I really enjoyed this one, a tad trickier than my recent blogging challenges but not unreasonably difficult; about half an hour to finish, parse and check a couple of 'must be' answers. It seems to have an ancient world flavour, no doubt to V's liking, and 3d is probably a mystery to non-UK (or even non-London) readers although it is accessible from the wordplay. No chemistry or cricket today, sadly, but there is a golfing clue and only one poet to remember.
| Across |
| 1 | WALES - SE LAW would be the rule in the Home counties, South-east England; D country. Is the setter suggesting there's a referendum coming there too? |
| 4 | SPARTACUS - Take the odd letters os SEA SCOUTS to get SACUS, insert PART for role; D Hollywood movie, not the worst one of its type. |
| 9 | RECTORATE - Dodgy homophone time; RECT sounds something like WRECKED, OR for men, AT, E end of service; D cleric's office. I quite like dodgy homophones, the perfect ones are boring. |
| 10 | REPRO - REP is a sort of material, OR is gold, reverse it; D not original. |
| 11 | INCONSIDERATE - IRATE for angry, goes around N CON SIDE for new Tory faction; D showing no concern. |
| 14 | GANG - Hidden word in BE(GAN G)ROUTING, D workmen. |
| 15 | FELT-TIP PEN - FELT for considered, TIP for advice, P for page, EN for in, French; D writer. |
| 18 | MAZE - Sounds like "MAY'S" being 'of the month'; D puzzle. |
| 21 | ANCIENT GREEKS - (TEENAGER NICKS)*, bubbly is the anagram indicator, (I'm not scholarly enough to use Ulaca's 'anagrindative role'), D old folks. |
| 24 | HEINE - EIN German for 'a' so as 'in Der Spiegel', (which isn't much like our Daily Mirror), inserted into HE; D German author, Heinrich Heine was an 19c poet and writer of whom I was blissfully ignorant. |
| 25 | PREVISION - P pupil originally, REVISION exam preparation, D rare foresight. The word 'rare' seems superfluous to me. |
| 27 | SINUSITIS - SIN = what's wrong, US = you and me, IT IS for it's; D a form of inflammation. |
| 29 | HOARD - HARD = solid, cases O for ring; D keep. |
| Down |
| 1 | WARDING OFF - WAR = fighting, DINGO = dog, F F for force twice; D repelling. |
| 2 | LAC - LAC(E) = briefly tie up, D money in India. Apparently a LAC or more often spelt LAKH is 100,000 rupees, worth around 1,500 euros today. Given L blank C it had to be lac or loc. I preferred 'lace' to 'lock'. |
| 3 | SLOANE - SANE = not mad, around LO London's leaders; D Knightsbridge lady, abbr. for Sloane Ranger, apparently a dying breed, see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/diana/11421941/Sloane-Rangers-are-heading-for-extinction.html |
| 4 | STAGINESS - S S from 'sightseers on vacation', insert TAGINES being North African dishes, either the cooking pot or the food inside. D dramatic quality. |
| 5 | ADELE - Anagram of DEALE(R), D woman. |
| 6 | TERRAPIN - In golf a very short putt is a TAP-IN, a sitter, insert ERR for stray, to get the creature. |
| 7 | COPPERPLATE - I was misdirected here at first. COP, for busy, PREP homework, reversed, LATE for well into the night, D writing. |
| 8 | SHOT - S(ingular), HOT for spicy, D drink. |
| 12 | CONVOCATION - CO (business) N(ame), VOCATION (calling); D meeting. |
| 13 | UNSEASONED - AS ONE (like one) inserted into (NUDES)*; D immature. |
| 16 | TEMPTRESS - MET for police, turned up = TEM, PRESS for crowd, insert T being last letter of LOST; D vamp. |
| 17 | CIRCLETS - Insert LET = allowed, into CIRCS being short for circumstances; D rings. |
| 20 | DRYISH - YR for your, rolls = reversed, inside DISH; D somewhat stale. |
| 22 | EXPAT - EAT for worry, around XP old Windows OS; D former emigrant. Am I a former emigrant, or just an emigrant? |
| 23 | THUS - THE US = America, remove the E(cstasy); D so. |
| 26 | IDA - Double definition. There seems to be some confusion about the official abbreviation for IDAHO, being ID rather than IDA, but never mind. There are six Mount Ida's to choose from, two of them in the ancient world - in Crete and Anatolia. I have visited several places claiming to be the birthplace of Zeus, the one in Crete being the popular favourite, but perhaps, with randy old Zeus being able to transform himself into a swan, an ant, a bredraggled cuckoo, a dove and various other odd things, he was born more than once. |