A bit harder than last week I thought, and more exotica, but I got there without ever being driven to desperation.
There were lots of clues I liked, but my clue of the day is 7dn for the reference to the mathematician! The change of vowel sound between wordplay and answer made 2dn hard to see for me, even when I had all the pieces in front of me. Thanks to the setter for a very enjoyable puzzle.
Clues are in blue, with definitions underlined. Anagram indicators are in bold italics. Answers are in BOLD CAPS, followed by the wordplay. (ABC*) means 'anagram of ABC', deletions are in {curly brackets}.
Across
1 Legendary wizard acted as guide (6)
FABLED: FAB=wizard (both expressions somewhat dared I suspect) / LED.
4 Nice way of saying that cap restricts inheritance (7)
BEQUEST: take “QUE”=“that” in Nice, or any other part of France; insert inside BEST.
9 Left needing wash after breakfast, perhaps, sluggish (5)
LEGGY: L for left, EGGY=a face that needs a wash after breakfast. I found it hard to believe the answer meant “sluggish”, but there it is in Collins.
10 Listened, with answer to follow fast approaching? (4,2,3)
LENT AN EAR: LENT is the fast, A for answer, NEAR for approaching.
11 See nursing film — by hospital department, obviously (9)
EVIDENTLY: ELY is the cathedral town in Cambridgeshire, VID apparently means film these days, and ENT is the usual hospital department. Assemble as instructed.
12 Pensioner: a kind, withdrawn, accommodating woman (5)
KAREN: reverse hidden answer, indicated by “withdrawn, accommodating”.
13 State such food should not be eaten in (2,2)
TO GO: TOGO is the state in West Africa. If it weren’t for the enumeration difference this would be a double definition.
14 Thus desires to accept blame for being bad loser? (4,6)
SOUR GRAPES: SO URGES “accepts” RAP.
18 Put flat for sale that’s initially given valuation (10)
PROSTRATED: I guess all PROs (professionals) offer services for sale, and to RATE something is to value it. Put the first letter of T{hat} between the two.
20 Dark fiend off and on getting close? (4)
AKIN: alternate letters of the first two words of the clue.
23 Ruling dripping with mendacity at heart (5)
FATWA: FAT / A={mend}A{city}.
24 Eat: start on tongue (6,3)
POLISH OFF: Polish is the tongue, OFF is the start (of a horse race for example).
25 Things are getting animated in The Bull, perhaps (5,4)
EARTH SIGN: (THINGS ARE*). Apparently the signs of the zodiac fall into four groups: earth, fire, water and air. The earth signs are Capricorn, Taurus, and Virgo. Good to know!
26 Final stage of publication covered by satellite (5)
IMAGO: MAG inside IO. The final stage of an insect’s development.
27 Stray ad appearing originally in the Sun (7)
DAYSTAR: (STRAY AD*).
28 Took constitutional risk, heading off Democrat (6)
AMBLED: {g}AMBLE / D.
Down
1 One rasping advice: about time to find less harmful fag? (6,3)
FILTER TIP: FILER is the rasping thing / TIP is advice. Insert T for time. Apparently “filter tips are less harmful” is another tobacco industry lie, like “there is no proven link between smoking and lung cancer”. https://nysmokefree.com/Subpage.aspx?P=40&P1=4060
2 Trouble Heather’s got making the last post? (7)
BUGLING: to BUG is to trouble, LING is heather.
3 This palace would need piano for Yankee and son to make record (6)
ELYSEE: if you replaced the Y and the S in the answer with a P, you would get ELPEE, phonetic spelling of LP.
4 Give and receivestick (5)
BANDY: to bandy about is to give and take; apparently a bandy is also some sort of club. So the whole thing is a double definition.
5 Doubt about Wapping journalist’s bad treatment? (8)
QUACKERY: in the East End of London where they reputedly drop their aitches, a journo might well be an ‘ACK. Put him or her inside QUERY.
6 Medicine and tablet you stop using? (3,4)
EYE DROP: E=tablet / YE / DROP=stop using.
7 Base for car makers— but not for mathematician (5)
TURIN: Turin{g} is the famous mathematician who helped the Allies win World War II by cracking German codes. TURIN is the home of Fiat et al.
8 No shortage of fabulous help with rota (8)
PLETHORA: (HELP ROTA).
15 Wine and last of beer that is had with spirit drink (8)
RIESLING: {bee}R / I.E. / SLING.
16 Did arias, maybe, getting rid of alternativebeing composed in conservatoire? (9)
SANGFROID: SANG / (RID OF*). “In conservatoire” is to suggest we are in France, hence showing sang-froid (literally, cold blood, and with or without a hyphen depending on your dictionary) is to be composed. I was reminded of a bad joke about the Englishman, the Frenchman, and savoir faire, but I’ll leave it to Olivia to give us the promised joke about sang-froid.
17 Boater getting pardon after craft’s capsized (5,3)
STRAW HAT: ARTS or crafts upside down / WHAT=I beg your pardon.
19 Best attempting maybe to hide article in office receptacle (3-4)
OUT-TRAY: OUT-TRY might be an attempt to best others. Insert the article “A”.
21 One unlikely to pass legislation on filling empty landmark up (4-3)
KNOW-ALL: an empty L{andmar}K gives LK. Insert LAW ON, and then turn it all upside down. The definition refers to the person who (thinks they) know all the answers in a quiz, and so never passes a question.
22 Metal rings act, traditionally, as protection for one (6)
OSMIUM: O’S are rings / MUM is a traditional form of acting. Insert I for one. If only I’d known OSMIUM is a metal, this would have been easier.
23 Stag party, maybe, upset by female on the loose (5)
FREED: I’m not quite sure I can tell you why a DEER is a “stag party”, but the rest speaks for itself.
24 Leader of House, one asking too much of Speaker (5)
PRIOR: sounds like PRIER. I didn’t know what sorts of houses Priors might lead, but thanks to Chambers I can tell you it might be a house of “canons regular”! On edit, jackkt points out the beautiful coincidence that this could also refer to the late Jim Prior who was Leader of the House (of Commons) during the Heath administration 1972-1974. It probably doesn't, because not many people could be expected to remember that if they ever knew in the first place, but it's a nice thought considering the political overtones of the surface.
There were lots of clues I liked, but my clue of the day is 7dn for the reference to the mathematician! The change of vowel sound between wordplay and answer made 2dn hard to see for me, even when I had all the pieces in front of me. Thanks to the setter for a very enjoyable puzzle.
Clues are in blue, with definitions underlined. Anagram indicators are in bold italics. Answers are in BOLD CAPS, followed by the wordplay. (ABC*) means 'anagram of ABC', deletions are in {curly brackets}.
Across
1 Legendary wizard acted as guide (6)
FABLED: FAB=wizard (both expressions somewhat dared I suspect) / LED.
4 Nice way of saying that cap restricts inheritance (7)
BEQUEST: take “QUE”=“that” in Nice, or any other part of France; insert inside BEST.
9 Left needing wash after breakfast, perhaps, sluggish (5)
LEGGY: L for left, EGGY=a face that needs a wash after breakfast. I found it hard to believe the answer meant “sluggish”, but there it is in Collins.
10 Listened, with answer to follow fast approaching? (4,2,3)
LENT AN EAR: LENT is the fast, A for answer, NEAR for approaching.
11 See nursing film — by hospital department, obviously (9)
EVIDENTLY: ELY is the cathedral town in Cambridgeshire, VID apparently means film these days, and ENT is the usual hospital department. Assemble as instructed.
12 Pensioner: a kind, withdrawn, accommodating woman (5)
KAREN: reverse hidden answer, indicated by “withdrawn, accommodating”.
13 State such food should not be eaten in (2,2)
TO GO: TOGO is the state in West Africa. If it weren’t for the enumeration difference this would be a double definition.
14 Thus desires to accept blame for being bad loser? (4,6)
SOUR GRAPES: SO URGES “accepts” RAP.
18 Put flat for sale that’s initially given valuation (10)
PROSTRATED: I guess all PROs (professionals) offer services for sale, and to RATE something is to value it. Put the first letter of T{hat} between the two.
20 Dark fiend off and on getting close? (4)
AKIN: alternate letters of the first two words of the clue.
23 Ruling dripping with mendacity at heart (5)
FATWA: FAT / A={mend}A{city}.
24 Eat: start on tongue (6,3)
POLISH OFF: Polish is the tongue, OFF is the start (of a horse race for example).
25 Things are getting animated in The Bull, perhaps (5,4)
EARTH SIGN: (THINGS ARE*). Apparently the signs of the zodiac fall into four groups: earth, fire, water and air. The earth signs are Capricorn, Taurus, and Virgo. Good to know!
26 Final stage of publication covered by satellite (5)
IMAGO: MAG inside IO. The final stage of an insect’s development.
27 Stray ad appearing originally in the Sun (7)
DAYSTAR: (STRAY AD*).
28 Took constitutional risk, heading off Democrat (6)
AMBLED: {g}AMBLE / D.
Down
1 One rasping advice: about time to find less harmful fag? (6,3)
FILTER TIP: FILER is the rasping thing / TIP is advice. Insert T for time. Apparently “filter tips are less harmful” is another tobacco industry lie, like “there is no proven link between smoking and lung cancer”. https://nysmokefree.com/Subpage.aspx?P=40&P1=4060
2 Trouble Heather’s got making the last post? (7)
BUGLING: to BUG is to trouble, LING is heather.
3 This palace would need piano for Yankee and son to make record (6)
ELYSEE: if you replaced the Y and the S in the answer with a P, you would get ELPEE, phonetic spelling of LP.
4 Give and receivestick (5)
BANDY: to bandy about is to give and take; apparently a bandy is also some sort of club. So the whole thing is a double definition.
5 Doubt about Wapping journalist’s bad treatment? (8)
QUACKERY: in the East End of London where they reputedly drop their aitches, a journo might well be an ‘ACK. Put him or her inside QUERY.
6 Medicine and tablet you stop using? (3,4)
EYE DROP: E=tablet / YE / DROP=stop using.
7 Base for car makers— but not for mathematician (5)
TURIN: Turin{g} is the famous mathematician who helped the Allies win World War II by cracking German codes. TURIN is the home of Fiat et al.
8 No shortage of fabulous help with rota (8)
PLETHORA: (HELP ROTA).
15 Wine and last of beer that is had with spirit drink (8)
RIESLING: {bee}R / I.E. / SLING.
16 Did arias, maybe, getting rid of alternativebeing composed in conservatoire? (9)
SANGFROID: SANG / (RID OF*). “In conservatoire” is to suggest we are in France, hence showing sang-froid (literally, cold blood, and with or without a hyphen depending on your dictionary) is to be composed. I was reminded of a bad joke about the Englishman, the Frenchman, and savoir faire, but I’ll leave it to Olivia to give us the promised joke about sang-froid.
17 Boater getting pardon after craft’s capsized (5,3)
STRAW HAT: ARTS or crafts upside down / WHAT=I beg your pardon.
19 Best attempting maybe to hide article in office receptacle (3-4)
OUT-TRAY: OUT-TRY might be an attempt to best others. Insert the article “A”.
21 One unlikely to pass legislation on filling empty landmark up (4-3)
KNOW-ALL: an empty L{andmar}K gives LK. Insert LAW ON, and then turn it all upside down. The definition refers to the person who (thinks they) know all the answers in a quiz, and so never passes a question.
22 Metal rings act, traditionally, as protection for one (6)
OSMIUM: O’S are rings / MUM is a traditional form of acting. Insert I for one. If only I’d known OSMIUM is a metal, this would have been easier.
23 Stag party, maybe, upset by female on the loose (5)
FREED: I’m not quite sure I can tell you why a DEER is a “stag party”, but the rest speaks for itself.
24 Leader of House, one asking too much of Speaker (5)
PRIOR: sounds like PRIER. I didn’t know what sorts of houses Priors might lead, but thanks to Chambers I can tell you it might be a house of “canons regular”! On edit, jackkt points out the beautiful coincidence that this could also refer to the late Jim Prior who was Leader of the House (of Commons) during the Heath administration 1972-1974. It probably doesn't, because not many people could be expected to remember that if they ever knew in the first place, but it's a nice thought considering the political overtones of the surface.