Overall, the clues were very good, but I found this entry from Moo quite a struggle, for some reason.
I think that there might be an editing goof in 5A.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | GLAMOUR |
Girl ignoring Irish lover’s allure (7)
|
| G[IR]L minus (ignoring) IR. (Irish) + AMOUR (lover) | ||
| 5 | IRON AGE |
I’m angry about old Harry for a time (4,3)
|
| I think this parses as: IRE (I’m angry [should be: “anger”?]) around (about) {O (old) + NAG (harry)}, with a capitalization misdirection. I tried to make the first element “I RAGE,” but I cannot make the rest of the clue work from there. It is possible that this clue is a casualty of the editing process. | ||
| 9 | MEDIC |
Bones of Italian family finally laid to rest (5)
|
| MEDIC[I] (Italian family) minus last letter (finally laid to rest), with “Bones” being a cliché nickname for a doctor | ||
| 10 | MEDITATED |
Admitted struggling with boundless Zen thought (9)
|
| Anagram of (struggling) {ADMITTED + inside letter of (boundless) [Z]E[N]} | ||
| 11 | LOOSE ENDS |
Ill-defined purposes, details not yet settled (5,4)
|
| LOOSE (ill-defined) + ENDS (purposes) | ||
| 12 | ETHOS |
Spirit of the people moving east (5)
|
| I think this parses as: THOSE (the people) moving E (east) to the beginning | ||
| 13 | CENT |
Only a little money dispatched, I hear (4)
|
| Homophone of (I hear) SENT (dispatched) | ||
| 15 | STRIPPER |
Performer whose act is taking off? (8)
|
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 18 | LAY AN EGG |
Flop in US, as Kiwi may do (3,2,3)
|
| Double definition, with a capitalization misdirection, “kiwi” here referring to the bird | ||
| 19 | TOOT |
Snort some coke, one way or another (4)
|
| Cryptic (or arguably double) definition, with “one way or another” indicating a palindrome. I am not 100% persuaded that a “toot” and a “snort” are the same sound. “Toot” can mean both to consume cocaine and a dose of cocaine. | ||
| 22 | OBEYS |
Heeds appeal to Turkish governors (5)
|
| If one were making an appeal to Turkish governors, one might say, “O! BEYS!“ | ||
| 24 | DISPARAGE |
Aged Parsi unfortunately run down (9)
|
| Anagram of (unfortunately) AGED PARSI | ||
| 26 | SUPPORTER |
Senior policeman arresting left’s advocate (9)
|
| SUPER (senior policeman) around (arresting) PORT (left) | ||
| 27 | ALIGN |
Coordinate a policy announcement (5)
|
| A + homophone of (announcement) LINE (policy) | ||
| 28 | POTHEAD |
P for puffer on a spliff? (7)
|
| This is sort of a reverse clue and double definition combined. The first part is: the first letter of (head [of]) P[OT] = P | ||
| 29 | RED DEER |
Creatures looking increasingly hot, conserving energy (3,4)
|
| REDDER (looking increasingly hot) around (conserving) E (energy) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | GAMBLE |
Bet ‘King of Hollywood’ is pocketing millions (6)
|
| (Clark) GABLE (King of Hollywood) around (is pocketing) M (millions) | ||
| 2 | ANDROMEDA |
Foreign man adored these stars (9)
|
| Anagram of (foreign) MAN ADORED, referring perhaps either to the constellation or to the galaxy | ||
| 3 | ON CUE |
Single copper intervening at just the right time (2,3)
|
| CU (copper) inside (intervening) ONE (single) | ||
| 4 | REMINISCE |
Talk about past crimes in extraordinary end to programme (9)
|
| Anagram of (extraordinary) {CRIMES IN} + last letter of (end to) [PROGRAMM]E | ||
| 5 | INDUS |
Runner in south of France keeling over (5)
|
| IN + SUD (south of France, i.e., in French) inverted (keeling over) | ||
| 6 | ON THE SPOT |
Immediately in a difficult position (2,3,4)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 7 | AITCH |
A longing that’s often unexpressed up north (5)
|
| A + ITCH (longing), i.e., the letter “H” is unaspirated in dialect | ||
| 8 | ELDEST |
First-born rescued from cruel destiny (6)
|
| Hidden in (rescued from) [CRU]EL DEST[INY] | ||
| 14 | TRANSPOSE |
Swap one’s parts around (9)
|
| Anagram of (around) ONE’S PARTS, with the whole clue having an &lit quality | ||
| 16 | REGISTRAR |
Hospital doctor who might marry you? (9)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 17 | EVOCATIVE |
Poignant conclusion to remarkable case (9)
|
| Last letter of (conclusion to) [REMARKABL]E + VOCATIVE (case, in grammar) | ||
| 20 | GOSSIP |
Gas is therefore being recalled, GP admits (6)
|
| GP around (admits) {IS + SO (therefore)} both reversed (being recalled) | ||
| 21 | TENNER |
Note return of Leicester constituent (6)
|
| RENNET ([Red] Leicester constituent) inverted (return of) | ||
| 23 | EXPAT |
Some Essex patriarch who lives overseas (5)
|
| Hidden in (some) [ESS]EX PAT[RIARCH] | ||
| 24 | DATED |
Saw theologian embracing unmarried friend (5)
|
| DD (theologian) around (embracing) [M]ATE (friend) minus M (“un-married”) | ||
| 25 | AWARD |
American child looked after allotment (5)
|
| A (American) + WARD (child looked after) |
I guess you can say Dyu fancy a toot (or a snort), or some toot (or some coke) …
Too many head scratchers, too little enjoyment. Sorry, but this one did not do much for me.
I agree with your comment on 5a.
Thanks Moo and Cineraria
I had SATIRIST for 15a.
Haven’t finished yet; finding it less enjoyable than a usual Moo.
I couldn’t satisfactorily parse IRON AGE either. I took I’m angry to clue I RAGE. Then O is old but I don’t see how N could be Harry, which surely is NAG. Curiouser and curiouser.
The FT app has a nice way of listing out the clues so I tried cold solving everything. Got 16! Including IRON AGE with a question mark. After that it wasn’t too bad. I might try that approach again. Tx Moo and Cineraria.
Apologies for 5a. My fault entirely. Don’t know what I was thinking.
Thanks Moo and Cineraria,
My FOI was IRON AGE with a shrug that N = Harry, like GDU @ 4
My LOI was TENNER. Overall I found this straightforward.
I had the same problem as others with 5a, but ended up parsing it as an anagram (‘m angry, that is, am angry) of I (I), RE (about), O (old) and NAG (Harry). This does give IRON AGE (a time).