Thank you to Artexlen. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Settler from Germany beginning to enjoy scrumpy? (7)
DECIDER : D(International Vehicle Registration code for Germany) + 1st letter of(beginning to) “enjoy” + CIDER(a strong alcoholic drink made from apples/scrumpy).
Defn: Something that settles/determines the outcome of, say, a competition.
5. Gun I’m hesitant to use on rats (7)
BLASTER : ER(an expression that says “I’m hesitant/unsure”) placed after(to use on) BLAST!(like “Rats!”, an exclamation of annoyance).
9. Event location in centre of Dover being used regularly (5)
VENUE : Middle letter of(centre of) “Dover” + 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th letters of(… regularly) “being used”.
10. Standard answer the French prisoner returned lawyer’s assistant (9)
PARALEGAL : PAR(the standard or expected level) + A(abbrev. for “answer”) + LE(French for “the”) + reversal of(… returned) LAG(a prisoner/convict).
11. Old money found in mound covered by grasses (9)
SHILLINGS : HILL(area of land higher that its surrounding land, a mound if it is not that high) contained in(covered by) SINGS(acts as an informer/grasses/betrays).
Defn: A former/old British unit of money.
12. Scruffy type half-cut entertains a teetotaller (5)
TATTY : Last 2 letters deleted from(… half-cut) “type” containing(entertains) [A + TT(abbrev. for “teetotaller”) ].
Defn: …/untidy and dirty.
13. Upset of a notable loss when the FA Cup takes place? (8,6)
FOOTBALL SEASON : Anagram of(Upset) OF A NOTABLE LOSS.
Defn: When the Football Association (FA) Cup competition happens.
18. Assembling, as knights rescuing a damsel in distress might be (6,8)
COMING TOGETHER : [ COMING TO GET HER ](describing knights coming to get a damsel out of a distressful situation).
20. Former lover returning paintings is bonus (5)
EXTRA : EX(former lover) + reversal of(returning) ART(a branch of which are paintings).
22. Worry about being eaten by a whale at sea, hard to ignore aquatic creature (5,4)
WATER FLEA : Reversal of(… about) FRET(to worry/be anxious) contained in(being eaten by) anagram of(… at sea) “a whale” minus(… to ignore) “h”(abbrev. for “hard”).
24. Sign of damage comparatively suspicious having scratched fine gardening tool (9)
SCARIFIER : SCAR(a mark left by/a sign of damage done) + “iffier”(comparatively/more “iffy”/suspicious/dubious) minus(having scratched) “f”(abbrev. for “fine”).
25. Had concern about wine (5)
CARED : CA(abbrev. for “circa”/approximately/about, in reference to dates and time periods) + RED(any wine that is red in colour).
26. Threats coming from dad anger sons (7)
DANGERS : Hidden in(coming from) “dad anger sons”.
27. The old dons game to retire left course (7)
STRAYED : YE(an archaic/old term for “the”) contained in(dons) reversal of(… to retire) DARTS(a competitive game involving throwing darts at a dartboard).
Down
1. Make daughter prepare for exam, ignoring resistance (6)
DEVISE : D(abbrev. for “daughter”) + “revise”(to go over what has been thought in preparation for an exam) minus(ignoring) “r”(symbol for electrical resistance in physics).
2. Old script from century earlier originally found in costume (9)
CUNEIFORM : C(abbrev. for “century”, a period of 100 years) + [ 1st letter of(… originally) “earlier” contained in(found in) UNIFORM(a standardised distinctive costume/set of clothing worn by members of a group or organisation) ].
The first written language:
3. Live close to good source of water (5)
DWELL : Last letter of(close to) “good” + WELL(a source/spring of water).
4. Sorry about one’s dog, say, biting rear of campaign worker (9)
REPENTANT : RE(with reference to/about) + [ PET(an example of which/say is one’s dog) containing(biting) last letter of(rear of) “campaign” ] + ANT(a social insect, which in this case belongs to the worker caste).
5. Poet is on fire (5)
BURNS : Double defn: 1st: Robert, the Scottish poet.
6. Whack mallet on top of toe erroneously (9)
ALLOTMENT : Anagram of(… erroneously) MALLET ON + 1st letter of(top of, in a down clue) “toe”.
Defn: …, an informal term for a share/part of a total amount.
7. Miserly grouch on vacation interrupts singer (5)
TIGHT : “grouch” minus its inner letters(on vacation) contained in(interrupts) TIT(a songbird/singer).
8. Mustering group to protect friend (8)
RALLYING : RING(an exclusive group of individuals working together) containing(to protect) ALLY(a friend/supporter).
Defn: …/gathering people to help with a cause.
14. Cautious finding unopened case beneath shelter (9)
TENTATIVE : “dative”(in grammar, a case/form of a noun) minus its 1st letter(unopened …) placed below(beneath, in a down clue) TENT(a portable outdoor shelter).
15. Ordered large suit and ties (9)
LIGATURES : Anagram of(Ordered) LARGE SUIT.
Defn: …/bonds.
16. Tone that’s appropriate, we’re told, with old Prime Minister (5,4)
STEEL GREY : Homophone of(…, we’re told) “steal”(to take without permission/appropriate) plus(with) GREY(Charles, former/old Prime Minister of the UK).
Defn: …/a shade of a colour.
17. Dubious cases involving Conservative journalist obtained (8)
ACCESSED : Anagram of(Dubious) CASES containing(involving) C(abbrev. for a member of the Conservative Party) + ED(abbrev. for “editor”, a journalist).
Defn: …/acquired, say, information from a computer.
19. Guided to harbour and came ashore (6)
LANDED : LED(guided/directed) containing(to harbour) AND.
21. Give instruction to retinue (5)
TRAIN : Double defn: 2nd: A group of people following an important person.
22. Laments of nation expressed (5)
WAILS : Homophone of(… expressed) “Wales”(a country/nation that is part of the UK).
23. Start to recharge cake decorator’s kitchen device (5)
RICER : 1st letter of(Start to) “recharge” + ICER(one who decorates cakes by putting icing on them).
I’ve come over to the FT since the demise of the Indy. Still miss the Indy but have been impressed with the offerings here so far.
Probably won’t be a regular poster here I’m afraid, but couldn’t help but wonder if I was the only one to be held up by first going for SHOOTER instead of BLASTER? Annoyed at myself for assuming the wordplay would have been different when the other downs didn’t work!
Thanks to Artexlen and Scchua.
Didn’t think of ‘shooter’ but it fits the clue so glad I didn’t.
I liked the way the meanings of “whack” and “settler” changed between the surface and definition. I wasn’t totally convinced by BLASTER and in retrospect “shooter” is a better answer.
Thanks for the blog , I thought this was really good with many nice touches such as the ones mentioned by Peter@3 .
BLASTER all the way for me , I often say rats to mean blast .
CUNEIFORM tablets have survived better than papyrus . The earliest work of literature is the Epic of Gilgamesh using cuneiform , the earliest mathematics as well .
Not difficult on the whole and it was helpful to get the top and left hand clues early in the piece. After smooth sailing, the last few clues took longer than expected. It had many nice touches and fine surfaces and I ticked several clues with LIGATURES the stand out.
I learned perhaps my 1,000th British word for prisoner in LAG. I could not parse STRAYED, and RICER was not in my vocabulary or dictionary, so thanks for the illustrative photo
Thanks Artelexen and sschua
Marvellous blog Scchua – congratulations and thanks for all the effort.
Thanks for explaining Blaster, which was my LOI and I entered with only middling confidence.
Otherwise, a steady solve by my labouring standards.
I think the clue for BLASTER might have been improved by the addition of an exclamation mark.
Thanks Artexlen for a very satisfying crossword with my favourites being SHILLINGS, DANGERS, TIGHT, LIGATURES, and WAILS. In 13a, doesn’t FA mean Football Association? Having an abbreviation in the definition that corresponds to a word in the solution gives too much away IMO. I didn’t know whack=ALLOTMENT but the solution was clear from the anagram fodder. Thanks scchua for the blog.
Another refugee from the Indy finding that the FT is probably the best alternative. Enjoyable crossword and excellent blog. Thanks to both
A pleasant diversion on a dull and miserable day, but over too quickly. I couldn’t parse WATER FLEA, though – never thought of ‘fret’ for ‘worry’.
Thanks, Artexlen and scchua.
PS: Brink and Jayjay. Several FT setters used to set for the Indy too (and still set for the Graun); look under ‘info’ at the top of the fifteensquared page for a list of setters to see who’s who.
Thanks Artexlen and scchua
5ac: This was my last one in. I note that Chambers 2016 p 1441 gives shoot¹ interj (US inf) expressing anger, disgust, disappointment, etc. The US label may explain differences in opinion as to whether BLASTER or SHOOTER is a better answer to the clue taken in isolation.
13ac: I agree with the point made by Tony@8, and am tempted to wonder if there is still any part of the year that is not part of the Football Season anyway.
Tough, but crafty and enjoyable.
Whilst I got BLASTER, 5(ac), I’m not sure that I have heard of it, as being a gun? Then again, in the old BW sci-fi b-movies, the ray-guns were blasters, I seem to recall.
BURNS, 5(d), I can’t quite say why it jars with me, but does “IS on fire” chime with “burns”. Probably.
Jolly good stuff, Artexlen & scchua
5ac again: The Oxford Dictionary of English 2010 p 177 has blaster with no special meaning, but as a derivative of the verb blast, for which the definitions include “shoot with a gun: Fowler was blasted with an air rifle.”
Traditionally, the FA Cup used to mark the end of the 13a, so it’s only just in the season.
Well done Artexlan and Scchua,
A DNF for me with STARTER (gun) at 5A, which incudes the letters of “rats” but could not reconcile the missing “T”, hence no 5D solution, except Canadian poet Erin Soros!
Thanks, Big Al #10.
Thanks scchua.
I thought this was fiddly but I bimbled my way through it quite happily without really concentrating.
I’m glad I went for BLASTER. I have sympathy with the shooters.
Thanks Artexlen.
Ken@15: As well as the missing T, I can not see a convincing anagram or reversal indicator, which you would need to get STARTER from the letters of “rats”.
Interesting to hear a few comments on shooters vs blasters. Thanks Big Al @10 too, 225 is indeed a wealth of information
I had found myself looking at that page a while ago when I was wondering why an Io puzzle here was causing me so much head scratching, only to see the list and think to myself – no wonder, it’s a Nimrod!!
Very nice crossword with many favourites that have been mentioned by other commenters. Thank you Artexlen, Scchua and all the commenters.
I liked the way that all the parts of 18a came together.
Thanks Artexlen for the fine puzzle, and scchua for the colourful blog. I wasn’t familiar with either the RICER or the SCARIFIER, so your illustrations were most informative.