Solving time: 20 minutes

Another enjoyable puzzle from the Mr Dependable of the crossword world.

Plenty of terrific clues to keep the mind taxed with 11 across a particular favourite,
 along with 5 down, 20 across and 7 down which I had to use TEA to identify, which also informed me that the phrase was used by 17 across!  Nice to see that where anagrams are used in a clue, they are appropriate to the definition/answer.  Some setters (including yesterday’s FT setter!) should take note!

ACROSS    * = ANAGRAM  (R) = REVERSAL  CD = CRYPTIC DEFINITION

9   MARXIST X IS inside MART
10  OPEN AIR Split definitions
11  SAN ANDREAS FAULT  UNSAFE LAND A STAR*   A clever anagram suggesting the geological fault that runs through California.
12  DATE STAMP TEST A inside DAMP
14  AGAIN A inside A GIN (a type of trap)
15  GALLANT GAL + L + ANT (Soldier often used in crosswords to define ‘ant’)
16  OIL CAKE OI + C in LAKE
17  LOCKE I think this is LOCKE(T) rather than LOCKE(R).
18  ISINGLASS I ASS with SINGL(E) inside
20  DAME EDNA EVERAGE   DEAD MEAN* E inside (A)VERAGE  Nice clue and clever definition
23  STRIGIL RIG inside  STIL(TS)
24  COTERIE COT + ERIE

DOWN
1   AMUSED A M + USED
2   GRIN GRIN(D)
3   LIONS’ SHARE SS inside LION + HARE
4   ETERNAL TRIANGLE   Nice Cryptic definition.
5   SOLAR PROMINENCE   MOONS PALER NICER*  Another nice clue. 
6   BEEF  Double definition
7   TABULA RASA AS A BRUTAL + A* 
8   PRETENCE RET in PENCE
13  TELECAMERA CREATE MEAL*
14  ALLEGRETTO ALL + EGRET + TO
15  GOLD DISC CD of Sun  -  This held me up for a while as I was looking at Dawn
(as in Tony Orlando as well!)
19  SEE RED Split definition
21  EIGG I inside EGG
22  AURA AU + RA

Thanks again to Phi for a superb puzzle.

A typically enjoyable and thought-provoking number from Monk.  I didn’t spot a trademark Nina, but I suppose that the four (4,5,4) answers that transect the grid symmetrically are, in themselves, a thematic touch.

Across
1 OP,H in TRY
4 ICE H(usband),OUSE - “Murder”=ice is worth bearing in mind if you are currently navigating the steeper parts of the learning curve in cryptic puzzles.
10 PE(I)G,NOIR - I never realised that Peg (the name) is a contraction of Margaret. A variant of Meg, I would assume.
12/13/14 FINE-TOOTH COMB - neat cryptic surface. It gave me flashbacks to images of the “nit nurse” visiting my primary school in those halcyon days of the late 70’s/early 80’s!
20 NEGATIVE SIGN (Gentian give)*
23/24/25 WIDE ANGLE LENS - another grid-wide cryptic surface combo.
28 DORMOUSE - “well known tea party” is a bit of a giveaway. Anybody care to name one other than the Mad Hatter’s, Boston’s or (at a stretch) chimpanzees’?
29 C,ACHED - simple and effective.
30 NO(R)SE,MEN - “neighbours” referring to SWEDEN at 21d.

Down
1 TRIFFIDS (first* around initial letters) - The TV adaptation of “Day of the Triffids” being the only programme that scared me more than Tom Baker and the Daleks during that aforementioned nit-nurse era.
3/15/26 HOME SWEET HOME (See how the memo)* - an astutely spotted angram, given the relatively limited selection of repeated letters.
5 CHESTERFIELD - the last one to go in for me, as I was slow on the uptake re: the furniture reference.
6,16,27 HIGH, WATER, MARK
7 (e)UROP(e),OD - Uropod was a new word for me, but checking and wordplay left little doubt. The surface reading is a little surreal, but it’s probably harsh to judge in comparison with the many excellent ones elsewhere in this puzzle.
11 MONTPARNASSE (Parsons meant)* - subtle use of “tour” in the definition.
19 O(NE,SID)ED - I’m not even going to try describing a Klein Bottle. This image link paints a thousand words.
21 SW(ED)EN - “regularly held”=ED

This was without doubt the hardest crossword I’ve had to blog, and almost defeated me. It took about 45 minutes, and I resorted to online aids for a couple of the final clues - I wouldn’t normally go that far for a daily cryptic, but it was in the wider interests of the blogosphere! (Then again, perhaps one should admit defeat in such situations and leave it to the commentariat to finish the job).

All the across answers are boys’ names, but not always ones that come instantly to mind.

ACROSS:

8. CLARE (O)NCE. I took ages to get this; now it doesn’t look that hard.

9. N(INI)AN. Probably the most obscure name, with easy wordplay to fit. Still took a while, even though it had to be NAN on the outside.

10. NICK. The answer I’m least sure of, but I think it’s a prison ref: in the nick = doing time. But would that make Nick=possessed by time?

11. VI CT OR HU GO. Nice clue. Knowing CT=carat might have made it quicker.

12. DUN CAN. To dun means to collect rent, but I can’t find it meaning a debt collector. Can was clear, but I could only think of the more unusual Lorcan, for some reason.

14. ALGERNON. RANG + NOEL*.

15. TERENC E. CENTRE*. Turned made me look for a synonym reversed, rather than an anagram.

17. STEP HEN. A bit more straightforward than the rest.

22. JUST IN. Good clue, a cleaner version of an old joke I remember.

23. MARK ANTONY. The other double clue. Injure = mark. Can anyone help with the philosopher’s stone?

24. NO EL. Would make CO(L)D into COD.

25. W ALTER. Sneaky abbreviations like with=w are common in advanced cryptics, less so in dailies.

26. A LAST AIR. The first boy I got, after reading through the acrosses in mounting despair.

DOWN:

1. AL(TITU(s))DE. Ref Mervyn Peake character Titus Groan, and the River  Alde. I’d guess it runs through Aldeburgh, but I’d never heard of it till I googled Suffolk Rivers.

2. TRE K. Relies on Ktre as abbreviation, rather than Km, which I haven’t come across.

3. UNE VEN. ‘Translation of a female’ = une, and I believe ven. is the form of address for an archdeacon.

4. REDCOAT. CADET OR*. It was obviously an anagram but I was sure it was some ancient Roman edactor or octrade.

5. UNS OUGHT. Sunset for UNS is perhaps the most libertarian moment here. I don’t mind the anagram fodder and indicator being joined, but ’set’ to me suggests something being fixed, not broken.

7. FANG IO. Argentinian racing driver who dominated the early days of F1 (I didn”t know that till now).

16. COR ON A RY. Not my favourite - ‘conclusion of artery’ has to give two letters, rather than the one you might expect, and really coronary is needed for the definition too.

19. SYNODAL. SADLY NO*.

22. JOY PAD. I think - is that like a joystick but when it’s a pad you use a pen on? I’m no gamer.

24. na(NOTE)chnology. Good hidden.

As far as Inquisitors go, this puzzle by a compiler I have never come across before was relatively easy.

Many of the clues were of a standard that would not be out of place in a standard newspaper puzzle.

The eleven clues that required some work were the ones where the wordplay included an extra letter.  Once you had these the rest was pretty straightforward.

A nice puzzle for someone new to barred puzzles howver.
Those eleven clues, and the letter that was revealed:-

12ac B ALOE - hidden in  “colossAL OBEche”

14ac A ARUM - A-RA(U)M

18ac D DELHI - (<=LED)HID

32ac F ISLE - (life’s)*

1dn O SYBIL - (<=I(B(o)YS)-L

7dn R HAUTEUR - H.R.-AUTEUR

9dn A HEREIN - (hernia E)*

11dn T CACAOS - (Ca. coast)*

23dn O SMILES - (mole is)*-S

28dn W ICILY - i.c.-WILY

29dn N TYING - (clare)T-(Ginny)*
This gave the “word sum” BAD FOR A TOWN, which appears in rows 5-8 of the completed puzzle.

Read as a crossword clue, this could either indicate BATH (BAD often starts the name of German spa towns) or FARO ((for a)*), the town (and airport) in Portugal that many visitors to the Algarve would recognise.

Given that the title of the crossword is “Game of Chance” and FARO is also a card game, it is obvious that that is what the setter wants us to assume is the relevant town.  We can therefore assume that the 5972 in the blurb relates to thel letters of FARO

So we have a word sum where we know four of the numbers

    B 9 D +
    5 2 7 +
        9 =

  T 2 W N

Simple logic then kicks in - the only number that D can equal is 8, so N is 4, therefore W is 3, B has to be 6 and T = 1