Thank you to Slormgorm. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
7. Complete fool mistaking penny for note (4)
DONE : “dope”(a fool) with “p”(abbrev. for “penny”) replaced by(mistaking … for) N(abbrev. for “note”).
Defn: …/finished.
8. After shooting, where is one’s president? (10)
EISENHOWER : Anagram of(After shooting) WHERE IS ONE.
Answer: Former US president.
10. One spotted in kingdom in Oman (6)
DOMINO : Hidden in(in) “kingdom in Oman”.
11. Part of race men try to fix (6)
CEMENT : Hidden in(Part of) “race men try”.
12. Very disagreeable lad Freud treated (8)
DREADFUL : Anagram of(… treated) LAD FREUD.
13. Bug in rug found by lug (6)
EARWIG : WIG(a hairpiece, “rug” in slang) placed after(found by) EAR(body part, “lug” in slang).
According to old wives tales, these entered through the ear and burrowed into the brain, where they laid their eggs:
15. Brief and undercover rendezvous? (3-5,5)
ONE-NIGHT STAND : Cryptic defn: A one-off/brief exual encounter/rendezvous (under the bed-cover).
18. What is normal about stealing diamonds? (6)
PARDON? : PAR(normal/standard) + ON(about/refering to) containing(stealing) D(abbrev. for “diamonds”, a suit in a deck of playing cards).
Answer: Like “What?”, an informal way of asking someone to repeat something they said.
20. Away break, perhaps (2,6)
BY CHANCE : BY(aside/away, is in “Put this by for a rainy day) + CHANCE(a break/an opportunity that happens by luck).
Defn: …/maybe/if luck will have it.
22. Land on fire (6)
ALIGHT : Double defn: 1st: …/come to rest, say, as a bird on a branch.
24. GM’s triumphant confession enthrals new prisoner (6)
INMATE : [I MATE](something a GM/Grand Master, a top chess player might say/confess triumphantly when he/she checkmates/mates his/her opponent) containing(enthrals) N(abbrev. for “new”).
25. One with rock career’s mean to sons, sadly (10)
STONEMASON : Anagram of(…, sadly) MEAN TO SONS.
26. Anne occasionally gets concerning gas (4)
NEON : 2nd and 4th letters of(… occasionally) “Anne” plus(gets) ON(about/concerning).
Down
1. Uncontrollable gas distressed a horologer (10)
LOGORRHOEA : Anagram of(distressed) A HOROLOGER.
Defn: …/excessive talkativeness.
2. Drug law ultimately ignored in China (8)
MEDICATE : “edict”(a directive/law) minus its last letter(ultimately ignored) contained in(in) MATE(pal/”china”, in slang).
3. Go to sleep and stop sitting on me! (3,3)
GET OFF : Double defn: 1st: Succeed in falling asleep.
4. Pants of thieves brought into hearing (8)
KNICKERS : Homophone of(… brought into hearing) “nickers”(those who nick/thieves).
Defn: …, items of underwear.
5. You might say a bomb one made in the 50s? (6)
BOOMER : Something that booms/makes an explosive noise, an example of which/you might say, is a bomb.
Answer: Short for a “baby boomer”, someone born during the baby boom in the 50s, after World War II.
6. Miserly dude keeping hold of ecstasy (4)
MEAN : MAN(a chap/dude, in slang) containing(keeping hold of) E(abbrev. for the drug, ecstasy).
9. In stable, helps to shift grass (5,3,5)
SPILL THE BEANS : Anagram of(… to shift) IN STABLE, HELPS.
Answer: To reveal secrets, an instance of which is to betray someone to the police/to grass.
14. Can idiot in convertible signal? (10)
INDICATION : Anagram of(… convertible) CAN IDIOT IN.
16. Note Mini going very quickly (2,2,4)
IN NO TIME : Anagram of(… going) NOTE MINI.
17. Scary gangster handing out shooters? (8)
ALARMING : AL(Capone, American gangster – a crossword staple) + ARMING(giving out weapons/handing out guns/shooters)
19. Fellow Democrat pinching grand earl’s butt (3-3)
DOG-END : DON(a lecturer at a university/a fellow) + D(abbrev. for a member of the Democratic Party) containing(pinching) [ G(abbrev. for “grand”) + E(abbrev. for “earl”) ] .
Defn: …, in this case, the small bit of cigarette left after it has been smoked.
21. Stony deposits old taxmen left in restrooms (6)
CAIRNS : IR(abbrev. for the Internal Revenue, former/old tax agency/taxmen in the UK) contained in(left in) CANS(slang for toilets/restrooms).
… made to show the way to hikers:
23. Dead exhilarated to get naked (4)
LATE : “elated”(extremely happy/exhilarated) minus its 1st and last letters(to get naked).
Thanks Slormgorm and scchua
19dn: The parsing is currently missing the final D, given by “Democrat” in the clue, so it is [DON +D] containing [G + E].
Thanks Pelham Barton. Blog corrected for the slip.
9 down: only 5 checked letters out of 13, with two triple unches. A very poor grid.
I needed help with 1d otherwise all good.
Haven’t heard the word EARWIG in years. Just like quicksand and the Bermuda Triangle, they caused childhood anxieties that never really materialised in adult life.
I was stumped by 18 because I had “fag-end” instead of DOG-END. I had assumed F for fellow and a disjointed AND for democrat. I was baffled as to why AND should mean “democrat” but I have been left behind by modern political abbreviations in the past and thought this was another.
I thought 4 and 5 were a bit feeble but overall it was an enjoyable puzzle for which the usual thanks.
Comment #6
A few tricky clues but all solvable athough there a few we couldn’t parse. We agree with Andrew @3 about 9dn; fortunately we only needed two crossing letters and the likelihood of the middle 3-letter word being ‘the’ to guess the answer.
Thanks, Slormgorm and scchua.
9dn further to earlier comments: I too was able to get the answer with confidence from only two checked letters. But I am solving a crossword, not a list of crossword-type clues. When I solve a clue for a thirteen letter answer from only two checked letters, I expect to gain checked letters that will help me with the later solution of four or (preferably) five other clues. Here I only got three.
Incidentally related to 13ac, does anyone know the source of the comment that, if more people cared about earwigs, there would be fewer people going around with bald ears?
I also lazily entered FAG END before revisiting the clue and actually using my noggin.
Not sure what the fuss is about for 9d – plain definition and easy anagram. Is it because you wanted more reward?
PB@8 – no, but I’d hate to be sat next to them at a dinner party!
Lovely blog!
Thanks both
I started well, but the last four clues took a lot of time. I ticked DOMINO, EISENHOWER, the rhyming clue for EARWIG and PARDON
I could not parse INMATE (did not see the gm chess reference). NHO 1 d and I am surprised no-one has commented on the use of an anagram for this obscure word. Talking of NHO – thanks for explaining a DOG END is a cigarette butt and I guess I had better remember IR is the former name of HMRC.
Thanks Slormgorm and scchua
My experience was similar to others in having the last few clues taking longer. I didn’t have a problem with the grid or 9D. I hadn’t realised what the GM stood for so I didn’t fully parse that one and I was tricked by CAIRN. All good though.
I liked STONEMASON, MEDICATE and PARDON.
Thanks Slormgorm and scchua