Seems a bit of a foodie theme today, with one obscure word at 23a which did ring a faint bell once the wordplay suggested it. The top half went in smoothly but the lower was a little more intractable, although it's one of those puzzles you look at afterwards and wonder why it took so long. About half an hour in two tranches with an interruption.
| Across | |
| 1 | Plates and saucers etc, still not drinking cups! (3,3) |
| TEA SET - My reading of this is TT = not drinking, with EASE = still inserted. At a stretch i think EASE could mean still as a verb. but perhaps there's a better idea. | |
| 5 | Anti-war protester curtailed agreement, one with weapon in hand? (8) |
| PACIFIST - PAC(T), I, FIST = weapon in hand. | |
| 9 | Serious about credit, it is ruined (8) |
| DECREPIT - DEEP = serious, aorund CR, then IT. | |
| 10 | Energy entering a crowd, a tiny shape-shifter (6) |
| AMOEBA - A, E inside MOB, A. | |
| 11 | Meat in fringes of fire, served lit (6) |
| FLAMBE - LAMB inside F(IR)E. | |
| 12 | Postprandial drink like coffee ultimately suits when knocked back (8) |
| DIGESTIF - DIG = like (1960s speak), E = end of coffee, FITS = suits, reversed. | |
| 14 | I'm going to eat starters of real authenticity: Indian spices for dip (12) |
| TARAMASALATA - TATA = I'm going, insert R A (starters of real authenticity) then MASALA being Indian spices. I think taramasalata is a bit more than a dip, the real 'cods roe salad', when you get it in Greece, but it's a bit more dippy in Tesco. | |
| 17 | Beating ancient Greek volleyball team, perhaps, close to defeat (3,2,3,4) |
| SIX OF THE BEST - Well, there must be 6 players in a volleyball team, because this is SIX OF THEBES for the Greeks followed by T the 'close' to defeaT. | |
| 20 | After better rock music for something spicy (8) |
| CAPSICUM - CAP = better, beat; (MUSIC)*. I thought capsicums were the large red and green peppers which aren't spicy, and I hate, not the little chillies that I love, but I see the species includes chillies as well. | |
| 22 | Grass-coated hide of elk smelt (6) |
| REEKED - E(L)K inside REED. | |
| 23 | Wind is returning, low and menacing at first (6) |
| SIMOOM - SI = is returned, MOO = low, M(enacing). A dusty desert wind; the word means 'poison wind' in Arabic apparently and can be spelt several ways in our alphabet. Poison wind in our house is usually blamed on the dog. I DNK it but plumped from the wordplay. | |
| 25 | Poorest off welcoming very brief stay (4-4) |
| STOP-OVER - Insert V (very) into (POOREST)*. | |
| 26 | Theatre boxes always the cheapest accommodation (8) |
| STEERAGE - Insert E'ER = always, into STAGE. | |
| 27 | Daughter and curious man avoiding gentle breeze (6) |
| DODDLE - I liked this one. D, ODD = curious, then remove the GENT from GENTLE to leave LE. A doddle, a breeze, a piece of cake. | |
| Down | |
| 2 | Name coming up in Waugh, in impartial manner (6) |
| EVENLY - EVELYN Waugh has his N moved up in the word. | |
| 3 | Tasty struggle on the field — good to hold back in fact (11) |
| SCRUMPTIOUS - SCRUM is a rugby 'struggle on the field' (weren't England terrible against the intrepid Scots?). then insert T (back of FACT) into PIOUS = good. I thought the word might have interesting etymology, but it seems to be unknown. | |
| 4 | With sensitive information, European Community in bizarre protest (3-6) |
| TOP-SECRET - Insert EC into (PROTEST)*. | |
| 5 | After uprising, foolish to quit German city (7) |
| POTSDAM - All reversed; MAD, STOP = foolish, quit. | |
| 6 | Family planning in the end sound as a bell? (5) |
| CLANG - CLAN, G. | |
| 7 | Back hopper to lose tail (3) |
| FRO - FROG loses its G. FRO as in to and fro. | |
| 8 | Reshuffle by Tories: that’s a serious state (8) |
| SOBRIETY - (BY TORIES)*. | |
| 13 | Went back for a moment (5,6) |
| SPLIT SECOND - SPLIT = went, departed; SECOND = back, support. | |
| 15 | In slayer, assume a possible offender? (5,4) |
| SWEAR WORD - Insert WEAR = assume, into SWORD = slayer. | |
| 16 | Great author has little time for criminal (8) |
| BIGAMIST - BIG = great, AMIS (Kingsley or Martin, to taste) (EDIT as pointed ot below, Martin is still with us, so you have to take Kingsley), T(ime). for some reason I was misdirected to the wrong end for a definition and this was my LOI, although it could have been easy had I thought I was looking for a law-breaker. | |
| 18 | Arrangement of names, some without order, all together (2,5) |
| EN MASSE - (NAMES S E)* where S E is SOME without the order OM. | |
| 19 | Celebrate screening a show (6) |
| REVEAL - Insert A into REVEL = celebrate. | |
| 21 | Butterfly mark (5) |
| COMMA - Double definition. Polygonia c-album (comma) is a food generalist (polyphagous) butterfly species belonging to the family Nymphalidae. I used to see them in swarms on the Jurassic Coast as a boy, but I suspect they are less common nowadays. | |
| 24 | Lines often dedicated to defending harbours (3) |
| ODE - Hidden in T(O DE)FENDING. | |