Thank you to Filbert. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
8. Senior clergyman intimate with very becoming maidens (7)
PRIMATE : “private”(personal/intimate) with “v”(abbrev. for “very”) replaced by(with … becoming) M(abbrev. for “maidens”).
9. European sleeps on Channel Tunnel line, going back (7)
SPANISH : Reversal of(…, going back) [ NAPS(dozes/sleeps) placed after(on) HSI(abbrev. for “High Speed International” presumably, referring to the Eurostar high-speed rail service/line connecting the UK to other countries via the Channel Tunnel) ].
10. Scotch added on drinks dad and I had (3,4,2)
PUT PAID TO : [PUT TO](suggested/added on) containing(drinks) [ PA(familiar term for one’s father/dad) plus (and) I’D(contraction of “I had”) ].
Defn: To …/put an end to.
11. Harry deprived of king’s insignia (5)
BADGE : “badger”(to pester/harry) minus(deprived of) “r”(abbrev. for “rex”/king).
12. Part of bolt on doorframe painted round (5)
TONDO : Hidden in(Part of) “bolt on doorframe”.
Defn: A circular painting.
13. For real crime, Capone cleared out bank (9)
SINCERELY : SIN(an offence/crime) + “Capone” minus its inner letters(cleared out) + RELY(to bank/depend on).
Defn: …/genuinely.
15. Heroic term interchangeable with “Centre of roundabout west of Paris” (3,2,8)
ARC DE TRIOMPHE : Anagram of(… interchangeable) [HEROIC TERM plus(with) middle 2 letters of(Centre of) “roundabout” + 1st letter of(west of, in an across clue) “Paris” ].
Defn: A phrase/term with heroic connotations as well as a monument at the centre of a roundabout in Paris.
18. British label on pants giving one away in German’s house (9)
BUNDESTAG : B(abbrev. for “British”) + “undies tag”(what one might call the label/tag on a pair of undies/items of underwear, in particular briefs/pants) minus(giving … away) “I”(Roman numeral for “one”).
Defn: … with a capital H, the German Federal Parliament.
20. Fish squirted water from mouths across river (5)
SPRAT : SPAT(squirted/spewed water/saliva from the mouth) containing(across) R(abbrev. for “river”).
21. Separate intro for song on record (5)
SEVER : 1st letter of(intro for) “song” + EVER(compared with what is in the past/on record, as in “this is the biggest event ever”).
I may be out with my parsing.
23. News in the paper concerning Republican in the soup (9)
REPORTAGE : RE(with reference to/concerning) + [ R(abbrev. for a member of the Republican Party) contained in(in the) POTAGE(a thick soup) ].
25. Offer to cover tracks reflected trouble (7)
DISTURB : Reversal of(… reflected) [ BID(to tender/offer) containing(to cover) RUTS(grooves/tracks made in the ground by vehicles’ wheels) ].
26. French drink tea with delight, mostly (7)
CHABLIS : CHA(slang for “tea”) plus(with) “bliss”(intense joy/delight) minus its last letter(mostly).
Defn: …, in this case, a dry white wine from France.
Down
1. Difficult crossword arrived? Bugger, you might say (8-2)
LISTENER-IN : LISTENER(a difficult crossword, taking its name from The Listener, the weekly magazine in which it appears) + IN(arrived/came in).
Defn: One who eavesdrops on conversations using concealed devices/bugs, whom you might say is/call a bugger.
2. Five Turkish and British commanders in Rover (8)
VAGABOND : V(Roman numeral for “five”) + [ AGA(a Turkish commander/leader) plus(and) BOND(Commander James …, the fictional secret agent) ].
Defn: …/drifter.
3. Reversible instrument (4)
DEED : A palindrome(Reversible).
Defn: A legal instrument/document.
4. Miraculous nun is at God’s disposal (10)
ASTOUNDING : Anagram of(…’s disposal) NUN IS AT GOD.
5. Country walk with first half climbing attractive rock (6)
MARBLE : RAMBLE(a long leisurely walk in the countryside) with reversal of(… climbing, in a down clue) its 1st 3 letters(first half).
Defn: Sculpture made from marble.
6. Fierce wife is lady every so often (4)
WILD : 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th letters of(… every so often) “wife is lady”.
7. Bright church strangely frightening (6)
CHEERY : CH(abbrev. for “church”) + EERY(alternative of “eerie”/strangely frightening).
Defn: …/cheerful and happy.
8. Young animal had to enter cocoon (6)
PUPATE : PUP(the young of a dog) + ATE(consumed/had).
Defn: When an insect larva makes a cocoon for itself before developing into an adult.
13. Think a lot of groups ran past? (3,5,2)
SET STORE BY : SETS(collections of similar things/groups) + [TORE BY](ran past at great speed).
Defn: …/regard highly.
14. Editor’s lead article in fact without substance (10)
ETHEREALLY : 1st letter of(…’s lead) “Editor” + THE(an article in grammar) + REALLY(truly/in fact).
Defn: …/airily.
16. Strong cold wind around island impaired hearing (8)
MISTRIAL : MISTRAL(a strong cold wind that blows through the Rhone Valley in France) containing(around) I(abbrev. for “island”).
Defn: A hearing in court/trial that is declared invalid/impaired.
17. States positively upset, losing American accent (6)
STRESS : Reversal of(… upset, in a down clue) “asserts”(states positively/declares firmly) minus(losing) “A”(abbrev. for “American”).
Defn: …/an emphasis put on, say, a syllable in a word.
18. Too near (6)
BESIDE : Double defn: 1st: An archaic alternative for “besides”/…/as well; and 2nd: Physically …/next to.
19. Reprimand headless chicken? (6)
EARFUL : 1st letter of deleted from(headless) “fearful”(cowardly/chicken).
Defn: …/a scolding.
22. End of manoeuvres in tank covering great area (4)
VAST : Last letter of(End of) “manoeuvres” contained in(in) VAT(a large tank for storing liquid).
24. Lick a bit of expensive cappuccino up (4)
PACE : Hidden in(a bit of) reversal of(… up, in a down clue) “expensive cappuccino”.
Defn: …/speed.
>
I think that the reference in 9(ac), is “High Speed 1”, the line being the first “high speed” track in the UK.
Nothing too scary — the round artwork the only nho — but what what a super neat set of clues, chapeau to Filbert! Sets tore by is a fun charade. And thanks to scchua for your usual great blog, nice to see the marble David.
Minor change needed for 6d. W + IsLaDy.
A fascinating puzzle, with some elusive wordplays. And elusive solutions.
I am not sure about SEVER, 21(ac): though scchua has done much better than me at justifying it. I went down the stupid route, of ” E version”, as in e-books etc.
6(d) WILD, I had [wife] W, / IsLaDy.
Re 1(d), I’m not ecstatic with ” arrived = in “, but I suppose, “is she in?” equates to ” has she arrived?”
At the end of the day, great puzzle , super blog, loved both.
At the risk of being annoying, is, ARC DE TRIOMPHE an &lit? Whatever it is, it’s a stunning piece of setting.
Thumbs up, Fil, & scchua
A lot to like here, and no negatives. Still required blog to explain S-EVER, and BUNDESTAG… just as well Reichstag didn’t fit… also 17d. In fact that corner was pretty slow.
Really enjoyed the Parisian roundabout and the bugger… had to look TONDO up, at least it was an insertion!
Thanks Filbert and scchua
REPORTAGE my pick of the bunch. Thanks scchua and Filbert.
Thanks both. True to form, after my stuttering start I checked to confirm Filbert as the setter. Equally true to form, got there with gathering momentum, so much to enjoy, noting LISTENER-IN was outside my crossword experience, and I am not the biggest fan of archaic definitions e.g. BESIDE (I was looking for an instruction to remove an ‘s’).
I’ve done a lot of Filbert puzzles and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dodgy clue. Superb setter. One of those compilers whose work should be studied by new setters.
Thanks to Filbert and Scchua. Great crossword. Managed most without too much of a struggle. However, not convinced by “on record” being a synonym of “ever”, if that was indeed the intent. For me the former means that part of time for which we have records, and as such, it is a specific distinction from, “ever”.
Super puzzle as always, and maybe I was on the right wavelength today because it seemed a lot less chewy than usual. Agree with HS1 parsing @1. I failed to parse STRESS though, so kicking myself about that! I’m in technical agreement with AJG @9 about ever / on record, but informally people use the former to mean the latter and so I think it’s good enough for crosswordland. I can’t quite see put to for added on, though.
ARC DE TRIOMPHE was a lot of fun but I can’t fathom why Filbert didn’t make it a full &lit; all it needed was “on the West of Paris” instead of “West of Paris” because the monument is of course in the city, and serendipitously more or less on the west side.
Faves amongst many goodies were MISTRIAL (impaired hearing), BUNDESTAG (German’s house [really House]), LISTENER-IN (bugger) and SET STORE BY.
Thanks both!
Rather nice from Filbert as always. Aptly spent a disproportionate amount of time on LISTENER-IN completely reading the clue wrong.
Enjoyed ARC DE TRIOMPHE, MARBLE and VAGABOND
Thanks Filbert and schuaa
Thanks Filbert for another master class in setting. The left hand side was trickier for me than the right but eventually everything fell into place. My top picks were PRIMATE, CHABLIS, ASTOUNDING, MARBLE, ETHEREALLY, and BESIDE. I couldn’t parse SEVER. Thanks scchua for the attractive blog.
120ac ‘Scotch’ is a bit naughty for ‘put paid to’ – the original use made the distinction clear ‘We have scotch’d the snake NOT killed it’ – my capitals