkers for spotting today's deliberate error]
6. COFFEE TABLE BOOK– CO + F + FEE followed by TABLE and BOOK.
7. MOONSTONE – ON in MOST + ONE. A sodium potassium aluminium silicate, with the chemical formula (Na,K)AlSi3O8, or a novel by Wilkie Collins, if you prefer.
8. NUDISM – a barely concealed cryptic definition.
9. UNISON – U[nited] + SIN reversed + ON; the literal is ‘identity of pitch’.
15. APPARATUS – PARA in APT + US. See soldier, think ANT, GI and PARA.
17. STING-RAY– R + A in STINGY. See near or close, and think CLOSE or NEAR, or MEAN, TIGHT or STINGY. The setter/editor sold us a bit of a dummy with this, as all the usual sources, as well as the classic British 60s’ TV series have it as one word. All together now: ‘Marina, Aqua Marina…’
19 EXPERT – ooh, sailor; ‘the buff’ is the literal and someone who is no longer saucy might be described as ‘ex pert’.
20. SYRINGE – RING in YES*.
21. WEBCAM – CAB* in MEW reversed.
24. AWFUL – [l]AWFUL; a gentle one to see us home.

I officially pronounce myself uncertain how to assess this puzzle. I started slowly, so I thought it was going to be tricky, then I had a bit of a sprint in the middle, and changed my mind, then I struggled horribly in the SW corner, and went back the other way. Some clues seemed terribly simple and went in without any thought, others took a lot of thinking about; though with most of those ones, on subsequent reflection I couldn't see why it had taken me so long. So whether it was difficult or not, I have no idea, but I can at least say that it took me 16 minutes and I mostly enjoyed it.

Across
1	MANIPULATE - NIP(=squeeze) in MAUL, AT {~~gam~~}E. In the actual game of rugby, a maul isn't the same thing as a scrum, of course, but like their close relative the ruck, the word outside the game of rugby has much the same meaning.
6	EROS - {H}ERO, S{~~ucceeded~~}.
9	CHIMERA - CHIME(=correspond with), RA, Egyptian god of the sun.
10	AMNESIA - (NAMEAS1)*. Recollected meaning both to be remembered and to be re-collected i.e. distributed as an anagram.
12	FORESHADOW - R{~~iver~~} in FOE, SHADOW(=in opposition).
13	TOE - T{~~hesis~~} O{n} E{~~lectronics~~}.
15	EDISON - (SIDE)rev. (="reflective view"), ON. Thomas Alva was an extremely inventive inventor.
16	CREOSOTE - [O{ld}, SO(=indeed)] in CRETE. Shield for the wood rather than made of it, nicely deceptive definition.
18	EPIDEMIC - DEMI{se} in EPIC.
20	STIGMA - T{~~ime~~} in SIGMA.
23	INN - chaIN Nabs.
24	GREENSWARD - i.e. GREENS' WARD.
26	LETITIA - [TIT I] in LEA.
27	TILLAGE - LAG(=convict) in TILE(=flat block).
28	DODO - 2 DOs combine to give the famously extinct bird, from which metaphorically comes the meaning of someone old-fashioned or reactionary.
29	AIR HOSTESS - (ISASOTHERS)*. Cabin crew, obviously.

Down
1	MUCH - double def., one of them being a Merry Man of Robin Hood's band.
2	NAIROBI - AIR(=appearance) in N{ew} OBI.
3	PIECES OF EIGHT - Arrr. The old Spanish dollar beloved of pirates, while 8 could be made up of "pieces" 2 and 6 added together.
4	LOATHE - 0 in LATHE.
5	TO AND FRO - AN(=article) in TOD(=old word for a fox), (FOR)*.
7	RISOTTO - [IS O.T.T.] in R{~~hin~~}O.
8	SIAMESE CAT - (ASEATSMICE)* &lit.
11	NEW SOUTH WALES - (USESWEALTHWON)*.
14	BEDEVILLED - BEDE(=scholarly monk), VILLE(=French town), D{~~eparts~~}.
17	LITERATI - L{~~arge~~} ITERATI{ON} minus the ON.
19	IGNITED - BIG UNITED minus first letters.
21	GERMANE - GERMAN (Edward, composer of Merrie England), and the key of E.
22	SNATCH - S{~~ons~~}, NATCH.
25	TEES - sThElEnS. "Runner" worth noting as a lateral definition of "river" for people who've only just got used to "flower".

Mephisto 2877 - Don Manley

Sunday Times 4664 by Jeff Pearce - an embarrassment of hitches

Quick Cryptic 425 by Orpheus

Times 26239 - A day at the races? Just the opposite!

Quick Cryptic No 426 by Mara

Times Cryptic 26240

Times 26241 - what day is it?

Quick Cryptic Number 427 by Hurley

26242 In which quick grown hoaxes junk ogre lazy dogs

Quick Cryptic 428 by Flamande

Club Monthly 20181 October 2015 - moscatel, malaga, zibibbo, zihibbo

Quick Cryptic 429 by Teazel

Times 26,243: The Name's Bond... Ybounden In A Bond

Jumbo 1173

Saturday Times 26238

Sunday Times 4665 by Dean Mayer

Mephisto 2878 by Tim Moorey - absurd week on a rabbit (4,3)

Quick Cryptic 430 by Juno - One for the uccelli

Times 26245 – Health and Efficiency Issue

Times 26,246