Is it me or are Tuesday FTs no longer a relaxing start to the week? But this was enjoyable, and there are some nice surfaces in the clues here, and some anagrams that provided the entre. Thanks to Redshank. Definitions are underlined in the clues. [[The pictures at the bottom have unidentified links to the puzzle. Please enclose any comments on them in double brackets. Thank you.]]
Across
1 Clean out rotten blankets in stable (8)
BALANCED : Anagram of(out) CLEAN contained in(… blankets in) BAD(rotten).
6 Heat in US river left rocks (6)
POLICE : PO(the Italian river) + L(abbrev. for “left”) + ICE(as with “rocks”, slang for diamonds).
Answer: For which the US slang is “the heat”.
9 Masseur‘s Perrier in franglais, by the sound of it (6)
PHYSIO : Homophone of(by the sound of it) “fizzy eau”( franglais for “fizzy water”, what Perrier, the French brand-name sparkling mineral water, is).
Answer: Short for “physiotherapist”.
10 Evangelist recalled holding one record mass (8)
KILOGRAM : Reversal of(recalled) MARK(the evangelist in the Bible) containing(holding) [ I(Roman numeral for “one”) + LOG(a record of events) ].
Answer: Unit of mass in the metric system.
11 Balls, say, spun to gain advantage (4)
EDGE : ED(first name of Balls, the British Labour MP) + reversal of(spun) EG(abbrev. for “exempli gratia”;for example;say).
12 Chairman gets amount wrong (3,3-4)
MAO TSE-TUNG : Anagram of(wrong) GETS AMOUNT.
Answer: Former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party.
14 Avoid pet snakes, like some parents (8)
ADOPTIVE : Anagram of(snakes) AVOID PET.
16 Wee passage read out in plant (4)
LEEK : Homophone of(read out) “leak”(slang for urination, a passing of urine).
18 The choreography includes precursor of foxtrot (4)
ECHO : Hidden in(… includes) “choreography “. Nice surface.
Answer: Represents, in the phonetic alphabet, “E”, precursor to “F”, represented by “foxtrot”.
19 Lay one straight after each filling (8)
INEXPERT : I(Roman numeral for “one”) + NEXT(the one straight;immediately after) containing(… filling) PER(each).
Defn: Descriptive of a non-professional person, opinion, etc.
21 More obscene books about winning Italy’s top award (4,6)
BLUE RIBBON : BLUER(more obscene) + B,B(abbrev. for “book” twice) + ON(about, as in “on that subject”) containing(winning) I(abbrev. for “Italy”).
22 Bad actor expelled from soap upset, upset and sorry (4)
OOPS : Reversal of(upset) [ “ham”(a bad actor) deleted from(expelled from) “shampoo”(a liquid or cream soap preparation) ].
Answer: An interjection of apology after having made an error.
24 Fine cultured pearls with diamonds set in crystal (8)
FELDSPAR : F(abbrev. for “fine”) + anagram of(cultured) PEARLS containing(with … set in) D(abbrev. for the suit of diamonds in card games).
26 Wapping boss cropped media story (6)
EDITOR : “media story ” minus the 2 outermost letters of each word(cropped).
Defn: One from the News International editorial staff, currently based in Wapping.
27 Livingstone hosted any poor person in Africa (6)
KENYAN : KEN(Livingstone, former mayor of London) containing(hosted) anagram of(poor) ANY.
28 What’s left could be the rage around institute (8)
HERITAGE : Anagram of(could be) THE RAGE containing(around) I(abbrev. for “institute”).
Defn: …. and handed down to the next generation.
Down
2 A top degree lures in one sucker (5)
APHID : A + PHD(abbrev. for the Latin, Philosophiae Doctor;Doctor of Philosophy, the highest degree awarded for graduate study) containing(lures in) I(Roman numeral for “one”).
Answer: An insect that sucks sap from plants.
3 It’s helpful when a person is out (11)
ANSWERPHONE : Anagram of(out) WHEN A PERSON.
Answer: A device that answers the phone and takes messages when you are out of the office or home. A clever WIWD (wordplay intertwined with defn.) clue.
4 Check scatty women eating international dish (4,4)
CHOW MEIN : CH(abbrev. for “check” in chess notation) + anagram of(scatty) WOMEN containing(eating) I(abbrev. for “international”).
5 He found UK bride abroad with German origin (4,2,9)
DUKE OF EDINBURGH : Anagram of(abroad) [ HE FOUND UK BRIDEplus(with) the 1st letter of(origin) “German ” ]
Another clever WIWD clue – The consort of Queen Elizabeth, who has some German ancestry, was he himself born in Greece.
6 Language taught in finishing school? (6)
POLISH : Cryptic defn: Reference to a school that prepares girls for life in society, including teaching them languages, one of which might perhaps be Polish.
7 Run on stage (3)
LEG : Double defn: 1st: To walk or run; and 2nd: A stage in a series making up a total race or competition.
8 Motorbike driver wearing outfit after tea (5-4)
CHAIN-GEAR : IN GEAR(wearing an outfit;up-to-date clothes and accessories) placed below(after, in a down clue) CHA(from the Chinese word for tea).
13 Who wakes you up in inept hotels in error? (11)
TELEPHONIST : Anagram of(in error) INEPT HOTELS. Another nice WIWD clue.
15 Officer allowed in river baring chest (9)
DECOLLETE : [ COL(abbrev. for “colonel”, a military officer) + LET(allowed) ] contained in(in) DEE(any of the rivers with the same name in the British Isles, and 2 in Australia).
Answer: Descriptive of a garment with a low neckline baring (partially) the female chest.
Something that’s looked down on by members of both sexes.
17 Control grass in retreat for caribou (8)
REINDEER : REIN(control, as in “to keep in rein”) + reversal of(… in retreat) REED(a grass).
20 Input data, say, for security at front (6)
TIEPIN : Homophone of(say) “type in”(to input, eg. data, via the keyboard).
Answer: The accessory that secures your necktie to your shirt front.
23 New government supports spin doctor’s point (5)
PRONG : [ N(abbrev. for “new”) + G(abbrev. for “government”) ] placed below(supports, in a down clue) PRO(abbrev. for “public relations officer”, alternatively called a spin doctor).
Answer: A point you will find eg. in a pitchfork.
25 It’s not how Darcy appeared, oddly! (3)
DRY : The 1st, 3rd, and 5th letters of(appeared, oddly) “Darcy “. The surface refers to Fitzwilliam Darcy, the sometime misunderstood character in “Pride and Prejudice”. Another WIWD clue.
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Thanks for the blog, scchua.
19ac is I NEX[PER – each]T]
As I listened, in bed, to the redshank on R4’s ‘Tweet of the Day’ this morning, I hoped it might be an omen for today’s puzzle. And, sure enough – another great puzzle from one of my favourite setters, certainly worth getting up for!
Some beautiful clues, especially the very clever &lit anagrams at 3 and 5dn – great spots! – and smiles at 9ac [I’m a great Miles Kington fan] 16ac and 22ac. I liked 24ac, among many others, too.
Many thanks, Redshank for a lovely start to a very wet day – I enjoyed your namesake, too!
Thanks Eileen, blog corrected.
PS: 25dn refers to ‘one of the most unforgettable moments in British television history’, when Colin Firth, as Mr Darcy, emerged from the lake in a dripping wet white shirt, in the 1995 adaptation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hasKmDr1yrA
25d is my clue of the day. Have a look at this site – scroll down to see the funniest Mr D ever.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lyme-park/
Thanks Redshank for a puzzle with a lot to enjoy and scchua for the blog.
I thought 9ac was brilliant.
16ac: To me this was an ambiguous clue resolved only by the checking letter, and my preference is that clues should be unambiguous in themselves. As always, I have no quarrel with those whose preferences differ from mine.
I had 7d as a triple definition – on = leg in cricket.
Thanks sschua & Redshank.
[[1: The Queen Mary at one time held the BLUE RIBband for fastest time crossing the Atlantic.
2: MAO jacket
3: REINDEER?
4: porcelain containing FELDSPAR?
5: Britney Spears sang “OOPS I Did It Again”
6: Sting was lead singer-bassist for The POLICE.]]
[[Right, Keeper. Those are PRONGhorns. The BLUE RIBBON is symbolically derived from the Blue Riband, and FELDSPAR is used as a flux in ceramics. And BTW it was McLynn/Father Ted/Mrs. Doyle.]]