Not too much trouble with this one, 20 minutes, easiest Wednesday for a while, although 7d was new to me. I'm a bit hazy about 9a too. [Edit: z8 to the rescue]. Half the clues would be good in the Quickie. Excuse lack of entertaining or informative waffle, got visitors and a load of post-funeral paperwork to do.
| Across |
1Perhaps affected by pickle I consumed, having mostly foul content (2,1,5)
|
| IN A STATE - NAST(Y) = foul mostly, inside I ATE. |
| 6 Without source of water, horse got very hot (6) |
| STEWED - W(ater) inside STEED. |
| 9 Get on with English recruit (6) |
| ENGAGE - Is this just a double definition? 'Get on with' and 'recruit'? Why English? There is a word GAGE but I can't see how it fits the clue. [Edit; Doh! ENG followed by AGE = get on, get old. Thanks to z8 below.] |
| 10 Laughed, finding light at back of dump (8) |
| CHUCKLED - CHUCK = dump, LED = light emitting diode. |
11 Removing centre from corn on the cob is a puzzle (4)
|
| MAZE - Remove middle I from MAIZE. |
12Copy Nancy's dad tucking into Mexican food before drive back (4-6)
|
| TAPE RECORD - We're not talking Nancy Sinatra or Nancy Reagan here, it's the French city. So her father is PERE. Insert him into TACO and follow with RD = DR drive reversed. |
| 14One's beaten fish almost senseless? That's about right (4,4) |
| BASS DRUM - BASS = the fish, DUM(B) = almost senseless, insert R. |
16 French department's items for sale (4)
|
| LOTS - Department 46, le Lot, possessive = LOT'S. |
18Opponent meantime ousts this person twice (4)
|
| ANTI - Remove ME twice from ME ANTI ME. |
| 19Trojan woman I'd caress excitedly (8) |
| CRESSIDA - (I'D CARESS)*. |
21Suggest place where fighting's appropriate, close to battlefield (3,7)
|
| PUT FORWARD - PUT = place, FOR WAR = where fighting's appropriate, D = close to battlefield. |
| 22Wild party's bloody good towards the end (4) |
| ORGY - GORY = bloody, move the G along. |
24 Sources of vitamin administered orally for tropical disease (8)
|
| BERIBERI - Sounds like BERRY, BERRY, being a source of vitamin. Disease caused by lack of thiamine (vit B1). Etymology; probably Sinhalese for weak, weak. |
26 Church can fill emptiness, it's said (6)
|
| VOICED - CE = church, inside VOID. |
| 27 Effect of one parliamentary bill introduced by member (6) |
| IMPACT - I = one, MP, ACT. Seen this before. |
28Writer developed endlessly dire theme (8)
|
| MEREDITH - (DIR THEME)*, the E of DIRE being dropped. I'd vaguely heard of the chap, another pesky poet. |
| Down |
| 2Fighter— German of course — holding aloft ensign regularly (5) |
| NINJA - JA being German for 'yes', of course, below NIN = even letters of eNsIgN, reversed or not as you prefer. |
3Terrified about cardinal getting involved in extremely serious argument (6,5)
|
| SCARED STIFF - CA = about, RED = cardinal, inside S S being extremes of SeriouS; TIFF = argument. |
| 4 A Liberal ahead of each rival? That's dicey (8) |
| ALEATORY - A, L(iberal), EA(ch), TORY = rival of Liberal. A word I'd learnt from crosswords. |
| 5 Jumpy chap sees cinema matinee initially as way of avoiding reality (6,9) |
| ESCAPE MECHANISM - (CHAP SEES CINEMA M)*. |
6Not inshape (6)
|
| SQUARE - Double def; although square isn't a very 'in' way of saying 'not in'. |
| 7Airman about to climb over a kilometre (3) |
| ERK - RE = about, 'to climb' = ER, K(ilometre). I'd never heard of this 1920s word for the lowest rank of airman in the RAF, but it had to be. |
8Damned old car stuck in River Dee (9)
|
| EXECRATED - CRATE is an old car, inside EXE (Devon river), D(ee). From Latin word for to put a curse on. |
| 13Rememberswhat baby sitter does when visiting? (5,2,4) |
| CALLS TO MIND - Double definition, one literal. |
| 15 Amanda and Sue skipping till sickness strikes (2,7) |
| AD NAUSEAM - (AMANDA SUE)*. I groan silently or otherwise when I hear or see 'Ad nauseum' from people who should know better. |
17Prepare for punishment ... and relax: finished (4,4)
|
| BEND OVER - BEND = relax as in relax the rules; OVER = finished. |
| 20Most loyal employee originally recruited by hospital group (6) |
| TRUEST - Initial letter of Employee, inside TRUST which is an NHS thing that runs hospitals in Britain (but thankfully not in France). |
| 23 Bird boarding snazzy car in European city (5) |
| GHENT - HEN is a bird, inside GT a snazzy car. |
| 25Gershwin, say, heading out of Italian capital once (3) |
| IRA - One of the Mr Gershwin's first names; LIRA was Italian money, loses its heading. |