Times 26137 - Golden cymbals flying....

Solving time: 26 minutes

Music: Dvorak, Symphony #9, Kertesz/VPO




Once again, an easier puzzle has fallen to my lot. I wrote most of the answers in at sight, but got stuck a little at the end. Sometimes I find the simpler ones hard, as I over-analyse the clues and come up with possible answers that are esoteric - and wrong.

Maybe the cause of my difficulties is the struggle I've been having with the Saturday puzzle. Fortunately, I still have five more days to solve it before Andy spills the beans. Or I could just give up and print out Sunday's....

Across
1	TRENCHANT, TRENCH + ANT.
6	TULIP, T([b]U[i]L[t])IP.
9	OWN UP, [g]OWN + UP.
10	SCREWBALL, SCREW BALL. Not exactly a Private Eye type of clue, probably just as well.
11	OVERDUE, OVER DUE.
12	IN TRAIN, double definition.
13	GOODBYE, MR CHIPS, anagram of GROOMED BY + CHIPS.
17	BLOW HOT AND COLD, BLOW + HOT AND COLD. There are a number of senses in which 'blow' and 'pipe' might be equivalent, but most solvers will just write in the answer.
21	AGA SAGA, double definition; yes, it's a palindrome, where have we heard that before?
23	OSBORNE, SO backwards + BORNE. An era of English literature that seems to be slipping away.
25	MAKESHIFT, MAKE + SHIFT, where 'make' is treated as a noun meaning 'style'.
26	UNITE, double definition, a ridiculously simple one.
27	HURON, HUR[l] + ON.
28	AMENDMENT, AMEND + MEN + T[ime].
Down
1	THOROUGH, TH(O)ROUGH.
2	ERNIE, ERN(I)E. I didn't really get it, but there is a Lough Erne in Fermanagh. In any case, the answer should be obvious.
3	CUPID'S BOW, CUP + I(D)S + BOW.
4	AUSTERE, anagram of [f]EATURES, a word on everyone's lips with the pending Grexit.
5	TERRIER, T(ERR)IER.
6	TO WIT, TOW + IT.
7	LHASA APSO, anagram of A SHOP, ALAS.
8	PALING, PAL + IN + [outbuildin]G.
14	OIL TANKER, anagram of LIT KOREAN.
15	HIDEBOUND, HIDE + BOUND.
16	ADHERENT, A + D(HER)ENT.
18	OCARINA, O[s]CAR + IN A.
19	APOSTLE, A POST + L[ucrativ]E.
20	WARMTH, W[i](ARM)TH. I wasted a long time trying to make this 'karmah', which is a momble anyway, but couldn't justify it.
22	ARSON, A (R) SON.
24	RAISE, R(A)ISE. I rejected this answer as too obvious until I had all the checkers.