I needed 44 minutes to crack this one although I don't think there was anything particularly difficult about it.
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]
| Across | |
| 1 | Horse head on box (8) |
| CHESTNUT - CHEST (box), NUT (head). A horse of a reddish- or yellowish-brown colour. | |
| 5 | In France, I try to knock back rich people getting about (3,3) |
| JET SET - JE (in France, I), TEST (try) reversed [knock back] | |
| 9 | Tree resembling birch, ultimately (3) |
| ASH - AS (resembling), {birc}H [ultimately] | |
| 10 | One is denoting upset — such as this? (11) |
| INDIGESTION - I (one), anagram [upset] of IS DENOTING. Semi-&lit to account for 'upset' doing double-duty. | |
| 12 | Braid had unravelled, indeed — one of these? (3,4,3) |
| BAD HAIR DAY - Anagram [unravelled] of BRAID HAD, AY (indeed). &lit. | |
| 13 | School polished off broadcast (4) |
| ETON - Sounds like [broadcast] "eaten" (polished off). We know it's called Eton College, but it's still a school. | |
| 15 | Illegal returns for composer (6) |
| WALTON - NOT LAW (illegal) reversed [returns]. Something being 'not law' doesn't necessarily make it illegal, but I'm sure we get the idea. Sir William Walton (1902-1983). Wiki lists his greatest hits as Façade, the cantata Belshazzar's Feast, the Viola Concerto and the First Symphony. | |
| 16 | Farm food staff put in the shade (7) |
| PRODUCE - ROD (staff) contained by [put in] PUCE (shade). A bit of a DBE going on here perhaps, but 'farm produce' is common enough expression. | |
| 18 | Account penned by Greek disciple for Roman historian (7) |
| TACITUS - AC (account) contained [penned] by TITUS (Greek disciple). This would be the Titus that St Paul wrote his epistle to. He later became a Saint himself. | |
| 20 | Whole books I pretend to bind? (6) |
| INTACT - I + ACT (pretend) contains [to bind] NT (books - New Testament). I was astounded yestereday watching a TV quiz when Shaun Wallace, barrister and former Mastermind champion, was asked how many Testaments are there in the Christian Bible, and after some thought he said "four". The question was then passed to his two challengers, ordinary members of the public, who consulted and answered "five"! | |
| 23 | Flag trimmed for queen (4) |
| ANNE - {b}ANNE{r} (flag) [trimmed] | |
| 24 | Poet— companion at a stretch? (10) |
| LONGFELLOW - LONG (at a stretch - as in 'all day long'), FELLOW (companion). By the shores of Gitche Gumee, By the shining Big-Sea-Water, etc for ever. | |
| 26 | Company ruddy sensitive after issue backfiring — uninspiring result? (2-5,4) |
| NO-SCORE DRAW - SON (issue) reversed [backfiring], CO (company), RED (ruddy), RAW (sensitive). Simply assemble the components one after the other as directed. | |
| 27 | Characters furthest from the front in Arnhem take on soldiers (3) |
| MEN - {arnhe}M, {tak}E, {o}N [characters furthest from the front] | |
| 28 | Land also beset by unholy war (6) |
| RWANDA - AND (also) contained [beset] by anagram [unholy] of WAR | |
| 29 | Noble king, regularly in the dark? (8) |
| KNIGHTLY - K (king), NIGHTLY (regularly in the dark?) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Irritable— as one being shelled? (6) |
| CRABBY - A straight definition with a cryptic hint | |
| 2 | European bird finally caught by Asian land mammal (7) |
| ECHIDNA - E (European) then {bir}D [finally] contained [caught] by CHINA (Asian land). A native of Crosswordland aka the spiny anteater. | |
| 3 | Possibly Con/Lab/Lib-Dem role, one outwardly well-worn (10) |
| TRIPARTITE - PART (role) + I (one) contained by [outwardly] TRITE (well-worn) | |
| 4 | Clear to see / location of moustache? (5,4,4) |
| UNDER ONES NOSE - Two meanings | |
| 6 | A breeze passing through tree, a sycamore (4) |
| EASY - Hidden in [passing through] {tre}E A SY{camore} | |
| 7 | Beginning to squeeze, manipulated us with Thai massage (7) |
| SHIATSU - S{queeze} [beginning], anagram [manipulated] of US THAI. Always confused in my mind with the Shih Tzu canine. | |
| 8 | Bet nurse passing round is occupied (8) |
| TENANTED - TEND (nurse) containing [passing round] ANTE (bet) | |
| 11 | Hooker and prop aligning oddly round middle of scrum (9,4) |
| GRAPPLING IRON - Anagram [oddly] of PROP ALIGNING containing [round] {sc}R{um} [middle] | |
| 14 | Expect to get around croquet match finally, and peg out (3,3,4) |
| HOP THE TWIG - HOPE (expect) + TWIG (get - understand) containing [around] {croque}T + {matc}H [finally]. Two colloquial expressions meaning to die. I'm not familiar with the one in the answer but I know 'fall off one's perch' which is not dissimilar. | |
| 17 | Small shoe, holes in it (8) |
| STRAINER - S (small), TRAINER (shoe). I seem to be seeing 'trainer' in nearly every puzzle I pick up these days. | |
| 19 | Article concealed by players before a game (7) |
| CANASTA - AN (article) contained [concealed] by CAST (players), A. I used to love playing this game - the two-player 15 card version which can be absolutely cut-throat - but I don't think I could take the stress of it these days so I stick to more relaxing games such as cribbage. | |
| 21 | In time in Europe, a Scottish smoker finding peace pipe (7) |
| CALUMET - A +LUM (Scottish smoker) contained by [in] CET (time - Central European Time). CET covers most of the EU but not the UK. I didn't know this word (okay, it came up in January last year) but the wordplay was helpful with the LUM 'Scottish smoker' leaping off the page at me. | |
| 22 | Stylish pale blue clothes (6) |
| SWANKY - SKY (blue) contains [clothes] WAN (pale) | |
| 25 | Leading Republican once supporting Democrat (4) |
| FORD - FOR (supporting), D (Democrat). It was said of him that he couldn't walk and chew gum at the same time. Ah, for the good old days when we didn't appreciate how lucky we were! | |