| Across | Answers and Clues | Explanations |
| 1 | BLOWPIPE | |
| Low and high-pitched sound originating in “live” missile launcher (8) | (LOW + PIP) inside BE | |
| 5 | CHASER | |
| One following a metal engraver (6) | Double Definition | |
| 10 | NIAGARA | |
| North American river once more receded, and ran briefly (7) | AGAIN reversed + (RA)N | |
| 11 | IMAGING | |
| I am getting old radiographer’s work (7) | IM + AGING | |
| 12 | FORMATTER | |
| Program that prepares disks for whatever occupies space (9) | FOR + MATTER | |
| 13 | SIEVE | |
| Filter is reversed always briefly (5) | IS reversed + (EVE)R | |
| 14 | DEAR | |
| Precious collection of sidearms? (4) | siDEARms | |
| 16 | CARDIGAN | |
| Character, one with plague, returned warmer (8) | CARD + I + (NAG reversed) | |
| 19 | MALAMUTE | |
| Beat back a dumb dog (8) | LAM reversed + A + MUTE | |
| 20 | FLUE | |
| Smoker rushed through speech (4) | Sounds like FLEW | |
| 23 | UTTER | |
| Unqualified captain abandoning ship (5) | CUTTER minus C | |
| 24 | GUILLEMOT | |
| One absorbed in bird book recalled fast-flying seabird (9) | I inside GULL + (TOME reversed) | |
| 26 | BURRITO | |
| Disorganised British tour missing out on this Mexican food (7) | Anagram of BRITISH TOUR minus THIS | |
| 27 | IGNORER | |
| Discounter mixed gin with mineral water in the end (7) | Anagram of GIN + ORE + WATE(R) | |
| 28 | DAMSEL | |
| Old girl holds back heart of truelove? (6) | DAMS + TRU(EL)OVE | |
| 29 | ANTHESIS | |
| Emergence of budding academic’s work listed at end of article (8) | THESIS after AN | |
| Down | Answers and Clues | Explanations |
| 1 | BONA FIDE | |
| Real matter of contention about a female ID (4,4) | BONE outside (A + F + ID) | |
| 2 | ON AIR | |
| First-timer pulled out of stylish broadcasting (2,3) | DEBONAIR minus DEB | |
| 3 | PLAZAS | |
| A shocking strike mounted outside large and small shopping areas (6) | (A + ZAP) reversed outside L + S | |
| 4 | PLASTIC SURGEON | |
| Beautician finally appearing in pictures to provide encouragement (7,7) | LAST inside PICS + URGE ON | |
| 6 | HEADSHIP | |
| The fellow notices stylish command (8) | HE + ADS + HIP | |
| 7 | SLIMEBALL | |
| Disgusting person mutilated label on back of remote (9) | Anagram of LABEL after SLIM | |
| 8 | RIGGER | |
| Ship worker set off after the end of shift (6) | TRIGGER minus SHIF(T) | |
| 9 | LIBRARY EDITION | |
| Unusual literary bid, one on a strongly-bound book (7,7) | Anagram of LITERARY BID + I + ON | |
| 15 | APART FROM | |
| Save par in revamped format (5,4) | PAR inside anagram of FORMAT | |
| 17 | HAIRLINE | |
| Hard tube carrying gas is very thin (8) | H + AIRLINE | |
| 18 | RESTARTS | |
| Takes up creative pursuits after time off (8) | ARTS after REST | |
| 21 | TURBID | |
| Unclear track raised price (6) | RUT reversed + BID | |
| 22 | BLANCH | |
| Whiten a significant part of nondescript church (6) | (BLAN)D + CH | |
| 25 | MORES | |
| Head of research involved in some convoluted customs (5) | (R)ESEARCH inside anagram of SOME |
2d – Only just realised I still had a question mark there. What a Beauty too.
17d: I wasn’t aware of that definition of airline, so my wordplay was different:
(H + LINE) outside AIR.
David – is that equally valid?
I parsed it the same way as you Greg.
16a It took me a while to wake up to card as character to get the parsing. I had the word, but could not just use the C.
I, too, parsed it that way.
I found this puzzle harder than usual. That might just be me, but for the record, here’s what stumped me.
5-ac: I didn’t know CHASER as a metal engraver and “following” looked like wordplay leading to something like I after (A?) + metal, e.g. TIN? AG? AU? etc. = ENGRAVER. The ambiguity may have been intentional, of course.
16-ac: missed “plague” = NAG.
19-ac: didn’t know “beat” + LAM, and didn’t know the dog.
20-ac: unlike some, I had no trouble with this and thought it was excellent.
23-ac: I can’t think of (nor find) a precedent for “captain” = C, and a cutter is usually a small to medium-sized sailboat with one mast – essentially a sloop that can carry more than one headsail. I knew the word but “ship” led me elsewhere.
24-ac: I got this from the wordplay, but didn’t know the bird.
28-ac: I don’t find anything dodgy about this clue (is it “old girl” for “girl, of old”?) and the “?” had me looking for something outside the usual rules.
29-ac: I thought the seam – “… budding/academic …” – was excellent.
1-dn: “Bone of contention” = “matter of contention”. Can “bone”, alone, mean “matter of contention”?
2-dn: “Debutante” can mean
1. a young woman making a debut, especially into society.
2. Sport a young player making her first appearance at a particular level.
I think it’s only the first meaning that gets abbreviated to “deb”; the clue uses the second.
4-dn: “Beautician finally appearing in pictures” kept leading me to N in PICS or something. This was probably intended.
6-dn: Got it from the wordplay but didn’t know the word.
8-dn: I parsed “set off after the end of shift” as the more usual (shift)T + [something meaning ‘set off’]. I eventually got it from the definition and still spent a minute figuring out the parsing.
15-dn: This could also be parsed as: anagram of SAVE PAR IN meaning FORMAT, and even if you got as far as A?A?? ?R??, which I did, it didn’t help to decide which parsing was correct.
18-dn: “Takes up” = STARTS. All the dictionary definitions I’ve found for RESTARTS include”again” or “anew” or similar.
21-ac: a BID if an *offer* of a price. I know it’s also the amount offered but “my bid is $x” isn’t the same as “my price is $x”. I can’t think of a situation where “bid” and “price” can be interchanged. Can anyone?
This isn’t intended as complaining. I noticed others also having problems with this puzzle and know that, as the setter, you know all the answers, intended parsings etc. and might have wondered what all the fuss was about.
Thanks for, as ever, an excellent and challenging puzzle, and I look forward to tackling this week’s.
Steve = : ^ )
Thanks Steve, that certainly helps with my investigation.
Regarding 23-ac, as Greg mentions above, “c” appears in just about every sporting team selection next to the captain. Strange that it doesn’t appear in any dictionary, but then again, there are plenty of everyday abbreviations that don’t get included, and some really obscure ones that do. More on this next week.
1-dn, I guess I was alluding to the “matter” of contention, that is, the “bone”. There’s not a direct equation, just the “matter” used when talking about contention.
2-dn, I was actually talking about the first meaning, but obviously that wasn’t clear, in that a debutante in a ball is presented to society for the first time, hence the second “meaning”. More context required.
18-dn, TAKE UP can mean to continue or resume.
21-dn I’m happy enough from the dictionary references I have that BID and PRICE have a synonymous relationship. They both relate to what someone is willing to pay.
It’s clear, though, that while a couple of these things in a crossword may cause some solving issues, the number in this crossword caused serious obstruction. Something I need to be more conscious of.
Thanks
Stickler
Before filling in the on line version, I reviewed the hints against my solutions.
Some of Steve’s issues were answered in the hints.
I was able to satisfactorily parse every clue. The alternate for 16a appears to be in order.
On specifics I comment.
1d I still occasionally have a bone to pick with some other person. i.e. a matter of contention
2d I grew up on deb balls in Qld so this was no issue
6d I did not know the word, but google found lots of references
15d I cannot agree that 15d could be an anagram meaning format. With several attempts I did only got a few 5 4 combinations, and none which meant format.
My issues related to words which were new to me, (6d and 24a) or out of my usual context.
I identify the breadth of knowledge and experience of the solvers – catholic group. This is evident in my 3 U3A groups where people have different education levels, life experiences, and environments, so they interpret things differently, of have never heard of words in a particular context. On my own it is merely a partnership between David and me, with learning opportunities.
By the way, my mention of “captain=c” actually appears in the Clue Hints.
I too suffered a small amount of pain with this one, and having now checked the answers I reckon everything may have gone a little more smoothly if the clue for 18 was ”takes up again” etc.