Thank you to Filbert. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Band tour on back of success on-line? (6)
STRIPE : TRIP(a tour/journey) placed after(on) last letter of(back of) “success” + E-(prefix to denote something to be found online/available on the internet).
4. Propose splitting amount that’s coughed up (6)
SPUTUM : PUT(or put forward/to propose) contained in(splitting) SUM(the total amount).
Defn: That substance which is coughed up.
9. Sheep anti/pro low cloud (10)
CONFORMIST : CON(against/anti) + FOR(pro/supporting) + MIST(low/near-the-earth’s-surface cloud).
Defn: …, figuratively/a follower who totally complies with the group’s norms.
10. Backing lost for nosy US agency (4)
NASA : Last letter deleted from(Backing lost for) “nasal”(relating to the nose or what you might term “nosy” a la water/watery).
Answer: …, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
11. Gay in Ghent so upset there are no bars (8,4)
ANYTHING GOES : Anagram of(… upset) GAY IN GHENT SO.
Defn: …, ie. nothing is disallowed/barred.
13. Protruding part goddess squeezes back in (6)
HERNIA : HERA(in Greek mythology, the highest ranking goddess) containing(squeezes) reversal of(back) IN.
Defn: … in the body where an internal organ pushes through surrounding muscle or tissue wall.
14. Explosive combat involved great sacrifice (8)
HECATOMB : HE(abbrev. for “high explosive”) + anagram of(… involved) COMBAT.
Answer: An ancient Greek or Roman religious sacrifice of one hundred cattle to the gods.
16. Five plus Burgess, say, turned communist once (8)
YUGOSLAV : Reversal of(…, turned) [ V(Roman numeral for “five”) + ALSO(plus/in addition) + GUY(an example/say, of one with the last name Burgess, who was a double agent for the Soviets – one who turned communist) ].
Defn: One who belonged to a former/once Soviet Republic.
18. Somewhat peculiar man in expensive clothes (6)
ARMANI : Hidden in(Somewhat) “peculiar man in”.
Defn: Symbolic of ….
20. Walter fixes shoes for Spooner’s runs (12)
COLLYWOBBLES : Spoonerism of (Spooner’s) [ “wally”(short form of the name, Walter) “cobbles”(fixes shoes as a cobbler does) ].
Answer: Slang for “acute diarrhoea”/the runs.
23. Tool store (4)
FILE : Double defn: 2nd: … a digital record on a computer or a paper document in a folder.
24. US cop that is blocking tunnel at ground (10)
LIEUTENANT : IE(abbrev. for “id est”/that is) contained in(blocking) anagram of(… ground) TUNNEL AT.
Defn: One of the ranks in a US police force.
25. Cry quietly having dispatched one large lemon? (6)
YELLOW : YELL(to cry loudly/shout) + “low”(at a low volume/quietly) minus an(having dispatched one) “l”(abbrev. for “large”).
Defn: The colour, ….
26. Stimulating stuff from lead characters in naughty novel, I’m told (6)
ENZYME : Homophone of(… told) [ “ens”(written form of the 1st letters/lead characters in “naughty” and “novel”) + “I’m” ].
Defn: …, ie. compounds that speed chemical changes in the body.
Down
1. Break crockery up (4)
STOP : Reversal of(… up, in a down clue) POTS(round vessels for cooking food/crockery).
Defn: …/pause.
2. Those stopping football and cricket desist (7)
REFRAIN : REF(or referee, one who has the authority to stop play in a football match) + RAIN(weather that will stop a cricket match from continuing).
Defn: …/hold back from doing an action.
3. Maybe Labour overturned Liberal legislation’s divisive feature (5,4)
PARTY WALL : PARTY(an example of which/maybe is the Labour Party) + reversal of(overturned) [ L(abbrev. for a member of the Liberal Party) + LAW(a rule created by a legislative body/a legislation) ].
Defn: … standing between two landed properties or apartments.
5. Advice from below about where to fix rope (5)
PITON : Reversal of(… from below) TIP(a helpful piece of advice) + ON(concerning/about, as in “the talk was on taxation”).
Defn: … when mountain climbing:
6. Stretched nurses down for shifts this evening (7)
TONIGHT : TIGHT(stretched/taut) containing(nurses) ON(scheduled to work during specific time periods/down for shifts).
7. Chief planner furious about M1, forbidding bridges (10)
MASTERMIND : MAD(furious/very angry) containing(about) [MI(M1 with the Roman numeral substitution for “one”) contained in(… bridges/goes over) STERN(showing disapproval/forbidding)].
8. Drone maybe brought into harbour after power failure (5-4-4)
MIGHT-HAVE-BEEN : [ BEE(the male of which is a drone) contained in(brought into) HAVEN(a harbour/a safe place in which to shelter) ] placed after(after) MIGHT(power/strength).
12. Shapelessness misrepresented by outlines (10)
NEBULOSITY : Anagram of(misrepresented) BY OUTLINES.
15. Fake tea the French turn brown (9)
CHARLATAN : CHAR(slang for tea, the drink) + LA(the article “the” in French) + TAN(to turn brown in skin tone, after being in the sun).
17. Fuel supply cook uncapped successfully (3,4)
OIL WELL : “boil”(to cook in boiling water) minus its 1st letter(uncapped, in a down clue) + WELL(with a satisfactory result/successfully).
19. Building work that near bores old PM (7)
MASONRY : [ SO(“that” as in “I want to do it like so/that” or “You say I was there? So/That I was”) + NR(abbrev. for “near”) ] contained in(bores) MAY(Theresa, former/old UK PM).
21. OK without sealing airlock regularly (5)
WILCO : WO(abbrev. for “without”) containing(sealing) 2nd, 4th and 6th letters of(… regularly) “airlock”.
Answer: In radio or military communication, short for “will comply”/OK.
22. Somebody catching cold at any time (4)
ONCE : ONE(pronoun used to refer to a person/somebody) containing(catching) C(abbrev. for “cold”).
Answer: As in “Call me once/at any time/whenever it happens”.
The blog does not mention the ‘r’ in CHARLATAN. I had ‘char’ as an informal British word for tea, as in ‘char wallah’. Enjoyed the puzzle. Thanks.
sofamore, you’re right. Blog corrected.
Seems that tea can be cha/r, with or without, whereas cleaner is always char. Cruisy job, tho I missed parsing the two ‘enz’, dim! Thanks Filbert and scchua.
Another enjoyable workout from Filbert. One of the things I like about solving cryptics is how they can prompt you to dredge out forgotten words from the dim recesses of the mind. HECATOMB was an example of this. Off-hand I couldn’t think of how ‘so’ could equate to ‘that’ in 19d, so thanks for that.
REFRAIN, ANYTHING GOES, and COLLYWOBBLES make my podium today. Excellent as ever from Filbert.
Really good today. YUGOSLAV was favourite
STOP = break = SNAP. Pots or pans anyone?
Thanks both
Phew, I found this Filbert a real struggle.
It all makes sense in hindsight, ( though, 22d, ONCE = “at any time” is not for me ).
If “HE” is “high explosive”, is “explosive” adequate? 14(ac); the solution is tough enough ( and not very clever )
To be honest, too many clues were over contrived, and I didn’t find any crackers. Or any fun.
So, it’s a rare thumbs down for this Filbert.
Thanks, scchua
Thanks Filbert for the Sunday entertainment. I found this a bit of a struggle and I revealed COLLYWOBBLES and HECATOMB, both of which were new to me. I also failed with the clever MIGHT-HAVE-BEEN. There was still a lot to like including STRIPE, SPUTUM, ANYTHING GOES, ARMANI, ENZYME, and MASTERMIND. Thanks scchua for the blog.
Relieved to have got through this upon reading some of the comments. STOP last one in – I guess I think of pots as cooking vessels so more likely to be made of metal but Winnie the Pooh’s honey pot was famously crockery so I can’t complain. MIGHT-HAVE-BEEN, MASTERMIND, PARTY WALL, ARMANI, YUGOSLAV, HECATOMB and ANYTHING GOES my faves.
Thanks both
Thanks Filbert and scchua. It was likeable though difficult; I liked YUGOSLAV and CONFORMIST. I didn’t like the construction of ENZYME (my LOI). On MASTERMIND, I’m not sure about “bridges” as an envelope indicator, especially as it refers to the outside item: how can something that is outside bridge what is inside? I’m also not so sure about “online” denoting E – E means electronic, not necessarily online (eg e-book). I took it to be the last letter of “online” with “on” as (admittedly not crisp) insertion indicator.
To suggest a correction to the blog: while Yugoslavia was communist post-WWII, it wasn’t a Soviet republic, as it was never part of the USSR
Thought about it all day but was ultimately beaten by FILE after putting in a less than optimistic MINE. Seems obvious now but obviously I was no MASTERMIND today.
Like @6Xmac also had SNAP in for a while.
Lot to enjoy as always YUGOSLAV, ENZYME and CONFORMIST coming to mind without having to revisit the puzzle.
Thanks Filbert and Schuaa
Standout for me was ANYTHING GOES. (Was hoping for a theme based on the musical.) Also liked MASONRY; it was so/that clever. Thanks both.
Ghent is large enough that it surely must have at least one gay bar. (Or at least a bar where ANYTHING GOES.) My husband and I always try to find the local gay bars wherever we travel, and I think it’s safe to say that we’ve never visited a city with over 200,000 residents that didn’t have one.
I failed on the YUGOSLAV, which of course was clever once I hit reveal. I was trying, and failing, to think of a specific person who fit that letter pattern.
I’m another who had SNAP instead of STOP until CONFORMIST set me straight. I actually think SNAP fits the clue at least as well if not better.