I have said it before and no doubt I will say it again, but this was a very Mondayish type of puzzle, offering much to biffers and erudite personages alike. If a little too sciency for my taste, at least I had heard of the the supersonic Austrian and he was balanced by some nice ecclesiastical stuff. The award for oddest clue must go to 3 down, which seems to have been generated by machine. The 'Obscure Word Being Clued by an Anagram' brigade will have been sharpening their claws, ready to tear the setter's vegetable patch to shreds, until...until they realised the letters could really go in no other order. Or could they? We shall surely find out.

I polished this off in less than 22 minutes, but I feel that some of the speed merchants may be hovering around the 5-minute mark.

ACROSS

1 Dodgy dealings exposed by astute medical centre (5,8)
SHARP PRACTICE - SHARP (astute) PRACTICE (as in 'Peak', where Sgt Lewis went after Morse's moroseness finally got to him); this would have been my first biff if I started at 1a
9 Throw out slippery customer pinching 10p (5)
EXPEL - X P in EEL
10 Books turned out by peer knowing how sticky liquids flow? (9)
VISCOUSLY - VISCOU[nt] SLY (knowing)
11 Desert transport rejected by male supporter of Oxford Movement (10)
TRACTARIAN - reversal of RAT (desert) CART (transport) IAN (random male)
12 Jacob’s wife? Sounds like Cordelia’s father! (4)
LEAH - sounds like LEAR; you have to worry about Jacob. We are told that Leah (Laban's elder daughter who was fobbed off on Jacob by her dad after he'd waited seven years for the comely younger daughter Rachel) had weak eyes. But if someone slips into your tent on your wedding night and you don't realise it's not the one you've been lusting after all those years, then I think you're the one that needs the eye test, no?
14 Slaughter forest keeper ultimately associated with big cat (7)
TROUNCE - [fores]T [keep[e]R OUNCE; even if David Attenborough wouldn't recognise an 'ounce' if it crept into his tent at night and said it wanted to marry him, there isn't a cruciverbalist worth his or her salt who isn't onto one of these things quicker than a Eurocrat can say 'That'll be 20 billion euros, merci/danke'.
16 Rebel leader locked up by some of the French for ages! (7)
DECADES - CADE (arguably the most famous crossword rebel) in DES (French for 'some')
17 Double-breasted jackets originally exhibited in adverts (7)
REEFERS - E[xhibited] in REFERS
19 Proposition boy soldiers misunderstood at first (7)
THEOREM - THEO (our second random male) RE (soldiers) M[isunderstood]
20 Place and time to strike on green (4)
PUTT - PUT T
21 Member involved in, say, Ulster disturbance a fellow-countryman (10)
COMPATRIOT - MP in COAT (Ulster is a type of coat) RIOT
24 Further issue mostly raised when lacking a hire contract (9)
RERELEASE - REARE[d] is mostly raised, subtract the A to give RERE, add LEASE (hire contract); slightly weird clue, but most will biff it, anyway
25 Dismal swimmer in river (5)
BLEAK - double definition; no, I've never heard of a bleak either [on edit: last Tuesday, Jack wrote against the clue for BLEAK HOUSE: 'BLEAK (fish - a type of carp ), HOUSE (harbour - provide accommodation). An unbiffable clue'. Um, sorry, you were wrong, J!]
26 Battered by elements, survive at end of hike in mountain (7-6)
WEATHER-BEATEN - WEATHER (survive) AT [hik]E in BEN (mountain)

DOWN

1 Magazine proprietors finally left Rugby, say? (9,5)
SPECTATOR SPORT - SPECTATOR (magazine) [proprietor]S PORT (left)
2 For Greeks, a sacred river first of all (5)
ALPHA - ALPH (Coleridge's sacred river, which ran through caverns measureless to man) A[ll]
3 Plant protector only Len put out (10)
POLYTUNNEL - anagram* of ONLY LEN PUT; a clochey thing made of polythene
4 Back minister introducing minority language (7)
REVERSE - REV ERSE
5 Celebrity dips into dictionary — it bears fruit (7)
COSTARD - STAR in COD (Concise Oxford Dictionary)
6 Smooth Federalist leaders symbolise it (4)
IRON - Iron has the chemical symbol FE, which are the first letters of FE[deralist]
7 London resident and European, equally soft-hearted (4,5)
EAST ENDER - a European who was not merely after the UK's money but had more valorous feelings might (if he or she existed) be an E AS TENDER as, well, IAN and THEO for starters
8 Similarly, they beat monks, somehow touring east (2,3,4,5)
BY THE SAME TOKEN - E in THEY BEAT MONKS*
13 Current edible fungus served on board — it’s OK (10)
ACCEPTABLE - AS CEP TABLE (board)
15 Defeat the endless argument supporting deliveries (9)
OVERTHROW - TH[e] ROW on OVER (six balls in cricket)
18 Way Austrian physicist keeps old bear (7)
STOMACH - O in ST [Ernst] MACH
19 Principal girl’s initial attention engaged by speedy drivers? (3,4)
TOP GEAR - TOP (principal) G[irl's] EAR; I'd have thought 'engaged by any driver who didn't want to blow his or her engine' might be more apposite, but, then again, it doesn't have quite the same ring to it
22 One clear about parking being awkward (5)
INEPT - I P in NET (clear)
23 Russian woman missing source of river (4)
OLGA - v[OLGA] gives our random devushka

I didn’t notice while working it last week, but this puzzle has a large number (13!) of enclosure clues.

As usual, I went through this in no great haste, taking time to stop and savor (when warranted) the surfaces. Life is too short to biff it away.

I do (gramasan)* like this, and italicize anagrinds in the clue.

ACROSS

1	Furniture not completed very quickly (5)
	SOFAS — SO FAS[-t]. IKEA only has four letters, so couldn’t have been that…
4	In trouble, guy is flirt (8)
	WOMANISE — WO(MAN IS)E. Guilty as charged! I see “flirt” is an accepted synonym, but I always imagine womanising as going a bit further…
8	Fancy dinner parties interrupted by a no-hoper? (14)
	PREDESTINARIAN — (dinner parties + a)* Who let him in here? It’s only logical that an omniscient God would know who will go to Heaven and who to Hell, so it would seem that the Calvinists would have to be right about this, if you believe in an omniscient God (and the whole separating-the-sheep-and-goats thing). Problem is, the concept of monotheism, a great logical step forward, entailed the notions of this entity’s omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience—which attributes retrospectively introduce incoherencies and contradictions into the tales that were told in earlier epochs about an all-too-human Creator.
10	Before a call, Romeo spoke (6)
	RADIAL — R(omeo, as in the NATO alphabet) + A DIAL.
11	Soapstone location found around tea time (8)
	STEATITE — S(TEA)( T)ITE. NHO, but it was easy enough to work out. Rather a lackluster surface.
13	European plan beset by harsh conduct (9)
	DEMEANOUR — D(E)(MEAN)OUR. “Mean” is a verb here, “I mean to…,” “I plan to…”
14	Makeshift hospital acquired by a physician (2,3)
	AD HOC — A D(H)OC You have to work with what you can get.
15	Iron in mouth turned muddy (5)
	BEFOG — GO(FE)B <— I don’t get a clear picture from this.
17	Moved beams in to touch wood (5,4)
	ABSIT OMEN — (beams in to)* A Latin phrase that didn’t immediately come to mind. That it is an anagram clue, and what the definition is, seem pretty obvious, but the first four-letter word I tried was AMEN.
19	Brown bags for a scholar in Kent (8)
	SUPERMAN — “Brown” is SUN (or “tan”), which encloses (“bags”) “for a,” i.e., PER and “scholar,” M(aster of) A(rts).
20	Crook feeds amazing bat (6)
	WILLOW — W(ILL)OW. “Crook” with a sense of “ill” was new to me. Australian. It’s a cricket bat, but I knew that.
23	Good friends supply sweet eaten by one daughter (4-10)
	WELL-ACQUAINTED — WELL is a “supply,” and QUAINT (somewhat to my surprise) is “sweet,” which is inside ACE (“one”) D(aughter). “We’re well-acquainted,” “We’re good friends”—passes the substitution test, despite an apparent grammatical mismatch.
24	Checked defect in the diamonds (8)
	THWARTED — TH(WART)E D
25	Parasite taking shelter by church (5)
	LEECH — LEE (“shelter”) + CH

DOWN
1	Small uniform for a senior cop (5)
	SUPER — S + U + PER (“for a”). The latter part we also have in the clue for… SUPERMAN. Looks a bit lazy.
2	Right to avoid delivery charges? (7,2,6)
	FREEDOM OF SPEECH — Cryptic Definition.
3	Some of us met an amazing composer (7)
	SMETANA — Czech, 1824–1884.
4	Behind comedian, horse (4)
	WITH — WIT + H. As in backing, supporting, “I’m with her.” You might have seen the definition as a position indicator at first (I did).
5	Painter is stopping his work to see financial expert (10)
	MONETARIST — MONET + AR(IS)T. Well, maybe for an hour or so, to confer with Georges Petit…
6	In heaven grandma carries one version of the Bible (7)
	NIRVANA — N(I + RV)ANA. A bit unusual to have a surface-connector word opening the clue, with the def. right behind it. It was always the King James Version in my family.
7	Fried food spread is in line to be cut (7,8)
	SPANISH OMELETTE — SPAN, “spread” + IS + HOME, “in,” + LETTE[-r], “line,” cut. “Thought I’d drop a line,” write a letter—but Merriam-Webster defines “line” as “a short letter,” so perhaps “to be cut” could be cut! Kind of hard to give a plausible sense to the surface.
9	Refuse to accept fire warning (6)
	BEACON — BE A CON
12	Rovers player on after Caledonian meeting (5,5)
	ROYAL ASCOT — So there was a British comic strip that ran for many years, Roy of the Rovers, about a young footballer. That was news to me, so this was my last one in, though the wordplay is pretty obvious. His name is tacked “on” (above, as is most proper for a down clue) to “after,” here meaning “in the style of,” A LA (we’re ignoring the grave accent, of course, but the French themselves often do so for capital letters) SCOT (“Caledonian”).
13	Corrupt, sleeping over? Endless sex (6)
	DEBASE — ABED<— + SE[-x]. I’ve heard it said that Sunday puzzles are often racier than the usual weekday fare. I love this clue.
16	Wild animal area introduced by travel channel (7)
	GORILLA — GO (“travel”) + RILL (“channel”) “introduc[ing]” A(rea)
18	Minor hearing about sex (7)
	TRIVIAL — TRI(VI)AL. VI being six in Roman letters, or “sex” in Latin.
21	Thickness having to include diameter (5)
	WIDTH — WI(D)TH
22	Pool located, but not duck (4)
	FUND — F[-o]UND Where is that damned canard?

Nothing exceptional in this one - a steady solve. If I had to choose a favourite clue I think it would either be 57A or 3D.

Across
1 RECORD-BREAKER - double definition, the second slightly cryptic
8 SCRATCHES - double definition
13 LAPEL - LAP = drink, E(motiona)L
14 ON AVERAGE - O.R. = men, around NAVE = part of church, AGE = time
15 SUMMONS - SUM = whole lot, MONS = battle site
16 PUBLIC SECTOR - (CLUB PRICES TO)*
17 FREIGHTAGE - FE = iron around RAG = cheap paper, around EIGHT
18 ICE AGE - I = one, CAGE = prison, around (fir)E
19 PLEASING - PLEA = prayer, SING = render hymn
21 UNSHOD - cryptic definition where an Oxford is a type of shoe
24 GALLIVANTS - GALL = audacity, ITS = it is, around VAN = vehicle
26 INDIAN SUMMER - double definition, the first mildly cryptic with Ramanujan being an Indian mathematician. I had not heard of him
29 PERK - PER = through, (wor)K
30 PRODUCTS - PRO = one paid, DUCTS = channels
31 ARRESTEE - (A STEERER)*
34 RASCALLY - RALLY = political gathering around AS = like and C = Conservative
35 PANORAMA - PANAMA = country, around O = nothing and R = right
36 MUTT - hidden in theM UTTer
39 GO UP IN THE AIR - GO = travel, UP IN THE AIR = unresolved
40 DEMOLISHED - DEMO = protest, LID = cover, around SHE = female
43 INSECT - an IN SECT would be a group for the favoured few
44 VIREMENT - VT = TV = television, reversed, around IRE = anger and MEN = blokes
45 STATUS - STATS = figures, around U = university
49 ACIDULATED - (A CIT(y) LAUDED)* a
51 PROFITEROLES - PROFIT = gain, E = energy, ROLES = functions
53 ILL-USED - I LED = I was first, around LUS(t) = craving
54 TURNSTILE - TURN = performance, STILE sounds like STYLE = elegance
55 AWARE - A, WARE = community in Herts
56 NUMERICAL - NUM = trade union, ERICA = woman, L(eft)
57 GRACELESSNESS - double definition, the second cryptic
Down
1 RELAPSING - RELAP = PALER = having less colour, reversed, SING = grass
2 CAPABLE - PA = office assistant, in CABLE = tower (something used to tow)
3 ROLLING PIN - cryptic definition
4 BLOUSE - B(lack), LOUSE = parasite
5 EMANCIPATION - (IM ONE CAPTAIN)*
6 KEEL OVER - KEEL sounds like KEELE = university, OVER = maiden
7 REAL - double definition
8 SWEARING IN - SIN = wickedness, around WEARING = sporting
9 RUSTIC - R.U. = game, STIC(k) = pole
10 TIME-HONOURED - TIME = US magazine, HONOURED = given award
11 HOO-HA - HO, OH = house, both forward and reversed, A
12 SUSPENDER BELT - (LET BEN DRESS UP)*
20 SANCTION - CONTAINS*
22 HOME TRUTH - HOT = passionate, RUTH = woman, around ME = this person
23 PAMPHLET - PA = pop, MP = politician, H = hotel, LET = obstruction
25 LARKSPURS - LARKS = birds, around SPUR = incentive
27 NARRATOR, NAR = RAN = rushed, reversed, R = rex, A, TOR = hill
28 RUN A MILE - RULE = law, around NAM = MAN, reversed and I = one
29 PEREGRINATION - PER(son), E.G. = say, (travelle)R, I = one, NATION = country
32 CABIN CRUISER - (BEAR IN CIRCUS A)*
33 PATENT OFFICE - PATENT = obvious, OFF = not working, ICE = formality
37 REGIMENTAL - R = king, E.G. = say, I = one, MENTAL = mad
38 HISTORIANS - cryptic definition
41 DISASTERS - DIS = rubbish, ASTERS = plants
42 NEBRASKA - NE(w) = modern, BRA = support, SKA = dance music
46 TILLAGE - TILE = hat, around LAG = prisoner
47 BARDIC - BAR = pub, (e)DIC(t) = order
48 ETHENE - E THEN E = drug, followed by same again
50 ISLAM - hidden in rabbIS LAMentation
52 BRIG - alternate letters in BuRnInG

There might have been a bit of a retro feel to this puzzle. Old scientists, old literature, old poets, old playwrights. I liked the fact that the several such that I didn’t know were gettable from the wordplay! Thanks to the setter for a very enjoyable puzzle.

My LOI was 1dn, because I had a mental block. I liked 23ac for its disguise, and 19dn for its humour, but I might pick 24ac as clue of the day.

Clues are in blue, with definitions underlined. Answers are in BOLD CAPS, then wordplay. (ABC*) means 'anagram of ABC', with the anagram indicator in bold italics. Deletions are in [square brackets].

Across
1 Cut around bog's high ridge (4,4)
HOG’S BACK: HACK around an anagram of BOG’S.

5 What arithmetician does is brood at university (4,2)
TOTS UP: TOTS (brood), UP (at university).

9 Collar hasn't a zip (3)
NIL: NAIL (collar), less the “A”.

10 Carbon in gas fire, something to keep out the chill (11)
WINDCHEATER: C for carbon, in WIND HEATER.

12 Hide from man who's left school educated (10)
OBLITERATE: O.B. (old Boy, or man who’s left school), then LITERATE (educated).

13 Victor, say, heading for upset after hard game (4)
HUGO: H for hard, U from the heading of Upset, GO is the game.

15 Understood this Latin building style (6)
GOTHIC: GOT (understood), HIC (Latin for “this”).

16 Scoffed after New Age’s recent arrival (7)
NEONATE: ATE (scoffed) after N (new) EON (age).

18 Vent anger on school's Dickensian character (7)
PODSNAP: SNAP on POD. Didn’t know the character, but trusted the wordplay.

20 Conflict not required to see off a group of Nazis (6)
NEEDLE: drop the S.S. off NEEDLESS. Neat device; nasty group!

23 Novice boxes in learner driver? (4)
CLUB: L in CUB. Cute disguise of the definition: golf, not motoring.

24 Seizure by police to get the job done (3,3,4)
FIT THE BILL: FIT (seizure), THE BILL (police).

26 The writer's going to island covered in mud — he's rolling in it (11)
MILLIONAIRE: I’ll (the writer will), then IONA (island), all covered in MIRE (mud).

27 Some work accordingly isn't finished (3)
ERG: the ERG is a unit of physical work, ERGO is a logical or mathematical version of “accordingly”.

28 Lower number follows unspecified one (6)
NETHER: N for unspecified number with a voiced “b”, ETHER is a number with an unvoiced “b”. Cunning! Definition is as in “nether regions”.

29 A sauce eaten by wrong butcher? (8)
ASSASSIN: SASS is the sauce, so put A SASS inside A SIN.


Down
1 The sound of appealing gig (6)
HANSOM: sounds like “handsome”. This was hard to see, because in my ignorance of all things related to horses and carriages, I imagined a hansom cab with its roof and doors was a different, heavier class of vehicle than a gig, which I imagine as light and open. But the dictionary agrees with the setter that hansoms are light two-wheeled carriages.

2 Miss sign probed by one scientist (7)
GALILEO: GAL (miss), LEO (sign), collectively probed by “I” (one).

3 Lovely creature's embraced with irritation (10)
BEWITCHING: BEING (creature) to embrace ITCH (irritation).

4 Church plugs device as a way to avoid issue (13)
CONTRACEPTION: CE in CONTRAPTION. No mention of that other church in this context, please.

6 War writer's love novel rejected (4)
OWEN: O (love), then NEW (novel) backwards (rejected). Wilfred Owen, I assume

7 Posed a gripping problem, something to get your teeth into! (7)
SATSUMA: SAT (posed) plus A, gripping SUM (problem).

8 Knock up meat dish for a tale teller (8)
PARDONER: RAP (knock) backwards (up), then DONER. Reference to one of the Canterbury Tales.

11 One used to flog online business, blocking terrible sanction (3-1-4-5)
CAT-O’-NINE-TAILS: E-TAIL (online business, if you must use this term for it), inside an anagram (terrible) of (SANCTION*).

14 Playwright made great strides, European star (4,2,4)
LOPE DE VEGA: LOPED (made great strides), E (European), VEGA (star). New to me.

17 Cash reduced by bishops, for example (8)
SPECIMEN: SPECI[e] (cash), MEN (chess men, such as bishops).

19 Characters in flannelette, cotton or natty jacket? (7)
DOUBLET: since all three words in the list are spelt with a DOUBLE-T!

21 Its role is to reform lags? (7)
LOITERS: anagram (reform) of (ITS ROLE*).

22 Leave pastry wraps and an amount of drink (6)
FLAGON: FLAN (pastry) wraps GO (leave).

25 Cut a couple of diamonds (4)
DICE: D is the first diamond, ICE the second.

This crossword, unless I've seriously dropped the ball, is a NONGRAM, but that didn't stop it from being brilliant, with it being quite hard to discern the location of the definition part in a vast majority of the clues, necessitating much teasing-out of the possibilities from the complex and interesting wordplay. On a number of occasions (chiefly the unknown phrase at 14ac, but also 1dn, 8dn, 20dn, 22dn, 24ac, 25ac...) I basically had to construct the answer piecemeal from bits of the clue before the penny dropped, and I always think a crossword is great when it makes you really work for your supper. Some super vocab in here too - PIAFFE crossing with STAFFAGE, corks! - and just the right amount of quiz-type historical, geographical and Biblical knowledge to be satisfying. Very great respect to the setter indeed.

Quite a few candidates for Clue of the Day as a result; I was very impressed by 10ac (there was an unusual number of high quality homophone clues throughout, in fact) and 22dn, but I think the top award from me really has to go to 4dn where "ragged" contributes to the surface reading if you pronounce it one way, or acts as an anagrind if the other - what a superb &lit clue!

ACROSS
1 Censures concerning academics repeating nothing (8)
REPROOFS - RE PROFS [concerning academics], but with the O repeated

5 One getting in the groove playing lusty lead in story (6)
STYLUS - (LUSTY*) ["playing"] + S{tory}

9 Employees having time for painting accessories (8)
STAFFAGE - STAFF [employees] having AGE [time]. The simplest possible wordplay for quite an obscure word!

10 What can go with a bit of the match broadcast (6)
BRIDLE - homophone of BRIDAL [of the match]

12 William, killed hunting game, tailed grouse (5)
RUFUS - RU [game] + FUS{s} ["tailed" grouse]. That's William Rufus as in William II.

13 Waste no time visiting daughter in decline (3,2,4)
RUN TO SEED - RUN TO SEE [waste no time visiting] + D [daughter]

14 Just past tree, men with the trailer (2,1,5,4)
BY A SHORT HEAD - BY ASH OR [past | tree | men] with THE AD [the | trailer]

18 Swell new offer blocked by pro? That mustn’t happen! (6,6)
HEAVEN FORBID - HEAVE N BID [swell | new | offer] "blocked by" FOR [pro]

21 Best, once again, note, to study inquiry briefly (9)
RECONQUER - RE CON QUER{y} [note | to study | inquiry "briefly"]

23 Take the part of a basin which fills with water (5)
PLAYA - PLAY A [take the part of | a]

24 Horn put out note, holding firm? Hardly! (6)
KLAXON - K.O. N [put out | note], "holding" LAX [firm? hardly!]

25 Canadian native coming across a person with whistle and light (8)
CAREFREE - CREE [Canadian native] "coming across" A REF [a | person with whistle]

26 Job to follow this wild-west hero’s part (6)
ESTHER - hidden in {wild-w}EST HER{o's}. Being the book of the Bible that precedes Job.

27 Sickly after vacation, blames bad diet (8)
ASSEMBLY - (S{ickl}Y + BLAMES*) ["bad"]

DOWN
1 Succeeded in shouting a string of requests etc (6)
ROSARY - S [succeeded] in ROARY [shouting]

2 Irrational blunder deposing leader: one’s executed on the spot (6)
PIAFFE - PI {g}AFFE [irrational | blunder, "deposing leader"]

3 Historic defence beginning when king covered in woad? (5,4)
OFFA'S DYKE - OFF AS [beginning | when] + K [king] "covered in" DYE [woad?]

4 Four endlessly suffering when ragged? (7,2,3)
FIGURES OF FUN - (FOU{r} + SUFFERING*) ["ragged"], &lit

6 Part of engine died: track going uphill (5)
TURBO - OB RUT [died | track], all reversed

7 Ran, directed outside summer shows (8)
LADDERED - LED [directed] "outside" ADDER [summer]

8 Relatives rung by prosecutor and detective (8)
STEPDADS - STEP [rung] by DA [prosecutor] and DS [detective]

11 There’s no chance of that Roy getting off with nursemaid! (2,4,6)
IN YOUR DREAMS - (ROY + NURSEMAID*) ["getting off"]

15 End of yarn still to be picked up (9)
TAILPIECE - homophone of TALE PEACE [yarn | still]

16 Brave of Nancy’s dear old chief to speak out (8)
CHEROKEE - CHER [Nancy's, i.e. French word for, dear] + O [old] + homophone of KEY [chief]

17 Noble bringing in woman who’ll do diagram (3,5)
BAR CHART - BART. [noble] "bringing in" CHAR [woman who'll do]

19 Capital letters at either end on short flyer (6)
ZAGREB - Z A [letters at either end (of the alphabet)] on GREB{e} ["short" flyer]

20 Through stuffing bird, cracks appear (6)
JAPERY - PER [through] "stuffing" JAY [bird]

22 Oscar using something hooked sometimes for a coat hanger (5)
NOOSE - O [Oscar] using NOSE [something hooked sometimes] "for a coat"

I see 84 contestants attempted this and 33 got it correct. So, not a piece of cake. I got it right eventually, but not under exam room presssure.
I found this a game of two halves. The RHS went in reasonably smoothly, after a couple of minutes reading through and finding little by way of easy clues to get me going. 4a was my FOI. It didn't then help that I had at first put in RUMINATE for 8d, before seeing the fishy mathematician at 16a.The LHS took longer, but in retrospect I can't see why, there is nothing too nasty about it, I just wasn't on song. Nowhere near a 20 minute romp which I'd have needed on the day.
Maybe because of the lack of on-song mood, verging on headache, I didn't particularly enjoy this, but it is noteworthy for having a Yiddish word I actually knew, which is probably a first.

Across
1	Deliberate snatching is bad treatment (6)
	MISUSE - MUSE = deliberate, snatches IS inside.
4	Brilliant odds before racehorse runs (8)
	SPARKLER - SP = odds, ARKLE was a racehorse of note, R = runs.
10	One who has it may quickly lose it (5,4)
	SHORT FUSE - cryptic def.
11	Perhaps a sett … the setter’s material (5)
	DENIM - DEN = perhaps a sett, which is a badger's den; I'M = the setter's.
12	General grounds for curtailment (3)
	LEE - I think this is LEES = grounds, as in coffee for example, curtailed.
13	Lumières can’t broadcast without a place to show all their work? (11)
	MULTISCREEN - Anagram of (LUMIERES C NT)*, the A you are told to omit.
14	The endless growth in snooker (6)
	THWART - TH(E), WART = growth. I think snooker has a more specific definition than 'thwart'.
16	Man responsible for distribution of toxin around centre of Salisbury (7)
	POISSON - If you didn't do any statistics or A Level maths, you could still get to the answer from word play I think. POISON = toxin, has S the middle of Salisbury, inserted. Poisson was a French chap who understood about statistical distributions, which I can just about remember learning about, and he also had a Series (or series of series?) named after him, which I never got to grips with.
19	A beastly mother keeping literary retrospective for gifted child (7)
	MATILDA - A DAM = a beastly mother, holds on to LIT, then all reversed. Matilda is the title of a book by Roald Dahl about a gifted child.
20	Detective Gadget succeeded inside the CID, for example (6)
	SENSOR - S inside SENOR. I am thinking, here SENOR = CID in so far as El Cid was a Spanish señor or Lord. Have I missed the plot?
22	One who introduces expert on Browning? (11)
	TOASTMASTER - Cryptic DD, where a toast master would be good at making brown toast.
25	Attempt retiring (3)
	SHY - DD.
26	One might see spider on this: howls out loud? (5)
	BAIZE - BAIZE sounds like BAYS = howls; a reference to an elongated rest device used on a snooker table, which is of course baize covered.
27	Categorise works evading understanding, ultimately as such (9)
	ESOTERICA - Anagram of (CATE ORISE)* where the G is omitted as instructed by "evading understandinG ultimately". "As such" referring to the surface meaning.
28	Occasion that is wrapping up day (8)
	EVENTIDE - Cryptic definition that took me ages to see, after lots of present-giving festivals had come and gone. EDIT there's more to this, see parsing by our friend ejected from Bletchley, second comment below.
29	A carriage heading for Scottish cathedral city (6)
	AMIENS - I had this quickly, as we pass by the city on the way to Calais often enough, but it could be tricky if you're not hot on French geography. A, MIEN = carriage, S = heading for Scottish.

Down
1	Might Mark blitz clues? (6)
	MUSCLE - M, (CLUES)*. a simple clue I made difficult.
2	Singer’s second discussion about sound quality? (9)
	STONECHAT - S = second, TONE CHAT = discussion about sound quality, if you like. Know your birds to succeed at crosswords.
3	She’s short with pot belly — that’s Mum! (5)
	SHTUM - SH(E), TUM = pot belly. Keep shtum = be quiet, you shmuck.
5	Bent coppers splitting up, say (14)
	PREDISPOSITION - Parsed after the event. DIS = coppers, splits PREPOSITION, of which UP is an example.
6	Censorship of the October Revolution? (9)
	REDACTION - RED ACTION being a way to describe what went on in November 1917.
7	Move impetuously to sacrifice pawn and foil attack? (5)
	LUNGE - PLUNGE = move impetuously, loses a P. LUNGE as in a fencing move with a foil.
8	Harry Truman taking on board current thinking (8)
	RUMINANT - (TRUMAN)* takes an IN inside, IN being current. Thinking as a participle adjective, as in 'the thinking man'.
9	Comprehensive school’s first XI linked up with a top forward (4,5,5)
	FULL STEAM AHEAD - FULL = comprehensive, S = school's first; TEAM = XI; A HEAD = a top.
15	Frequently outspoken on males: time for a quota (9)
	ALLOTMENT - ALLOT sounds like A LOT = frequently; MEN for males; T for time.
17	Evergreen explorer cut down in front of Resolution (5,4)
	SCOTS PINE - SCOTT the polar explorer chap loses his last S, then SPINE = resolution.
18	I am one member of nest maybe suited to parrots (8)
	IMITABLE - I am = I'M I (= ONE) TABLE, as small tables can come in a nest where they all fit one on the other. Why do they call them Occasional Tables? We use ours all the time.
21	Major operation as Times each year put on finals of puzzles championships (6)
	BYPASS - BY = Times, multiplied by; PA = each year, S S = end letters of puzzles championships. A timely reference in the surface.
23	Cast me in a film (5)
	ANIME - (ME IN A)*. Anime is some sort of a Japanese cartoon genre I believe.
24	Discharge suspect concealing high explosive (5)
	RHEUM - RUM = suspect, insert HE for the explosive stuff. The word RHEUM always makes me think of Peter Sellers as Clouseau asking for a rheum. That was great stuff. Toodle Pip!

All quite straightforward, and non less enjoyable for it. My only biff was 21dn, which seemed a reasonable word, and was clued generously. I had made a note to revisit the (on first thought, questionable) synonymity at 16ac, only to have the penny drop. COD to 9dn - great misdirection, and having spotted how the clue worked early, only wished I'd got it sooner!

Definitions underlined.

Across
7	African mammal found in book, a pig (5)
	OKAPI - hidden in boOK A PIg.
8	Mother has difficult dog (7)
	MASTIFF - MA (mother) and STIFF (difficult).
10	Different era isn't more unpleasant (7)
	NASTIER - anagram of (different) ERA ISN'T.
11	Wash first of nightclothes in advance (5)
	RINSE - first letter of Nightclothes inside RISE (advance).
12	Find out it's arcane, mysteriously (9)
	ASCERTAIN - anagram of (mysteriously) IT'S ARCANE.
14	Head erased from colossal image (3)
	PIC - ePIC (colossal) missing its first letter (head erased).
15	Oddly, niece is born (3)
	NEE - odd letters from (oddly) NiEcE.
16	Flower spread, a hundred having risen (9)
	BUTTERCUP - BUTTER (spread, in its verb sense), C (a hundred) and UP (risen).
18	Former leaders in Chelsea evidently like to do well (5)
	EXCEL - EX (former) and first letters from (leaders in) Chelsea, Evident and Like.
20	Quite a few cut, almost everyone (7)
	SEVERAL - SEVER (cut) and all but the last letter of (almost) ALl (everyone).
22	Presume needs fixing, above all (7)
	SUPREME - anagram of (needs fixing) PRESUME.
23	Negative male in America (5)
	MINUS - M (male), IN, and US (America).

Down
1	Climbers — our team's nine, roughly (12)
	MOUNTAINEERS - anagram of (roughly) OUR TEAM'S NINE.
2	Service area, carnage (8)
	MASSACRE - MASS (service) and ACRE (area).
3	Little car entering Jerusalem in Israel (4)
	MINI - hidden in (entering) jerusaleM IN Israel.
4	Leader leaves English county for Italian region (6)
	UMBRIA - cUMBRIA (English county) missing its first letter (leader leaves).
5	Alienate new sergeant (8)
	ESTRANGE - anagram of (new) SERGEANT.
6	Loud pub, European (4)
	FINN - F (forte, loud) and INN (pub).
9	Beaten pro flinches, heavyweight's heading for a shiner? (6,6)
	FRENCH POLISH - anagram of (beaten) PRO FLINCHES with first letter of (heading) Heavyweight.
13	Beauty in red rose (8)
	REBELLED - BELLE (beauty) inside RED.
14	Surprisingly porcine, old sheep's cheese (8)
	PECORINO - anagram of (surprisingly) PORCINE then O (old).
17	Person checking street out (6)
	TESTER - anagram of (out) STREET.
19	Manage work in church (4)
	COPE - OP (opus, work) in CE (Church of England, church).
21	Very basic electrical unit for siren (4)
	VAMP - V (very) and AMP (basic electrical unit). Chambers: "A women who attratcts men sexually, then seduces and exploits them".

I really enjoyed today’s puzzle - lots of crinkly parsings and good surfaces but still quick by 15x15 standards. I particularly liked the simple yet chewy 22dn but that was pipped to COD by 15dn.
LOI was 16ac by a country mile - it’s 'crinkliness' took 2 minutes to unravel which just tipped me over the ten minute mark.

( Read more...Collapse )

Cripes, there were some rude looking words in this month's grid, such that I was afraid to look a few of them up for fear of what I might find. The usual tough and satisfying cryptic workout though, with hardly any vocabulary, apart from 21dn, being found anywhere within a mile of everyday parlance. Excellent work setter!

ACROSS
1 Old fighter accompanying young boxer, maybe, after bribe (7,3)
SOPWITH PUP - WITH PUP [accompanying | young boxer (dog), maybe] after SOP [bribe]

7 Characteristic features of music: one used for article (4)
JIZZ - J{a->I}ZZ. Shame on anyone (me) who didn't know that was the primary definition of the word.

9 Material’s singular wordplay variety (4,4)
SPUN SILK - S PUNS ILK [singular | wordplay | variety]

10 Exclamation from keen old chief I must go after (6)
OCHONE - O CH [old | chief], I [one] must go after

11 Variety of Norwegian meat sandwiches put out cold, to be returned (6)
BOKMAL - LAMB [meat] "sandwiches" KO [put out cold], the whole reversed

13 Scot’s used shares from public limited company — he had to involve Brussels (8)
PLEUCHED - PLC HE'D [public limited company | he had], to "involve" EU [Brussels]

14 Violent dance video played in six minutes in farming clubs (7,5)
MOSHVEI OVDIM - MOSH [violent dance] + (VIDEO*) ["played"] in VI M [six | minutes]

17 Air-arm, at manoeuvres, having the last word in medical equipment (12)
ARMAMENTARIA - (AIR-ARM AT*) [manoeuvres], having AMEN [the last word] in

20 Bulky jacket which at Crécy stops headgear being worn (8)
HAQUETON - QUE [which, at Crecy] "stops" HAT ON [headgear | being worn]

21 Day nurses run after the old, bringing nozzle (6)
TUYERE - TUE [day] "nurses" R [run] after YE [the old]

22 Rounds on warning from motorist that’s oversentimental (3-3)
TOO-TOO - O O [rounds] on TOOT [warning from motorist]

23 Armadillo, following short turning, passed water (8)
XENURINE - reversed NEX{t} [following "short", "turning"] + URINE [passed water]

25 First being to emerge from heavens, spinning endless fire (4)
YMIR - reversed MY! [heavens, "spinning"] + {f}IR{e}

26 Rendered ineffectual, ultimately you and I need such regenerating (10)
EUNUCHISED - ({yo}U + I NEED SUCH*) ["regenerating"]

DOWN
2 Egg carrier with sex appeal, lacking heart, huntsman likewise (8)
OOPHORON - OO{m}PH OR{i}ON [sex appeal | huntsman - each "lacking heart"]

3 Old letter that might have come from anywhere turning up (3)
WYN - hidden reversed in {a}NYW{here}

4 How do charges bundle up organic compound? (5)
THIOL - HI! [how do!] "charges" reversed LOT [bundle "up"]

5 Lottery going by other name involved in very quiet and uneventful draw? (7)
PAKAPOO - AKA [going by other name] "involved in" PP [very quiet] + O-O [uneventful draw]

6 Protective agent for body of racket, fitting on top (9)
PROPERDIN - DIN [racket], PROPER [fitting] on top

7 Trading concern once going places with approach briefly adopted by Yankee (4,7)
JOHN COMPANY - JOHN + PAN [(two) "going" places], with COM{e} [approach "briefly"] "adopted", by Y [Yankee]

8 Spirit shown by fairy, loudly knocked off perch (6)
ZINGEL - ZING [spirit] shown by EL{f} [fairy, "loudly (=F) knocked off"]

12 Most of autumn, bather has to shift fat (5,6)
MAHUA BUTTER - (AUTUM{n} BATHER*) ["has to shift"]

15 Sort of dash by police line one sees normally (9)
EMMETROPE - EM [sort of dash] by MET ROPE [police | line]

16 Tart mixture interfered with catering (8)
CITRANGE - (CATERING*) ["interfered with"]

18 Having one spike most drinks acceptable — no going back (7)
MONAXON - MAX [most] "drinks" ON [acceptable] + reversed NO

19 Airline to fly Bristol to N America (6)
B.A. ZOOM [airline | to fly]. Bristol (City) is rhyming slang.

21 Shot in the arm and leg when captured by movement out of control? (5)
TONIC - ON [leg] "captured by" TIC [movement out of control]

24 Revolutionary fairy tale author, the first to leave music (3)
RAI - {l}IAR ["fairy tale" author, kinda], losing first letter and reversed

Odd-numbered Mephisto time! The grid has 90-degree symmetry with four clues running all the way across the 12x12 grid to stop it from separating into four mini-puzzles. All good fin.

I however made a real mess of this, having been utterly convinced that 1 across was PIDDLES, and somehow coming up with ICE DANCE with a question mark for 2 down. Maybe I was on to the start of a whole new crossword.

I think the pun in the top row is for a place?

Wordplay is hopefully explained, definitions are in Chambers and are underlined.

Away we go...

Across
1	Dwelling in the Borders is taking on direct debit for trifles (7)
	PEDDLES - PELE(peel-house, fortified dwelling) 'S, containing DD(direct debit)
7	Silky net I stripped from inside leg armour (5)
	TULLE - remove I from TUILLE (leg armour)
11	Always in, so toppled out-going turn (8)
	EVERSION - EVER(always) then an anagram of IN,SO
12	Aged manner to perturb (6)
	AERATE - AE(aged), RATE(manner, mode)
13	Know about new habit (4)
	WONT - WOT(variant of WIT, know) surrounding N(new)
14	Crab on Skegness beach is near place for lobsters (6)
	SCRAWL - 'S, CRAWL(lobster pen)
15	University College going through moderate interest in Shakespeare (6)
	USANCE - U(university), then C(college) inside SANE(moderate)
16	Doctor here — let’s try keeping active (12, two words)
	HARLEY STREET - anagram of HERE,LET'S,TRY containing A(active)
18	Strands in blasted lies about friendly pug (7)
	INISLES - anagram of LIES surrounding NIS(friendly spirit)
22	Bug Mike then hide (7)
	MICROBE - MIC(Mike), then ROBE(bison hide)
24	Basically broken lines, term for poetry voiced bit by bit (12)
	SYLLABICALLY - anagram of BASICALLY, then L,L(lines), and the last letter in poetrY
26	Tree where the King first appeared (6)
	TUPELO - double definition, based on Elvis being from Tupelo, Mississippi
27	River that’s been cleared for all produces Chinese tea (6)
	CONGOU - CONGO river, then U(cleared for all)
29	Resisting a drink (4)
	AGIN - A, GIN(drink)
30	Indian mogul’s nightmare curbing ID on Uzbeki motors (6)
	HUZOOR - HOOR(nightmare, difficult person) containing UZ(IVR code for Uzbekistan)
31	Clare, say, one breaking into the middle is beyond the TUC, eg (8)
	NONUNION - NUN(Clare), I inside NOON(middle)
32	Keynote article on Middle East (5)
	THEME - THE(article), ME(Middle East)
33	Stay away from hen with this? (7)
	CUTLASS - CUT(stay away from, as in "cut carbs"), LASS(hen)

Down
1	Softly blow a drop of water (5)
	PLASH - P(softly), LASH(blow)
2	Entrance on horse? It’s a pleasure to see (8, two words)
	EYE CANDY - EYE(mine entrance), CANDY(horse, heroin)
3	Drone earlier died on top of rocky height, time to escape (4)
	DORR - D(died) on TORR(rocky height) missing T
4	Upsets for East Londoner’s wife getting into tossed salad (6)
	DWAALS - W(wide) inside an anagram of SALAD.  East London in South Africa in this case
5	Don’t interfere — put only open space up for lease (12, three words)
	LET WELL ALONE - WELL can refer to an open space in the middle of buildings, so you can LET(put up for lease) it ALONE
6	African confrère in south-east is to bask in uprising (7)
	SENUSSI - SE(south-east) then a reversal of IS, SUN(to bask in)
7	Banking service tucked up, as they say, over a $100 matter (12, two words)
	TRUST ACCOUNT - sounds like TRUSSED then A, C($100), COUNT(matter)
8	Around Berlin, etc, a rural dean coming straight in our direction (6)
	USWARD - USW(und so weiter, etc), A, RD(rural dean)
9	Heraldic beast is first in detailed fleur-de-lis (6)
	LIONEL - ONE(first) in side LILY(fleur-de-lis) with the last letter missing
10	Barely begin endless gush of infatuated Parisienne? (7)
	ENTETEE - ENTER(begin) missing the last letter, then TEEM(gush) also missing the last letter
17	Decks with flowers take shape among hollowed, sculpted beams (8)
	EMBLOOMS - LOOM(take shape) inside an anagram of BE(a)MS
18	Present minute coffee, say (7)
	INSTANT - three definitions (if you consider instant as coffee)
19	Barmy mobile call’s first connected to a clot (7)
	EMBOLIC - anagram of MOBILE, then C(all)
20	Mountain elder in Massif Central holding record (6)
	ALPINE - AINE(elder) containing LP(record)
21	Shorter of dashes into cushy chamber (6)
	PLENUM - EN dash inside PLUM(cushy)
23	Learn about absorbing unknown point of Whisky Galore! (6)
	RANZEL - anagram of LEARN surrounding Z(unknown). Recovering stolen goods.
25	Try us when travelling in the Steppes? (5)
	YURTS - anagram of TRY,US
28	Thug ignoring difficult white man in Chennai (4)
	GORA - GORILLA(thug) missing ILL(difficult)

13:18. Nothing too hard this week. The bird at 4dn has come up before, including in a puzzle I blogged some time back, and I remembered it. This is perhaps fortunate because the wordplay strikes me as a little ungenerous. This bird actually seems to be something of a Jeff Pearce favourite: it came up in ST 4691 and 4712, which were both his, and 4328 which may have been (the setters weren’t named in those days but I think Jeff was a setter).

There were a couple of new words to me in here, in the religious thingummy and the scientific unit, but there the wordplay was clear enough. I thought the definition of ‘gambit’ was a bit odd but after further rigorous research (looking it up in Chambers) I concluded it was OK.

So thanks to Jeff and without further ado…

Definitions are underlined, anagrams indicated like (THIS)*, anagram indicators like this.

Across
1	Compost bin with strange vegetable
	STRING BEAN - (BIN, STRANGE)*.
6	Say a heartily dodgy oath
	EGAD - EG, A, doDgy. The first of two outings for this word last week.
9	Head off opening compass
	AMBIT - gAMBIT. I don’t know much about chess but I thought this was a bit of an odd definition if only on the basis that there is such a thing as an opening gambit, which would be tautological if a gambit was necessarily an opening. However according to Chambers a gambit can be ‘an initial move in any strategy or battle’, which seems close enough even if ‘an’ (as opposed to ‘the’) still suggests it doesn’t’ necessarily have to be the first move. Edit: see below for more learned chess-related commentary that clears this one up.
10	Opening in shortened Swan Lake, perhaps, is a light piece of music
	BAGATELLE - BA(GATE)LLEt.
12	Professional who’s polite on Mastermind
	CIVIL ENGINEER - if you ENGINEER something, you could be said to ‘mastermind’ it.
14	Looking forward to a serving
	AWAITING - A, WAITING.
15	Drunk bishop introduces gambling game
	BLOTTO - B, LOTTO.
17	Copy key — primarily for bolt
	ESCAPE - ESC (key) preceding APE (copy).
19	Spooner’s blue material advertising dance
	HORNPIPE - a spoonerism for ‘porn hype’.
21	Discount extremely ugly dinner table needing repair
	TURN A BLIND EYE - (UglY, DINNER TABLE)*.
24	Donkey left in fine pasture
	GRASSLAND - GR(ASS, L)AND.
25	Polish right for small flower
	RHINE - SHINE with the S (small) replaced with R.
26	Rank kipper, say, beginning to rot
	TIER - TIE, Rot. Kipper ties were fashionable in the 70s.
27	Monster can upset vessel
	MONSTRANCE - (MONSTER CAN)*. ‘The ornamental receptacle in which the consecrated host is exposed in Roman Catholic churches for the adoration of the people’ apparently. I didn’t know the word but it seemed the only possible arrangement of the letters once all the checkers were in place.

Down
1	Being upset, criticises photo
	SNAP - reversal of PANS.
2	She’s on live — with little volume at start of act
	REBECCA - RE (on), BE (live), CC (little volume), Act.
3	Shows around in mid-December?
	NATIVITY PLAYS - CD.
4	Bird’s up and down movement over bridge?
	BOBOLINK - BOB, O, LINK.
5	Inert substance oceanographer carries back
	ARGON - contained reversed in ‘oceanographer’.
7	Soldier beginning to leave guy’s unit for force
	GILBERT - GI, Leave, BERT. The CGS unit of magnetomotive force, apparently, whatever that is.
8	An old tree is firmly fixed
	DEEP-ROOTED - because an old tree will have deep roots. Not a very cryptic clue.
11	Experimenting until a solution is found, pilot ran off with order
	TRIAL-AND-ERROR - (PILOT RAN, ORDER)*. Edit: thanks to anon below for pointing out that this is complete nonsense. It is of course 'pilot' for TRIAL, followed by an anagram of RAN and ORDER.
13	Drunk’s after a non-alcoholic drink — perfect
	WATERTIGHT - WATER, TIGHT.
16	Jets swirling around in the air?
	TORNADOS - another not-very-cryptic cryptic definition.
18	Slaughter horse and worry about it
	CARNAGE - CAR(NAG)E.
20	West African left out Spaniard?
	IBERIAN - lIBERIAN.
22	Look around lake and an extensive 24
	LLANO - L(L, AN)O. 24 being 24 across, GRASSLAND.
23	Nothing more than a pond
	MERE - DD.