Most of the usual things are here and highlighted in the grid. A pleasant crossword from Everyman, and the only criticisms are not very major and indicated in the blog.
Definitions in crimson (?? It looks as if I’ve made a mistake in setting things: the answers are in crimson but not the definitions; sorry), underlined. Indicators (homophone, hidden, containment, anagram, juxtaposition, etc) in italics. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*. Link-words in green.
I suppose SCAR and SPAR could be highlighted, but …
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SHEDS A TEAR |
Edward’s of Islamic faith, Spooner tells us, and is visibly moved (5,1,4)
|
| “Spooner” would say “Ted’s a Shia” | ||
| 6 | SCAR |
Mark and Cliff (4)
|
| 2 defs | ||
| 9 | DEMOCRATIC |
Comic rated ‘poor’ as the public chooses (10)
|
| (comic rated)* | ||
| 10 | SPAR |
Pole and box (4)
|
| 2 defs | ||
| 11 | ONCE IN A WHILE |
Love disposing of Chilean wine now and again (4,2,1,5)
|
| 0 *(Chilean wine) — 0 = love, as in tennis | ||
| 15 | REINS IN |
Checks score in Singapore when some are ignored (5,2)
|
| Hidden in scoRE IN SINgapore — a good hidden, one of my last in | ||
| 16 | NUTTIER |
Increasingly deranged old teachers having row (7)
|
| NUT tier — NUT = National Union of Teachers, now superseded by the National Education Union, tier = row | ||
| 17 | CHATGPT |
Chirpy haphazard assistant that’ll give plausibleish text, primarily? (7)
|
| Our first letters clue | ||
| 19 | THROUGH |
Cast can be heard from beginning to end (7)
|
| This sounds like “threw” — threw = cast | ||
| 20 | DOWN THE AISLE |
As trolleys and some trains proceed? (4,3,5)
|
| CD referring to the passage of a trolley serving refreshments, typically on a train or an aeroplane, and “trains” in the clue refers to bridal trains, which move down (up?) the aisle at a wedding | ||
| 23 | ROVE |
After drop of Riesling (round #5), Everyman’s beginning to ramble (4)
|
| r[iesling] 0 V E[veryman] — 0 = round, #5 = V, the Latin number — the self-referential clue | ||
| 24 | WIDOW’S PEAK |
Women’s group talk including stock index and what may resemble recession (6,4)
|
| WI (Dow) speak — WI = Women’s group (Women’s Institute), speak = talk, Dow = stock index (the Dow Jones Industrial Average) — the definition refers to what happens to some men as they age: at the front their hairline recedes on the left and right, leaving a “widow’s peak” of hair in the middle — a sort of recession | ||
| 25 | SASH |
Frame small tree (4)
|
| s ash — s = small, ash = tree — a sash is a window frame/sash window | ||
| 26 | ASSISTANCE |
Nitwit with one point of view: some help! (10)
|
| ass 1 stance — ass = nitwit, 1 = one, stance = point of view — the exclamation mark is hidden inside what someone might say: it isn’t referring to the way the clue works | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SODS |
Lays the ground for irritating types (4)
|
| 2 defs | ||
| 2 | EMMA |
Bovary? A Madame that’s written about? (4)
|
| (A MMe)rev. — Madame Bovary’s first name was Emma — Madame Bovary was a novel by Flaubert, published in 1856 and 1857 — what’s the second question mark doing? | ||
| 3 | SECOND SIGHT |
Prediction: more food will lead to fight not starting (6,5)
|
| seconds [f]ight — seconds = more food | ||
| 4 | TRADE-IN |
Traffic; perhaps old vehicle (5-2)
|
| Without the hyphen this refers to business (I’m a bit uncomfortable here and can’t see how traffic = trade in: traffic = trade and traffic in = trade in) — the definition refers to a second-hand car | ||
| 5 | AVIGNON |
Mixed gin in English ceremonial county – or somewhere in Provence (7)
|
| Avon around *(gin) — Avon no longer exists as a county, so there should be an “old” somewhere; it was a non-metropolitan ceremonial county in South West England that existed from 1974 to 1996; Avignon is a place in Provence | ||
| 7 | CAPRICIOUS |
Prosaic echinus every so often removed: that’s somewhat whimsical (10)
|
| (Prosaic [e]c[h]i[n]u[s])* — “removed” is a strange anagram indicator but I suppose it’s just about OK: it’s not in the Chambers Crossword Dictionary’s enormous list of anagram indicators (some of which are to my mind rather dodgy) — an echinus is a genus of sea urchins, so the surface is very odd | ||
| 8 | RARE EARTHS |
Wrongfully arrest and hear certain elements (4,6)
|
| *(arrest hear) — rare earth elements are ones like scandium and yttrium | ||
| 12 | WATER CLOSET |
Where to go in castle tower undergoing restoration (5,6)
|
| (castle tower)* | ||
| 13 | PROCEDURES |
M.O.s involving secure drop (10)
|
| *(secure drop) — an M.O. is, amongst other things, a modus operandi, a way of working: a procedure | ||
| 14 | TIDAL WAVES |
Current events – or figuratively, the public’s responses (5,5)
|
| 2 defs — In the first one “Current” refers to the current in the sea, where you get tidal waves, and the other definition refers to waves in the tides of opinion among the public | ||
| 18 | THE PITS |
Rubbish comprising uneaten peach parts? (3,4)
|
| The uneaten parts of a peach are the peach stone, for which “pit” is a US word | ||
| 19 | TRIPOLI |
Journey arriving at oil rig regularly somewhere in Libya (7)
|
| trip o[i]l [r]i[g] | ||
| 21 | DEAN |
College official having stripped off on retirement denied knighthood (4)
|
| (na[K]ed)rev. — naked = having stripped off, “on retirement” reverses it, K = knighthood (a colloquial term that I haven’t heard anyone using — no doubt because I don’t move in the right circles — but which I know from Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister) | ||
| 22 | SKYE |
Spot of land grabbed from Murmansk yesterday (4)
|
| Hidden in MurmanSK YEsterday — since Skye is an island it can I suppose be regarded as a spot of land |
I’m with you on 7d; my note on this was “where’s the anagrind?”. I had “removed” as part of the indication to take out alternate letters from Echinus. If it is (as on reflection I agree it must be) the anagrind, why “REmoved” when just “moved” would surely have been adequate and more accurate?
Thanks to Everyman and John.