* = anag, < = reversed

Another very tough Monday puzzle by Tees with a slight theme of political party leaders (although Nick Clegg was either overlooked or just couldn’t be fitted into the puzzle). Since the online crossword is now appearing the same day as the paper version and it has a reveal function to show the answer, I can’t see the point of skipping any clues, so I’ll give all the answers.

One of Rufus’s easier offerings for the most part, with some real beginners’ clues. Look at the first 4 across clues - you have easy examples of the 4 basic clue types: anagram, charade, cryptic def, double def. I’m sure that must have been deliberate. There were a few more difficult words however, so it wasn’t a complete doddle. Solved in about 8 mins, mainly due to hesitation over 18d as I only knew the archaic meaning of almsgiver.

Across
1 NOTICES (section*) - reserved to be read as re-served for the anagind.
5 SEVER,E
9 SKELETON - although it could be argued that this is another double def.
10 ACTING
15 ISOTH(E)RMAL - E inside hailstorm*. Very loose definition: “it’s to do with temperature”, almost as if he couldn’t be bothered to look it up!
17 A,WE - liked this one. WE = regal method of self-expression.
20 SCHOOL BELL - cryptic def. Is the past tense for signalled here an indication that schools don’t have bells any more, or that solvers have left school?
22 VITUPERATION - (out in private)*
26 REA(ME)R - among other things, a spiral-bladed drill for enlarging root canals in dentistry. Ouch!
Down
2 TI,ER - re,it reversed.
3 CHEETAHS (the chase)* - excellent &lit. clue.
6 EXCISE - the oldest of old chestnuts, but if this is aimed at beginners, why not?
8 EIGHT BELLS - cryptic def, referring to the signal for the end of a watch on board ship.
11 LEGA,TO - (a leg)* - that’s rubbish cryptically, but a nice surface reading.
14 BOOBY TRAPS - a booby is a type of gannet. I thought a booby trap was a bit more serious than a practical joke, but according to Chambers it’s also one of the “bucket over the door” type tricks.
18 ALMONERS - appears to be a straight definition. An almoner was a medical social worker attached to a hospital - the only cryptic bit about this definition is that patient might be read as an adjective rather than a noun.
23 TRAMP - double def.
24 ROT,A

A lot of comedic sailors in the puzzle answers this time, what with PRATFALL crossing with SLAPSTICK and a raft of TARS, SALTS, SAILORS, RATINGS and SEAMEN. Strangely, I hadn’t noticed this mini-theme until writing this blog. Also strange in the circumstances - no sign of Ted Heath.