Guardian 30,049 / Brummie

Brummie rounds off the week with, for me, a very satisfying puzzle.

I dimly remember a time when I was none too complimentary about Brummie’s surfaces. I haven’t blogged many of his puzzles lately but there’s certainly a fine set here, along with witty and meticulous cluing, ingenious devices, clever anagrams, deft misdirection and neat and considerate placing in the grid of the longer answers, which always goes down well with me. Quite a few smiles along the way, too, to enhance a sunny (not too hot) morning. Altogether, a very pleasant experience.

As so often, I ticked too many clues to list them. I’ll just make special mention of CAN-OPENER, PLATE TECTONICS, TAX-FREE, ALGEBRA, PERUSAL and DISPLAY. Brummie’s puzzle sometimes, but not always, have a theme. I haven’t spotted one this morning – have you?

Many thanks to Brummie for the puzzle.

Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1 Writer playing along with EU (7)
ANGELOU
An anagram (playing) 0f ALONG EU – a nice start to the puzzle

5 As corsets are spiked all over (5,2)
LACED UP
Double definition

9 Master goldsmith’s lead file (5)
GRASP
G[oldsmith] + RASP (file)

10 Is cricketer able to provide a handy means of access for consumers? (3-6)
CAN-OPENER
CAN (is able) + OPENER (cricketer) – several setters lately seem to be using this device (also seen in 3dn) – I rather like it

11, 12 You won’t see board members taking part in this criminal bloc’s NHS fiddle (9,5)
BLINDFOLD CHESS
A clever anagram (criminal) of BLOCS NHS FIDDLE, with a clever cryptic definition

13 Ruddy good to get in a depressed state! (5)
AGLOW
G (good) in A LOW (a depressed state)

15 Evening: almost time to collapse (9)
NIGHTFALL
NIGH (almost) + T (time) + FALL (collapse)

18 Department head is getting recognition? Rubbish! (9)
DISCREDIT
D[epartment] + IS, from the clue, + CREDIT (recognition)

19 Right wants a familiar ex-PM judged (5)
RATED
R (right) + A TED (Edward Heath, ex-PM, familiarly)

21, 23 Police state can’t, without a new study of underground movement? (5,9)
PLATE TECTONICS
An anagram (new) of POLICE STATE C[a]NT minus a

25 Top grade rations ordered by advanced health centres (9)
SANATORIA
An anagram (ordered) of A (top grade) RATIONS + A (advanced)

26 Gathering close to Gulf Stream (5)
FRILL
[gul]F + RILL (stream) – gathering as in dressmaking

27 A cross between tense and loose, as, say, kid’s clothing is (3-4)
TAX-FREE
A X (a cross) between T (tense) and FREE (loose) – children’s clothes are exempt from VAT

28 Old king protecting (or regressing) fledgling colony (7)
HERONRY
HENRY (old king – choice of eight) round a reversal (regressing) of OR

Down

1 In which X often appears with a broken leg support (7)
ALGEBRA
A, from the clue, + an anagram (broken) of LEG + BRA (support)

2 Happy soul dancing round Ireland’s top flower (9)
GLADIOLUS
An anagram (dancing) of GLAD (happy) SOUL round I[reland]

3 Was wolf-like lecturer against journalist’s opinion piece? (5)
LOPED
L (lecturer) + OP-ED (journalist’s opinion piece)

4 Like a single draughts piece – 100 now under review (9)
UNCROWNED
An anagram (review) of C (100) + NOW UNDER

5 Scored, though showing signs of age! (5)
LINED
Double definition

6 Test player, international, opens another player’s electrical store (9)
CAPACITOR
CAP (Test player) + I (international) in ACTOR (another player)

7 Poet’s slowish to drop a name (5)
DANTE
[an]DANTE (slowish – musical direction) minus A N (name) – I stared at D?N?E for some moments, trying to justify Donne

8 Country’s introducing a Latin examination (7)
PERUSAL
PERUS (country’s) + A L (Latin)

14 China might be after this line-up – open secret (9)
WORCESTER
A reversal (up, in a down clue) of ROW (line) + an anagram (open?) of SECRET

16 Billionaire accepts new car ‘hard to break in’ (9)
GATECRASH
(Bill) GATES (billionaire) round an anagram (new) of CAR + H (hard)

17 Maybe Titian or Turner’s main form of grinding (9)
ATTRITION
An anagram (maybe) of TITIAN OR T[urner]

18 Pledge from would-be MP – dregs! (7)
DEPOSIT
Double definition

20 One’s place in Doris’s show? (7)
DISPLAY
I’S (one’s) PL (place) in (Doris) DAY

22 Seize one with leader ousted in a new vote (5)
ANNEX
[o]NE in A N (NEW) X (vote)

23 Wrong end of the dish (5)
TORTE
TORT (a civil wrong) + [th]E

24 Tender and even more sickly? (5)
OFFER
Whimsically, more ‘off’ would be more sickly