I am blogging this in beautiful Goa, India. A wonderful place, but since the monsoon arrived yesterday what else to do but crosswords? This was a challenging puzzle, but never impossible. My time was probably about 40 minutes. The last three in were in the SW corner, with LOI my clue of the day 24ac. Thanks to the setter for a very enjoyable puzzle.
Clues are in blue, with definitions underlined. Answers are in BOLD CAPS, followed by the wordplay. (ABC*) means 'anagram of ABC', with the anagram indicator in bold italics. Deletions are in {curly brackets}.
Across
1 Scot's pretty heartless, certainly not fed up! (4)
BONY: take the middle “n” out of BONNY.
3 Two boys look embarrassed to get a big hand (5,5)
ROYAL FLUSH: here are ROY and AL again, blushing.
9 Endless fun with French girlfriend in US city (7)
LARAMIE: a LAR{k}, avec ma AMIE.
11 Dramatist, English writer, penning story (7)
MOLIERE: LIE in (Thomas) MORE.
12 Alcohol's taken in small drops — it's silky stuff (9)
GROSGRAIN: S in GROG, then RAIN.
13 Med resort's inspiring hotel in suitable place (5)
NICHE: H in NICE.
14 Backing statute, rulers second support for motion (7,5)
WALKING STICK: LAW backwards, KINGS, TICK.
18 Pub riot, with cokes spilled? It's young people's entertainment (7,5)
PICTURE BOOK: (PUB RIOT COKES*).
21 High official and old men laugh (5)
PASHA: PAS, HA.
22 Building feature: walls in Nevada and Delaware (9)
COLONNADE: the COLON is “:”, NA I guessed is Nevada, DE clearly Delaware. On edit: as john_dun suggests, you can take “walls” as meaning outside letters of Nevada and Delaware, so you don’t need to know the codes, and Nevada is actually NV!
24 Tongue in need of a drink (7)
ARABICA: ARABIC, A. One of my tipples of choice!
25 Take away starter of tempura transported back (7)
DETRACT: T{empura}, CARTED – all reversed. Definition as in “not to detract from …”.
26 Bird's places for putting some wool, say (10)
GREENSHANK: by now I should see “putting” and automatically think “golf”. So, they putt on GREENS, and wool can come in a HANK.
27 Runner would briefly lose control in motion (4)
SKID: SKI WOULD briefly is SKI’D.
Down
1 £50 in pocket, have fine attire (8)
BALLGOWN: L for fifty, L for pound. Insert in BAG, and add OWN.
2 Just managed to put up with Lowry novel (8)
NARROWLY: RAN backwards, (LOWRY*). No need to think about who Lowry was, if anyone.
4 Round and large character (5)
OMEGA: O is round, MEGA is big.
5 Saltire bedecked by a church's patterned covering (9)
AXMINSTER: a saltire is a cross, so X inside A MINSTER.
6 Dossier's place in affair besetting current politicians (6,7)
FILING CABINET: I for current inside FLING, then the obvious group of politicians.
7 In France, a key old international agency (6)
UNESCO: UN is “a” in French of course, ESC is a computer key, O is old.
8 What about two media bigshots gets noticed (6)
HEEDED: EH backwards, then two ED{itors}.
10 Noticing Mafia criminalblowing things up (13)
MAGNIFICATION: (NOTICING MAFIA*).
15 Barge in front of canal has great horses around (4-5)
GATE CRASH: (C HAS GREAT*), where the C comes from the front of CANAL.
16 Beastly male with an aggressor's weapon (8)
TOMAHAWK: TOM, A HAWK.
17 Agreed East End's in need of renovation (8)
ASSENTED: (EAST ENDS*).
19 Jumped in Sierra before accident (6)
SPRANG: S for Sierra, PRANG.
20 Property to develop? Not at first (6)
ESTATE: {g}ESTATE.
23 Left port carrying cargo (5)
LADEN: L, ADEN.
Clues are in blue, with definitions underlined. Answers are in BOLD CAPS, followed by the wordplay. (ABC*) means 'anagram of ABC', with the anagram indicator in bold italics. Deletions are in {curly brackets}.
Across
1 Scot's pretty heartless, certainly not fed up! (4)
BONY: take the middle “n” out of BONNY.
3 Two boys look embarrassed to get a big hand (5,5)
ROYAL FLUSH: here are ROY and AL again, blushing.
9 Endless fun with French girlfriend in US city (7)
LARAMIE: a LAR{k}, avec ma AMIE.
11 Dramatist, English writer, penning story (7)
MOLIERE: LIE in (Thomas) MORE.
12 Alcohol's taken in small drops — it's silky stuff (9)
GROSGRAIN: S in GROG, then RAIN.
13 Med resort's inspiring hotel in suitable place (5)
NICHE: H in NICE.
14 Backing statute, rulers second support for motion (7,5)
WALKING STICK: LAW backwards, KINGS, TICK.
18 Pub riot, with cokes spilled? It's young people's entertainment (7,5)
PICTURE BOOK: (PUB RIOT COKES*).
21 High official and old men laugh (5)
PASHA: PAS, HA.
22 Building feature: walls in Nevada and Delaware (9)
COLONNADE: the COLON is “:”, NA I guessed is Nevada, DE clearly Delaware. On edit: as john_dun suggests, you can take “walls” as meaning outside letters of Nevada and Delaware, so you don’t need to know the codes, and Nevada is actually NV!
24 Tongue in need of a drink (7)
ARABICA: ARABIC, A. One of my tipples of choice!
25 Take away starter of tempura transported back (7)
DETRACT: T{empura}, CARTED – all reversed. Definition as in “not to detract from …”.
26 Bird's places for putting some wool, say (10)
GREENSHANK: by now I should see “putting” and automatically think “golf”. So, they putt on GREENS, and wool can come in a HANK.
27 Runner would briefly lose control in motion (4)
SKID: SKI WOULD briefly is SKI’D.
Down
1 £50 in pocket, have fine attire (8)
BALLGOWN: L for fifty, L for pound. Insert in BAG, and add OWN.
2 Just managed to put up with Lowry novel (8)
NARROWLY: RAN backwards, (LOWRY*). No need to think about who Lowry was, if anyone.
4 Round and large character (5)
OMEGA: O is round, MEGA is big.
5 Saltire bedecked by a church's patterned covering (9)
AXMINSTER: a saltire is a cross, so X inside A MINSTER.
6 Dossier's place in affair besetting current politicians (6,7)
FILING CABINET: I for current inside FLING, then the obvious group of politicians.
7 In France, a key old international agency (6)
UNESCO: UN is “a” in French of course, ESC is a computer key, O is old.
8 What about two media bigshots gets noticed (6)
HEEDED: EH backwards, then two ED{itors}.
10 Noticing Mafia criminalblowing things up (13)
MAGNIFICATION: (NOTICING MAFIA*).
15 Barge in front of canal has great horses around (4-5)
GATE CRASH: (C HAS GREAT*), where the C comes from the front of CANAL.
16 Beastly male with an aggressor's weapon (8)
TOMAHAWK: TOM, A HAWK.
17 Agreed East End's in need of renovation (8)
ASSENTED: (EAST ENDS*).
19 Jumped in Sierra before accident (6)
SPRANG: S for Sierra, PRANG.
20 Property to develop? Not at first (6)
ESTATE: {g}ESTATE.
23 Left port carrying cargo (5)
LADEN: L, ADEN.