Phew! What a task to unravel quite a work this morning. Each clue, a torturous torment but what a tremendous triumph when solved and understood. Surely this will stand out as one of the best I have tackled lately.
ACROSS
1 SIKES SPIKES (points) minus P (penny) William "Bill" Sikes is a fictional character, a rough and barbaric man in the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.
4 PUPPY LOVE PUPPY (item of a litter of young animals) LOVE (not a thing, nothing)
9 QUAVERING Ins of VE (empty VasE) in SQUARING (evening) minus S (shillings)
10 RABBI RABBIT (talk) minus T (time)
11 ELIJAH Ins of J (judge) in ELIAH (rev of HAILED minus D)
12 STAIRWAY Ins of T (T-cross) & AIR (wind) in SWAY (rock)
14 TRAVEL-SICK Lovely cd
16 BASH dd
19 rha deliberately omitted
20 SCREEN TEST &littish *(CENTRE'S SET)
22 PAPERBOY Ins of *(PROBE) in PAY (money)
23 ALECTO Ins of ECT (electro-convulsive therapy) in 'ALO (saintly circle or halo as said by a Cockney) for one of the Furies, hideous snake-haired monsters who pursued unpunished criminals, The other two were Megaera and Tisiphone
26 SALVO SALVER (plate) with ER (Elizabeth Regina, queen) replaced by O (first letter of outlaw). My COD for a creative and original def - big shots going off together !
27 OPAL GLASS *(GAP ALL'S SO)
28 ON-THE-SPOT dd certain minor infringement of the law may be settled then and there when the culprit is apprehended e.g. dropping litter
29 TELEX Sounds like TELL (as in order her to shut up) EX (divorcee)
DOWN
1 SEQUESTER Ins of QUEST (expedition) in SEE (notice) & R (river)
2 KHAKI worK witH teA breaK + I (one) ; a devilish clue
3 SEE-SAWED Cha of SEES (witnesses) AWED (filled with dread)
4 PRIM PRIME (get ready for action) minus E
5 PIG-STICKER Cha of PIG (gorge or eat greedily) S (second) TICKER (watch)
6 YARDIE YAR (rev of RAY, a glimmer of hope) DIE (stop) for a member of a W Indian gang or Mafia-like syndicate involved in drug-dealing and related crime
7 OX-BOW LAKE OX (neat) *(BLOKE With A) ... what an excellent def
8 EMILY EMIL (rev of LIME tree) Y (looks like a catapult)
13 PSYCHOPOMP PSYCHO (famous Alfred Hitchcock flick) POMP (impressive show) for a conductor of souls to the afterworld
15 AUTOPILOT Cha of AU (aurum, gold, shiny metal) + ins of I (one) in TOP (cap) & LOT (helping)
17 HIT FOR SIX Ins of OR (other ranks, soldiers, men) in *(FIX THIS)
18 IN-FLIGHT Bolting or running away is in flight. I like the def
21 BROOKE Ins of O (old) in BROKE (cleaned out financially) for either Arthur Brooke (died circa 1563) of The Tragicall History of Romeus and Juliet (1562) fame; or Rupert Chawner Brooke (1887 – 1915) known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World War, especially The Soldier.
22 PESTO PRESTO (quickly) minus R (runs) for an Italian sauce made chiefly of basil and cheese, with pine nuts and olive oil
24 CRAWL Ins of A W (west quarter) in CiRcLe
25 WAIT Sounds like WEIGHT (bias)
Key to abbreviations
dd = double definition
dud = duplicate definition
tichy = tongue-in-cheek type
cd = cryptic definition
rev = reversed or reversal
ins = insertion
cha = charade
ha = hidden answer
rha = reversed hidden answer
*(fodder) = anagram
ACROSS
1 SIKES SPIKES (points) minus P (penny) William "Bill" Sikes is a fictional character, a rough and barbaric man in the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.
4 PUPPY LOVE PUPPY (item of a litter of young animals) LOVE (not a thing, nothing)
9 QUAVERING Ins of VE (empty VasE) in SQUARING (evening) minus S (shillings)
10 RABBI RABBIT (talk) minus T (time)
11 ELIJAH Ins of J (judge) in ELIAH (rev of HAILED minus D)
12 STAIRWAY Ins of T (T-cross) & AIR (wind) in SWAY (rock)
14 TRAVEL-SICK Lovely cd
16 BASH dd
19 rha deliberately omitted
20 SCREEN TEST &littish *(CENTRE'S SET)
22 PAPERBOY Ins of *(PROBE) in PAY (money)
23 ALECTO Ins of ECT (electro-convulsive therapy) in 'ALO (saintly circle or halo as said by a Cockney) for one of the Furies, hideous snake-haired monsters who pursued unpunished criminals, The other two were Megaera and Tisiphone
26 SALVO SALVER (plate) with ER (Elizabeth Regina, queen) replaced by O (first letter of outlaw). My COD for a creative and original def - big shots going off together !
27 OPAL GLASS *(GAP ALL'S SO)
28 ON-THE-SPOT dd certain minor infringement of the law may be settled then and there when the culprit is apprehended e.g. dropping litter
29 TELEX Sounds like TELL (as in order her to shut up) EX (divorcee)
DOWN
1 SEQUESTER Ins of QUEST (expedition) in SEE (notice) & R (river)
2 KHAKI worK witH teA breaK + I (one) ; a devilish clue
3 SEE-SAWED Cha of SEES (witnesses) AWED (filled with dread)
4 PRIM PRIME (get ready for action) minus E
5 PIG-STICKER Cha of PIG (gorge or eat greedily) S (second) TICKER (watch)
6 YARDIE YAR (rev of RAY, a glimmer of hope) DIE (stop) for a member of a W Indian gang or Mafia-like syndicate involved in drug-dealing and related crime
7 OX-BOW LAKE OX (neat) *(BLOKE With A) ... what an excellent def
8 EMILY EMIL (rev of LIME tree) Y (looks like a catapult)
13 PSYCHOPOMP PSYCHO (famous Alfred Hitchcock flick) POMP (impressive show) for a conductor of souls to the afterworld
15 AUTOPILOT Cha of AU (aurum, gold, shiny metal) + ins of I (one) in TOP (cap) & LOT (helping)
17 HIT FOR SIX Ins of OR (other ranks, soldiers, men) in *(FIX THIS)
18 IN-FLIGHT Bolting or running away is in flight. I like the def
21 BROOKE Ins of O (old) in BROKE (cleaned out financially) for either Arthur Brooke (died circa 1563) of The Tragicall History of Romeus and Juliet (1562) fame; or Rupert Chawner Brooke (1887 – 1915) known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World War, especially The Soldier.
22 PESTO PRESTO (quickly) minus R (runs) for an Italian sauce made chiefly of basil and cheese, with pine nuts and olive oil
24 CRAWL Ins of A W (west quarter) in CiRcLe
25 WAIT Sounds like WEIGHT (bias)
Key to abbreviations
dd = double definition
dud = duplicate definition
tichy = tongue-in-cheek type
cd = cryptic definition
rev = reversed or reversal
ins = insertion
cha = charade
ha = hidden answer
rha = reversed hidden answer
*(fodder) = anagram
Comments
Anyway, my subject line today should read: 'All bar two and a half...', as I completed all bar BROOKE and WAIT (galling, as I had worked out the wordplay, so should've got those two), and had PSYCHO-O-P. Since I've never heard of the word, I don't think I could ever have got that one! Oh, and I too had SYKES (doesn't it somehow look far more Dickensian than SIKES?), having convinced myself that spykes were some form of points.
Unknowns today for me were ALECTO and OPAL GLASS, but both well clued.
COD: PUPPY LOVE, for the misdirection of 'Item of litter...'