Solving time 21:50, which I was quite pleased with in the circumstances, as several people had mentioned how tricky it was last week. There were a few other problems to overcome though - and the puzzle number coming up as 23933 wasn't one of them! Three clues seem to have been subject to editorial interference, two of them (2D, 16A) minor but making the clues not quite work in my opinion (although I've since been persuaded that 2D is ok), but then there's 11D where the anagram fodder was changed making the clue technically impossible to solve. Apart from that it was a brilliant puzzle with some great surfaces, witty definitions and a couple of excellent &lits.
| Across |
| 1 | Better use of computers — a tip for businessman? (10) |
| CAPITALIST - CAP (better) + IT (use of computers) + A + LIST (tip, as a verb). |
| 6 | Measure from Tories ultimately preferred to the Left? (4) |
| STEP - S (last letter of Tories) + PET (preferred) reversed. |
| 9 | Revised EU tolls better in the marketplace (7) |
| OUTSELL - (EU tolls)* |
| 10 | Primate can put round a Gospel (abridged) (7) |
| TAMARIN - TIN (can) around A MAR(k) (a Gospel, last letter removed). |
| 12 | Obsession about fine chest for sport (4,6) |
| THAI BOXING - THING (obsession) around A1 (fine), BOX (chest). |
| 13 | A plea for peace remains after conflagration (3) |
| ASH - A + SH (plea for peace). |
| 15 | Ploughs it all back? Some, leaving a bit behind (6) |
| LATISH - hidden reversed in "Ploughs it all". |
| 16 | Copy, outside church, part of minute religious scene (4,4) |
| ECCE HOMO - ECHO (copy) around CE (church) + MO (part of minute?). I wonder if someone changed "second" to "part of minute" in that clue. Anyway, it's Latin for "behold the man", and in art it's a portrayal of Christ crowned with thorns. |
| 18 | Steer, perhaps, but not straight, and without permit (8) |
| GALLOWAY - GAY (not straight) around ALLOW (permit). A Scottish breed of cattle. |
| 20 | Important figure in battalion rings GP up periodically (3,3) |
| BIG GUN - BN (abbreviation for battalion) around alternate letters of "rings GP up". |
| 23 | Black coat: one paid for it to be shortened (3) |
| TAR - TART (one paid for it, i.e. sex) minus the last letter. |
| 24 | Agent raising commotion back with graduate at college (6,4) |
| BAKING SODA - ADO (commotion) reversed, next to B.A. (graduate) + KINGS (college). |
| 26 | Lead analyst, perhaps, in Speaker’s role? (7) |
| ASSAYER - AS SAYER (in Speaker's role?) |
| 27 | Out of pride, perhaps, one resolved to stop row (7) |
| LEONINE - (one)* inside LINE (row). |
| 28 | Fast one hardly observes at Xmas, first of all (4) |
| HOAX - first letters of "hardly observes at Xmas". |
| 29 | After something sticky, in jam? (2,1,3,4) |
| UP A GUM TREE - double definition, the first whimsical. |
| Down |
| 1 | Chef taking care of punch conclusively tipped (4) |
| COOK - CO (care of) + KO (punch conclusively) reversed. |
| 2 | Piece of slating from sink’s over piping (7) |
POTSHOT - POTS (sinks) + HOT (piping). I don't think that apostrophe should be there in the clue. Sink is only synonymous with pot as a verb (e.g. in snooker), never as a noun.Edit: objection overruled by john_from_lancs' interpretation - POT (sink) + 'S (short for is) + HOT. |
| 3 | Victories mean billions: zero parts they play (3,7,3) |
| THE WINSLOW BOY - WINS (victories) + LOW (mean) + B(illions) + O (zero), all inside THEY. A 1946 play by Terence Rattigan. |
| 4 | See election is coming up in spring (6) |
| LOLLOP - LO (see) + POLL (election) reversed. |
| 5 | What’s become hard to run through without rehearsal initially? (3,5) |
| SET PIECE - SET (become hard) + PIERCE (run through) minus the R. Definition is the whole clue, so it's an &lit. |
| 7 | Undecided over hiding publicity howler (7) |
| TORNADO - TORN (undecided) + O(ver), around AD (publicity). |
| 8 | Appropriate to get on train where congestion’s likely? (5,5) |
| PINCH POINT - PINCH (appropriate) + POINT (train, e.g. a gun). |
| 11 | Disturbance in field scattered old fragments in two minutes (8,5) |
| MAGNETIC STORM - (scattering, O(ld))* inside M,M (two minutes). Oh dear oh dear. I have Mark Goodliffe to thank for the parsing of this one, from a comment on the forum - "scattering" was changed to "scattered" in the clue, which ruined the anagram fodder. |
| 14 | What’s following land, conveniently, with height? (6,4) |
| FLIGHT PATH - F(ollowing) + LIGHT (land) + PAT (conveniently) + H(eight), another &lit. |
| 17 | Advocate with very little to drink, one making a scene? (8) |
| BACKDROP - BACK (advocate) + DROP (very little to drink). |
| 19 | Girl’s gone off rails when upset (7) |
| LARISSA - (rails)* + AS (when) reversed. |
| 21 | Try radius divided by diameter line that is more than pi? (7) |
| GODLIER - GO (try) + R(adius), around D(iameter), L(ine), IE (that is). |
| 22 | A good word for world body that’s cut off from power (6) |
| UNPLUG - "U.N. PLUG" |
| 25 | Jump from plane with foot on parachute (4) |
| JETÉ - JET (plane) + E (last letter of parachute). A ballet term. |