Thank you to Pasquale. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Once again, sorry for the late blog.
Across
1. Female rushed around – is old female endless help, one lover of nature? (7,2,6)
FRANCIS OF ASSISI : F(abbrev. for “female”) + RAN(moved quickly/rushed on foot) + C(abbrev. for “circa”/around/approximately, used when specifying dates and years) + IS + O(abbrev. for “old”) + F(abbrev. for “female”) + last letter of deleted from(endless) “assist”(to help/aid) + I(Roman numeral for “one”).
Defn: …/animals and the environment.
9. Guide taking temperature at back of place of worship (7)
TEMPLET : T(abbrev. for “temperature”, in physics) placed after(at back of) TEMPLE(a place of worship).
Answer: Alternative spelling of “template”, a guide, model or pattern from which to produce many of the same thing.
10. Bound once more to be rejected? (7)
REFUSED : RE-FUSED(fused/bound once more/again).
11. Animal maybe in field in fine weather (3)
EWE : Hidden in(in) “fine weather”.
12. Give evidence, offering best answer, I fancy (4,7)
BEAR WITNESS : Anagram of(… fancy) BEST ANSWER, I.
13. What could make ladettes be loathsome (10)
DETESTABLE : Anagram of(What could make) LADETTES BE.
15. Check part of plant (4)
STEM : Double defn: 1st: …/to restrain.
18. Honey in kitchen container (4)
DISH : Double defn: 1st: …/something considered excellent, eg. an attractive person.
20. A period in prison, volunteers once joining in with difficulty (2,1,7)
AT A STRETCH : [ A + STRETCH(a time period served in prison) ] containing(… joining in) TA(abbrev. for the once- called Territorial Army, a voluntary reserve unit of the British Army).
23. Joke about race riot disturbed islander (6,5)
PUERTO RICAN : PUN(a joke/play on words) containing(about) anagram of(… disturbed) RACE RIOT.
Defn: … native to Puerto Rico.
25. Energy coming from fruit – that’s normal (3)
PAR : “e”(symbol for “energy” in physics) deleted from(coming from) “pear”(a fruit).
26. Stamp of approval when knight, say, invades country (7)
SENEGAL : SEAL(an official emblem guaranteeing quality/a stamp of approval) containing(when …, invades) [ N(abbrev. for “knight”, in chess notation) + EG(abbrev. for “example gratia”/for example/say) ].
Answer: …, a country in Africa.
27. Fabulous beast in old jokes at Cambridge. say (7)
UNICORN : [UNI CORN](what one might call old jokes/corn at a uni/university such as/say Cambridge in England).
28. Silly nitwit still mad, getting left inside to fight meaningless battle (4,2,9)
TILT AT WINDMILLS : Anagram of(Silly) NITWIT STILL MAD containing(getting … inside) L(abbrev. for “left”).
Defn: …/fighting imaginary enemies, as Don Quixote did.
Down
1. Stupid dad, not completely stupid dad with drug injected (9)
FATHEADED : “father”(for whom one’s familiar term of address is “dad”) minus its last letter(not completely) + anagram of(stupid) DAD containing(with … injected) E(abbrev. for the drug “ecstasy”).
2. Stop hugging woman’s middle for support (7)
ARMREST : ARREST(to stop/to discontinue) containing(hugging) middle letter of(…’s middle) “woman”.
3. Plant produced by a scientific institution needing external funds (8)
CALABASH : [ A + LAB(abbrev. for “laboratory”, a scientific site/institution) ] contained in(needing external) CASH(funds/financial resources).
Plant with fruits:
4. Religious literature mother smuggled out of mountainous island (5)
SUTRA : “ma”(a familiar term for one’s mother) deleted from(smuggled out of) “Sumatra”(a mountainous island, with several volcanoes in Indonesia).
Defn: …/text of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.
5. Food city provided with words before departure (9)
FAREWELLS : FARE(range of food and drink, eg. that found in a restaurant) plus(provided with) WELLS(a city in Somerset, England).
6. Fantastic feast ending with sherry? That should come first! (6)
SAFETY : Anagram of(Fantastic) FEAST + last letter of(ending with) “sherry”.
Answer: …, as in the motto “Safety First”.
7. Survey with page penned by worker? (7)
INSPECT : P(abbrev. for “page’) contained in(penned by) INSECT(an example of which is a worker, one of the castes in a, say, bee or ant colony)
8. Flower displayed by half of businesses (5)
INDUS : 1st 5 letters of(half of) “industries”(classes of businesses that share similar operations, products or services).
Defn: … or “flow-er”/river in India.
14. Back facing a bit of work, with subdued feeling of warmth (9)
AFTERGLOW : AFT(at the back/at the stern of a ship or plane) plus(facing) ERG(a small unit of work, in physics) plus(with) LOW(disheartened/subdued).
16. Airman has transported important Indian women (9)
MAHARANIS : Anagram of(… transported) AIRMAN HAS.
Defn: …, specifically female rulers or the consorts of maharajahs.
17. Form of discrimination getting scorn – my inside’s beginning to stir (8)
CRONYISM : Anagram of(… to stir) [SCORN – MY + 1st letter of(…’s beginning) “inside” ].
19. Tough gangster, ‘bony’ in a particular way (7)
STERNAL : STERN(rigorous/hard) + AL(Capone, American gangster once).
Answer: Relating to the sternum/the breastbone.
21. Work with son – work outside – something needing attention in allotment? (7)
TOPSOIL : [ OP(abbrev. for “opus”/a literary or musical work) plus(with) S(abbrev. for “son”) ] contained in(… outside) TOIL(to work hard).
Defn: The “something”, specifically the uppermost layer of earth in an allotment/small plot of land rented by someone to grow plants.
22. Greek character given time inside – mark of disgrace (6)
STIGMA : SIGMA(the 18th letter/character of the Greek alphabet) containing(given … inside) T(abbrev. for “time”).
23. Submit and rest after work’s over (5)
POSIT : SIT(to lie on top/to rest) placed below(after, in a down clue) reversal of(…’s over) OP(abbrev. for “opus”/a literary or musical work).
Defn: …/put forward something as fact.
24. Mate waving maiden goodbye on Navy vessel (5)
CHURN : “chum”(mate/friend) minus(waving … goodbye) “m”(abbrev. for “maiden”) plus(on) RN(abbrev. for the Royal Navy).
Surely not the first today to thank the Don and scchua? I don’t remember seeing TEMPLET spelt so, and thought 18 weak, but enjoyed the workout.
Never heard of TEMPLET before, but it couldn’t really be anything else. This was fairly clued and enjoyable, with no major standouts for me. Thanks Pasquale and Scchua.
I finished (both Wednesday and Thursday, a good week) so I assume it will be be perceived as on the easy side. I’ve never come across that spelling of template but I remember a colleague pronouncing it as TEMPLET. I liked AT A STRETCH and TILT AT WINDMILLS – an appropriate anagram.
Thanks schuaa and Pasquale, an enjoyable xword. Nothing I couldn’t fill in from the clues though I dnk maharanis or templet.
Thanks Pasquale and scchua
I “checked” TEMPLET with no expectation of it being right, so was pleasantly surprised!
Held up a bit by entering STOICAL at 19d.
Favourite AFTERGLOW after the penny dropped on the parsing.
Thanks for the hints.
Welcome relief after yesterday.
Thanks P.
At the easier end from the Don? Nothing too tricky though wasn’t keen on having work/op used in two clues…
Thanks scchua & Pasquale
This for me was an amenable Pasquale offering, which I really enjoyed steadily solving today. The only obscurity would have to be SUTRA, but then I dimly remembered a copy of the Kama Sutra hidden under the bedcovers when I was early on making new discoveries about the world. Many thanks Pasquale and to Scchua for a wonderfully colourful blog…
Technically a fail for me because I guessed maharinas for 16d which is unfortunately plausible and fits the anagram and crossers.
Templet seemed unlikely to me too, but a quick google did turn it up as an alternative so I was happy with it.
I would have preferred “old work” in the clue for afterglow, because nobody should actually be using ergs as units anymore but I accept I’m just being fussy.
I started this last night but after six answers, I gave up in despair. However with fresh eyes this morning and solving the long clues, it all fell smoothly. Elegant surfaces as ever, I liked BEAR WITNESS, DETESTABLE, PUERTO RICAN, SENEGAL, UNICORN, FATHEAD, INDUS and CRONYISM.
Ta Pasquale & scchua.
Solid. Possibly the first time I’ve ever done a Pasquale and known all the words (bar the alternative spelling of template) although several bubbled up from the depths of memory and were retro-parsed
Cheers P&S
“SUTRA” is new to me, will file that away in case it pops up again. I considered DISH for 18A but rejected it, since it seemed only loosely connected to honey (which I think of as a term of endearment rather than an assessment of attractiveness) and to container (which I think of as a closed item). And I whiffed on STERNAL, putting in “anal” for the last 4 letters (“in a particular way”) and trying to find a word for “tough” to fit the space. Enjoyed the long crossers, which were for the most part very helpful. Thanks to Pasquale and scchua (love the calabash pic!).
After getting very little on the first pass, I filled in the bottom half steadily, the top half more slowly, and finished up in the NW corner. Quite the workout for me, although I got there in the end.
NHO CALABASH nor seen template spelled that way. I wrote in INDUS and stared at it for half a minute before the penny dropped. One of these days I will remember the “flower” trick.
I knew SUTRA from a (terrible) album Donovan (Leitch) released, entitled “Sutras”. Here’s a sample.
The usual smattering of unusual words, although I should have known SUTRA from Kama SUTRA as Ronald @8. I see that Wiktionary gives TEMPLET as archaic and it’s not in the ODE, so I guess no one would use it these days. I liked the good anagrams for BEAR WITNESS and TILT AT WINDMILLS and the (father) and son working at the allotment with TOPSOIL. Once I got INDUS, giving the last i to 1A, it had to be FRANCIS OF ASSISI.
Thanks Pasquale and scchua.
I noticed that Seine is half of businesses. There’s no anagrind, so no problem.
I was left with full crossers in STERNAL, SUTRA and, embarrassingly, FAREWELLS. I got them all without cheating but it took a while. TEMPLET was new to me too.
I liked ARMREST and FATHEADED but found the top half tougher.
Thanks Pasquale ans scchua
Really enjoyable, lovely smooth clues. It was nice to have tilting at windmills today after yesterday’s Indy crossword.
I had “windmills” early on, but did not know the expression “tilt at windmills”, rather knowing fighting windmills. It took me a bit of writing down and crossing off letters to find the remaining letters, and then it could not be anything else than “tilt at”. I was quite pleased when I finally had “francis of assissi” and managed to parse. I could not finf the old volunteers in “at a stretch”. I was looking for volunteers with the abbreviation a.t. instead of t.a. Thanks, Pasquale and Scchua.
I found this mostly quite easy, helped by writing in 1a straightaway, but got stuck on a couple of clues at the end. I couldn’t drag CALABASH or CRONYISM out of my memory and had to look both up to confirm. I have never seen the spelling of TEMPLET before and tried to write in template before realising that it wouldn’t work.
I thought some of the surfaces were a bit clunky but that’s just me.
Favourites FAREWELLS (which like Martin@17 I stared at for a time with all the crossers) TOPSOIL and STERNAL.
Thanks Pasquale and scchua
Fine puzzle, liked TILT AT WINDMILLS. Tx.
Nakamova @13 – I’m with you…HONEY != DISH IMHO…
However, I’m far more tolerant of loose DD’s and homophones than most, so I’m ok with it…
A fun puzzle and a bit of a relief after yesterday’s challenge. Agree with HIYD@22 re Honey / Dish. Thanks to P and S
Seemed on the easier end of Pasquale’s range but made harder for myself by not getting the top and bottom clues early. TILT AT WINDMILLS being completely new to me and was a case of finding any three words from the anagram.
Liked TOPSOIL
Thanks Scchua and Pasquale
Personally, I’m not okay with honey and dish. Can’t setters in a liberal 21st century newspaper leave their outdated misogynist thinking where it belongs, in the past. Seriously, far too often in these crosswords predominantly male setters get away with this nonsense. Thank you, rant over.
For those that may not know Don Manley sets under many Don related names – Duck, Pasquale, Quixote, Bradman, Giovanni, and Izetti— so it’s lovely to see the quixotic self-referential 28ac TILT AT WINDMILLS. Here is Rostropovich playing the coda to Strauss Don Quixote, windmill-tilting is over by this stage of the piece. Great puzzle, took me an enjoyable while, thank you Pasquale and scchua
Comment #27