There were lots of very entertaining clues here.
Impressively, every answer and most clues pertained to the theme, which might be termed consumables – food, drink and to a lesser extent drugs. I liked 24D for the clever use of Cambridge University and 1D was also quite a neat use of the pop group. It was also nice to see something quite modern like a videogame developer in 4D.
| ACROSS | ||
| 9 | ANISE |
Flavourful herb from Japan is emetic (5)
|
|
Hidden in "Japan is emetic" |
||
| 10 | CHAMOMILE |
Sort of brew having mocha shaken at length (9)
|
|
Mocha* + mile(=length). Chamomile is a variant spelling of camomile. |
||
| 11 | SHALLOT |
Bulb will go out at last (7)
|
|
Shall(=will) + last letters of "go out" |
||
| 12 | ABALONE |
Area with endless rubbish shellfish (7)
|
|
A{rea} + balone[y](=rubbish) |
||
| 13 | CHOCOLATE |
Sweet gossip about flipping crazy drug (9)
|
|
(Chat(=gossip) around loco<(=flipping crazy)) + E{cstasy}(=drug) |
||
| 15 | OFFAL |
Mercian king with large heart? (5)
|
|
Offa(=king of Mercia, responsible for Offa's dike) + l{arge}. Heart would be an example of offal, so the question mark is required. |
||
| 17 | MEAT AND POTATOES |
Basics of tapas: do not eat ’em messily (4,3,8)
|
|
(Tapas do not eat em)* |
||
| 20 | BHANG |
Preparation of hemp source for burlap drape (5)
|
|
B[urlap] + hang(=drape) |
||
| 21 | PINTO BEAN |
Piano playing on beat in pulse (5,4)
|
|
P{iano}(=musical abbrev) + (on beat in)* |
||
| 23 | RUM BABA |
One spirited dance employing belly muscle (3,4)
|
|
Rumba(=dance) around ab{ductor}(=belly muscle). A rum baba is a cake soaked in alcohol, so could be said to be "spirited". |
||
| 25 | TROTTER |
Adder biting Rex’s foot (7)
|
|
Totter(=adder in the sense of someone adding or totting up) around R{ex}(abbrev used when referring to kings) |
||
| 27 | GINGER ALE |
American soldier and general organised mixer (6,3)
|
|
GI(=General Infantryman, an American term for a soldier) + general* |
||
| 28 | FANTA |
Fizzy drink‘s cool, cheers! (5)
|
|
Fan(=cool, as in to fan yourself) + ta(=cheers i.e. thanks) |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | CAPSICUM |
Top remix of music group covering Red Hot Chili Peppers (8)
|
|
Cap(=top) + music* |
||
| 2 | PINA COLADA |
Detective, sloshed and nursing a cola cocktail (4,6)
|
|
PI(=private investigator) + (and* around (a cola)) |
||
| 3 | VEAL |
Sides of vinaigrette and animal meat (4)
|
|
V[inaigrett]e + a[nima]l |
||
| 4 | ICE TEA |
Refresher course finally penned by ICT and videogame developer (3,3)
|
|
([Cours]e in ICT) + EA. EA is an abbrev of Electronic Arts, a video game developer responsible for titles such as The Sims. |
||
| 5 | JALAPENO |
Sent north into Nepal, a jobber carries source of spice (8)
|
|
Hidden, reversed in "into nepal a jobber" |
||
| 6 | ROMA TOMATO |
Finishing touches for bitter amaretto from morsel at centre of stone fruit (4,6)
|
|
[Bitte]r [amarett]o [fro]m + atom(=morsel, used colloquially) + at + [st]o[ne] |
||
| 7 | MISO |
Miffed if supposed onyx principally paste (4)
|
|
M[iffed] i[f] s[upposed] o[nyx] |
||
| 8 | CEREAL |
Breakfast show having multiple episodes broadcast (6)
|
|
Hom of serial |
||
| 14 | ORANGEADES |
Drunk and so eager for soft drinks (10)
|
|
(And so eager)* |
||
| 16 | FLORENTINE |
Behold! Split cracks thin biscuit! (10)
|
|
(Lo(=behold) + rent(=split)) in fine(=thin) |
||
| 18 | DOPIAZAS |
Cook pizzas, half-heartedly throwing in essential ingredient of Bangladeshi curries (8)
|
|
Do(=cook) + (pi[z]zas* around [Bangl]a[deshi]) |
||
| 19 | SANGRIAS |
Betrayed resistance leaders in interrogation after several punches (8)
|
|
Sang(=betrayed) + r{esistance}(=abbrev used in science) + i[nterrogation] a[fter] s[everal] |
||
| 20 | BORAGE |
Leaves right on time after bop cut short (6)
|
|
(R{ight} + age(=time)) after bo[p] |
||
| 22 | NUTMEG |
Set up a French trademark for one footballer’s trick (6)
|
|
Un<(=French for "a") + tm(=abbrev of trademark) + e.g.(=for one) |
||
| 24 | MINT |
Newton admitted to Cambridge University with zero marks? (4)
|
|
N{ewton}(=abbrev from physics where it is the unit of force) in MIT. MIT, along with Harvard, is located in Cambridge in Massachusetts. |
||
| 26 | ORFE |
Swimmer given gold with firsts in freestyle events (4)
|
|
Or(=old or heraldic term for gold) + f[reestyle] e[vents] |
Loved everything about this puzzle. Thanks Bluejacket and also NealH for the write-up.
Quite an achievement to get all defs and nearly every surface part of the theme making this a very enjoyable solve. Not too tricky and some v. nice constructions, particularly JALAPENO, FLORENTINE, SANGRIAS, CHOCOLATE, OFFAL, and TROTTER. Thank you Bluejacket and NealH for the blog.
Magnificent theming, I am in awe 🤩
As well as the amazing gridfill some lovely clues in there too such as SHALLOT, MEAT AND POTATOES, DOPIAZAS, NUTMEG and MINT.
Great work Jack, and thanks NealH.
Very nice, enjoyed that thanks – some excellent surfaces! Particular favourites MEAT AND POTATOES, TROTTER, PINA COLADA, ORANGEADES, BORAGE 🙂
Thanks for a great blog here too!
Thank you to everyone here and on MyCrossword for all your kind comments! Particular thanks to NealH for the comprehensive blog.