Sunday Times 4708 - bleeurgh

I normally write this blog during the week, and set the timer so that it will be posted at 1am on Sunday. For one reason or another I have not had time this week, so I find myself posting in real time. Unfortunately this also means that as I write these words I am really quite drunk, so let’s see how that goes.

This was an entertaining puzzle, spoiled for me by 5dn. Obscure words clued with ambiguous wordplay are a particular bugbear of mine, and this was a classic example of the type. On the other hand the Olympic theme was fun, and unlike the football-themed puzzle we had a week or two ago the theme was applied selectively and so didn’t intrude.

Right, I really need to go to bed. Here’s how I think it works.

[Music: Shostakovich string quartets, Schubert piano sonatas, John Denver, Turin Brakes]

Across
1	Why northerner can’t smoke in retirement club?
	BATON - reversal of NO TAB. I had no idea that ‘tab’ for a cigarette was a northern term: I used to use it when I smoked, many years ago.
4	Initial advantage of saint visiting madam?
	HEADSTART - ‘saint’ can be just S, as well as ST. Here it is surrounded by HEAD TART. I’m glad I changed that sentence from its first version.
9	Fight small publication involved in offence
	SCRIMMAGE - S, CRIM(MAG)E.
10	Rock on the radio for a nit?
	LARVA - sounds like ‘lava’, rock in its molten form, of course. I thought a nit was just an egg, but it can also be the LARVA of a louse or similar insect, apparently.
11	Individual contracted to separate band in dispute
	ROWING - R(OWn)ING.
12	Return no-good rubbish delivered by Spooner
	COMEBACK - which Spooner would have delivered as something that sounds like ‘bum cack’. Shall we move on?
14	Labour energy taxes: soft soap and flannel?
	TOILETRIES - TOIL, E, TRIES.
16	Half-cut tramp opening for Pete and Dud
	FLOP - FLOozy, Pete. At least I think so: FLO is the first half of quite a few words.
19	Steaming after the last of this?
	SHOT - thiS, HOT, &Lit. Because you would be steaming drunk after the last SHOT. Admittedly this assumes there were more than (say) two shots to begin with, but you get the idea.
20	One with dog and errant bats as concerns
	IN REGARD TO - (I, DOG, ERRANT)*. Often ‘in/with regards to’ these days, which I always find a little grating. It somehow makes me think of Sybil Fawlty.
22	A French nut taking in the French Open?
	UNHEALED - UN, HEA(LE)D. Open as in a wound.
23	Note that’s on about my past performance
	RECORD - D (note) on RE (about) COR (my).
26	Antidote for non-union employment: liquor
	SERUM - uSE (non-union employment), RUM.
27	Fit into a schedule at last!
	ABOUT TIME - BOUT (fit) into A, TIME (schedule).
28	Their tone upset East Asia
	THE ORIENT - (THEIR TONE)*.
29	Doctors covering the first of 999 calls
	RINGS - RIGS containing N (the first letter of nine nine nine). I’m not sure I’ve seen this device before: the first letter of a word that isn’t actually in the clue.

Down
1	When dons scold son for interest levels
	BASE RATES - B(AS)ERATES. ‘Dons’ in the wearing sense..
2	In what manner grips run after tense cast
	THROW - T (tense), H(R)OW.
3	Those against boxing in explosive runners
	NOMINEES - NO(MINE)ES.
4	Level of spice in Goethe: a truckload
	HEAT - contained in ‘Goethe a truckload’.
5	Men eat more after playing a wind instrument
	ANEMOMETER - (MEN EAT MORE)*. And not AMENOMETER.
6	Grey-haired flake promoting India
	SILVER - SLIVER with the I (India) moved up (promoted).
7	Fresh Madeira cakes Illinois sent via Dakota?
	AIRMAILED - (MADEIRA)* containing I (Illinois).
8	Having lost heart, con hoovers up a line
	TRACK - take the word TRICK (con), take the middle letter out (having lost heart), then add (hoovers up) A. This is really neat.
13	Awfully game red and dominant lady in a field
	GRANDE DAME - (GAME RED AND)*.
15	Something that drew loads of people out West?
	IRON HORSE - CD.
17	By a loch, an old maid endlessly drinking Old Pride
	PROUDNESS - PR(O)UDe, NESS.
18	An insatiable femalegreat-white shark
	MAN-EATER - DD.
21	One avoiding more theatrical clobber
	HAMMER - HAMMIER.
22	Put out unopened box of matching mugs
	UPSET - super-tricky wordplay here: a cUP sET would be matching mugs. Bravo, you bastard!
24	Love sex, but not with you and a veggie
	ONION - O (love), uNION. A brilliant clue, this.
25	Leg it and consume apace in bar
	BOLT - DD.