Solving time: 23 minutes
Apologies for the late hour of posting, but a long day of hospital treatment left me rather zonked. This was a typical enjoyable Dac puzzle with elegant surface readings and clever devices, although a couple of petty quibbles.
(*)= anagram (CD) = cryptic def (R) = reversal
ACROSS
1 STRIDE S + TIRED*
4 CRACKPOT POT (Prize) + CRACK (Expert)
9 ADAMS ADAM + S Adams was of course the second President of the US.
10 CHIMING IN CHI (Foreign character) + MINGIN(G) – My first sighting of that word in a crossword. (I think!).
11 OUT TO LUNCH Two defs.
12 MENU Hidden
14 INSPECTORATE P inside IN SECT +ORATE
17 RECREATIONAL CREATION inside REAL(M)
20 LYRE Homophone for LIAR
21 HELICOPTER THE POLICE* +R Seen it before, but it’s still a nce clue.
23 MIDDLETON I presume there was a Royal consort called MIDDLETON – can’t remember one off the top of my head.
24 DOB IN DO + BIN
25 STEM TURN I’d just been writing the quiz questions for the local League and used the phrase STEM CHRISTIE so this leapt out at me.
26 GREENE GREEN + E
DOWN
1 SLAVONIC VOCALS IN * Another nice clue.
2 ROAD TEST A in ROD TEST
3 DISCOVERED SERVICE ODD*
5 REINCARNATION REIN + CAR + NATION
6 CHIT C + HIT
7 PIGLET LEG* inside PIT
8 TONE UP E inside TON UP
10 COUNTERFEITER Homophone of Counter Fitter
13 ATTIC ORDER (CD) New phrase to me
15 UNSTABLE (T)UNS + TABLE Wouldn’t an “unopened” cask be a complete one and therefore a TUN? Can’t make my mind up over “unopened” here.
16 CLARENCE Double def. Clarence House was the Queen Mum’s residence, and is now Charles’ town pad, I think.
18 CLAMPS C (Close to Car – surely this should be R? – or is this just C “near to”?) + LAMPS
19 BRIDGE BRIDGE(T) – as in Bridget Jones’ Diary
22 PLOT A “P LOT” would be a collection of coins. PLOT is also a bed in gardening.
23ac Presumably Kate Middleton, Prince William’s girlfriend.
One of the easiest we’ve had for a while, I thought.
Not like you to take the surface (15dn) literally, Dave!
The new puzzle’s up on the site, so can’t see Dac’s full clue at 18dn.
In 18D the C is the end of TRAFFIC, not the start of CAR. CAR is part of the def.
Full clue is:
Thus immobilises car close to traffic lights (6)
CHIT 6 down I read this as double definition. “Note from impudent girl” Thanks for BRIDGE(t) – I never thought of that though I got the answer right, but it’s so obvious when pointed out…
14D (“In group, speak about power Ofsted shows” – INSPECTORATE): What is the significance of “shows”? It’s obviously there to make the surface run smoothly, but it seems a bit odd.
I would justify it with a bit of juggling:
Ofsted shows IN/ S(P)ECT/ ORATE
I thought ‘shows’ was a link e.g. the inspectorate ‘appears’