This seemed harder than the solving time (15m 42s) would indicate, mainly because I had difficulty in expanding out from any of my entries and thus ended up with chunks of disconnected answers all over the grid. It was only right at the end that they all tied up together.
cd = cryptic definition, dd = double definition
cd = cryptic definition, dd = double definition
| Across | ||
| 1 | TRANSOM - RAN (arranged) inside reversal of MOST (majority). Perhaps not the smoothest of surfaces. | |
| 5 | BACKDROP - BACK (to support) + DR (medic) + OP (hospital procedure) | |
| 9 | MASSIF - MAS{t}S (Poles) + IF (provided) | |
| 13 | ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE - cd, presumably referencing the Beatles song rather than the Eurodisco track of the same name by Coo Coo | |
| 14 | MEMOIR - M (Mark) + reversal of ROME (European city) around I | |
| 16 | FATAL - F (force) + AT AL{l} (in any circumstances) | |
| 17 | ABSTAIN - ABS (sailors), + TIN (ready, i.e. money) around A (article) | |
| 18 | EYE SOCKET - E (European) + YES (certainly) + {r}OCKET (spacecraft), definition: "orbit" | |
| 19 | CAMERAMAN - CAME (arrived) + RAM{ad}AN (fast, i.e. the Muslim fasting month) | |
| 21 | PLAY OUT - POUT (to pull a face) around LAY (song) | |
| 22 | GRAVE - G (Good) + RAVE (wild party) | |
| 23 | AUDIT - A + U (University) + {complete}D + IT (computer materials) | |
| 25 | RESILIENT - I + L (left) + I, all inside RESENT (grudge) | |
| 27 | EXPRESS - dd, the second one slightly whimsical (ex-press) | |
| 29 | SHIMMYING - SING (Carol) around HIM (that fellow) + MY | |
| 31 | CHAIN REACTION - anagram of OR A TECHNICIAN | |
| 34 | COFFEE GROUNDS - GROUNDS (reason), after CO (firm) + F (key) + FEE (charge). Amusing definition: "Consequence of perks", where we need to expand perks to percolators. I think I would like this a little better if perk was a shortened version of percolation, but I couldn't see that equivalence in any of the usual dictionaries. | |
| 35 | SNOWFIELD - anagram of LIES DOWN, around F (fine) | |
| 37 | LUGGAGE - GAG (Crack, i.e. a joke) in LUGE (sledge) | |
| 39 | TALK ROUND - YorK LATer contains talk round. Kind of a reverse cryptic. | |
| 42 | CUT IN - CU (copper) + TIN (another metal), definition: "Start to work", perhaps usually applied to electrical devices starting automatically | |
| 43 | WHELP - W (with) + HELP (support), definition "Produce issue". I carelessly put in "wrest" at first, simply because it fitted the wordplay. | |
| 45 | LENSMAN - LEAN (not abundant) around N{ew} + S{ea} + M{issions} | |
| 47 | MOTORCADE - anagram of MOOTED CAR | |
| 49 | IN THE KNOW - anagram of THINK ONE, + W{isdom} | |
| 50 | SANGRIA - SANG (Trilled) + reversal of AIR (tune) | |
| 52 | LET-UP - UP (Ahead) after LET (misjudged service, e.g. a tennis serve that hits the net but still lands in the correct service court) | |
| 54 | IMPAIR - AIR (Attitude) after IMP (brat) | |
| 55 | NO LAUGHING MATTER - dd, the second cryptic and requiring us to think of creasing up in amusement | |
| 56 | GOSPEL - GO (Leave) + SPEL{l} (period) | |
| 57 | ATTESTED - reversal of TA (soldiers), + TESTED (challenged) | |
| 58 | THERAPY - THEY (These folks) around RAP (charge) | |
| Down | ||
| 1 | TRAFFIC JAMS - TRAFFIC (Commerce) + JAMS (improvises, musically speaking) | |
| 2 | ALLOT - ALL O{u}T (full) | |
| 3 | SPOILER - reversal of RE (regarding) + LIPS (kisses) around O (love) | |
| 4 | MONDAY MORNING FEELING - cd requiring us to think of Sun as the short form of Sunday. I'm not sure I've ever heard of this, although I did know the similar expression "Monday morning blues" - "feeling" seemed the likeliest alternative from the checkers (and was certainly better than the first word that came to mind, which inexplicably was "wetland". Thanks, brain). | |
| 5 | BLESSINGS - hidden in treBLES SING Services | |
| 6 | CHINA - CHAIN (links) but with the A moved to the end | |
| 7 | DELINEATE - reversal of E (Eastern) + NILE (river), inside DATE (time) | |
| 8 | ORVIETO - {s}OVIET (old Russian) + O (ring) around R{ed}, for an Italian white | |
| 10 | AGELONG - A + GEL (sticky substance) + ON + G{arden}, definition: "never going away" | |
| 11 | STOCKTAKE - STOCK (Standard) + TAKE (approach, presumably in the sense of "What's your take on this?"). This word looks much more awkward than the perhaps more familiar "stocktaking". | |
| 12 | FIRST PERSON - anagram of I PRESS FOR around T{he}, + N (North), definition: "I" | |
| 15 | SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT - dd, the first referring to the skipping that can occur on a record player, though I'm not sure if the straightness of the record is one of the usual causes. I initially had "put" instead of "set" but 18A made me realise the error. | |
| 20 | MIDRIFF - MIFF (upset) around DRI{p} (fluid supply, e.g. an IV drip) | |
| 21 | PELICAN - anagram of ICE PLAIN without one of the Is | |
| 24 | TEMPERA - TEMP (Short-term worker) + ER (hesitation) + A. Tempura also fits the wordplay however it's as suitable for painting as tempera is for eating. | |
| 26 | TONGS - G (good) inside TONS (large amount). Perhaps for salad or sugar-lumps. | |
| 28 | PACIFIC - reversal of CI (Channel Islands) + FI (girl - a short form of Fiona, and others) + CAP (better) | |
| 30 | GHOST - G{erman} + HOST (army) | |
| 32 | ALSO-RAN - AN (Article), around LSO (capital orchestra) + RA (artist) | |
| 33 | INERTIA - IN + ERA (time) around reversal of IT | |
| 34 | CALL WAITING - cd, referring to the phone functionality that allows a recipient to switch between two separate calls to their phone | |
| 36 | DINNER PARTY - N (New) + anagram of PARTNER, inside DIY (self-prepared) | |
| 38 | GREAT APES - EAT (dine) inside GRAPES (fruit) | |
| 40 | LAMPSHADE - AMPS (Quantity of current) + HAD, inside LE (the French) | |
| 41 | UNMARRIED - anagram (Bowling) of UNDERARM + I | |
| 44 | PREMISE - PRISE (Force) around reversal of ME | |
| 46 | NEWPORT - NEW (No vintage) + PORT (drink) | |
| 48 | RELEASE - REL{y} (Bank) + EASE (wealth). I don't think I've come across this meaning of "ease" before. | |
| 51 | NIGHT - reversal of TH{e} + GIN (alcohol) | |
| 53 | TETRA - hidden in eliTE TRAwler | |