Solving time: 14:20, of which 5 mins on 8ac and 1dn.

Nimrod continues his recent theme of epic constructions today: just 22 clues in this puzzle, which includes six crossing 15-letter words and five cryptic definitions (11ac, 12ac, 19ac, 15dn and 18dn).

8ac was the first clue I looked at, and I wrote in lightly ‘IS THAT SO’ from ‘really?‘ and the enumeration (2, 4, 2), but didn’t make anything of the wordplay. I got none of the 6 long answers on first look, but after 9 minutes I was left only with 1dn. I went back to 8ac but just could not fathom the wordplay, which left me with a dubious second letter of 1dn, and I came up with a dubious answer.

Beginners’ tips of the day: ‘when’ = AS, ‘yokel’ = HICK, ‘vermouth’ = IT.

* = anagram.

Is it just me, or have the crosswords been getting harder since we started reviewing them? This one took a good half-hour, with half a dozen or so clues coming quickly, then a slow plod through with one last big heave to conquer the south-west corner.

ACROSS:

1. FIREBRAND. FIRE+BRAND. Came very easily, sack as a verb bringing fire to mind first.

 6. SPAM. Nice dual meaning - spam= virtual junk, using virtual rather loosely to mean existing in your computer as opposed to in real life.

11. AMBERGRIS. MARRIES BIG* - I. ‘Shot’ as in ’shot to pieces’ as anagram indicator.

12. CROATIA. CROA* + TIA. Quite hard. Obviously an anagram of orca, but what about the other three letters, and who was Maria’s predecessor? Ahh, Tia maria the drink. One of several clues with minimal definition - ‘where’ to mean ‘a geographical place-name.

12. CUSTODY. CU’S TOD(a)Y. Copper’s usually CU or PC, the former appears in more words. Nice misdirection, leading you towards ” copper now - a place = suspect” rather than “copper now - a = place for suspect”.

 14. TOAD-IN-THE-HOLE:  DEATH IN HOTEL* around O. Almost topical - shame it had to be oxygen not polonium. Course is a very weak definition for this - surely it’’s a dish?

 21. AGRIPPA: GRIP in A PA. One of the last - my knowledge of the Classics is weak, but he was a Roman general.

24. TRENCHANT: Pass. Cutting’s the def, C can be Charlie, but where are the other two?

25. IRATE. (p)IRATE. Ref Long John Silver - shouldn’t it be “e.g. Silver”? 

26. NUTS. Again, I see the def, but not the wordplay.

27.  EXPENSIVE. (E + X + SEVENIP*). Quite tricky to see how you anagram 71p - you have to think of it as 7-1-P to make it work.

DOWN:

1. FELICITY. (LICIT in FEY).

2. RONEO. R-ONE-O. Nice clue. Roneos were around in the dark days when photocopiers were cutting-edge and faxes were sci-fi.

3. BREATHING SPACE. BEANS THE CIGAR P*.

4. ADAMANT. Legendary rock/ 80s singer Adam Ant. Best known for the silly highwayman costume, though the first Ants album had a couple of good tracks on it.

5. DEBACLE. BAC(h) IN DE LE. Which is not correct French, of course - it should be DU - but you have to translate ‘of’ and ‘the’ separately.   

7. PERGOLESI. SOLE GRIPE*.

8. MOSTYN. STY in MON. “In which pigs are=sty. Flintshire is in North Wales, though technically abolished in the 1972 local government reorganisation and now part of Clwyd, I believe.

9. BRISTOL FASHION. Ref Bristols as rhyming slang for breasts, but ‘order’ as a definition seems weak.

18. LEAFAGE. (A FAG in LEE). Def=”which a tree provides”.

19. NONSTOP. OpinioN ON ST OPhelia. And I thought it was a nunnery reference.

20 .CARTON. CAR + TON. Last one for me - Focus = car, heavyweight = ton, boxer as in someone boxing goods up, so arguably a carton is part of one’s kit. Hmm!

Some very clever misdirection and puns in this puzzle.   

Solving time, 23 mins

* = anagram

ACROSS
10 C(h)OPPER    Busy  = slang for policeman
12 f(ACTOR)y    Workplace “not taking sides”
14  PHILATELISTS    late (no longer) + list (tilt) in (ship)*.   One of the good misdirections,  hinges being used by stamp collectors.
21  CON(against) + FORMER (what’s mentioned first)
24  M (male) OTHER (alternative).    Whole clue is definition too i.e. an &lit.    Instinctively I’d have felt it should have been the other way around, but, I’m sure, with Quixote, there’s a good reason B “to” A can be AB
25  PEN (writer) + U + M (male - in second successive clue!) + BRA (female support -
crossword cliche that we find useful to help us along)
27 A(di)FFERENT   Take out Di - good misdirection and surface - new word to me.

DOWN
3  WATERSHED   Very clever cryptic definition.    Set = TV set.   In the UK, the watershed is the time after which programmes not suitable for children may be shown.   9 PM, I think.
4  ETON WALL GAME   A little surprised that “barrier” seems to be the definition here whereas the answer is the game, rather than the wall.    But my knowledge of the game is limited.
7  A in APPRISE   Two words often confused in real life, but not here, needless to say.
11 DO-IT-YOURSELF  (lousy editor)* + f (following).     This was my favourite clue
with an entirely convincing and flowing surface reading suggesting something completely different.    Definition is “unprofessional activity”
16  SPECIMEN   “Weed” is a verb here!  (Good)
17  GRAN + I + TIC   “Possibly” to allow for the 36-year-old grans, I guess
19  E + BID “taken up” + LE   Definition is “like food”
22  OMEGA  Last letter of the Greek alphabet (also often used figuratively).  Brand of watches.