ACROSS
1 Use them shortly by ruse (6) EMPLOY {'EM}{PLOY}
4 Fighting tool buried inland (8) BRAWLING {BR{AWL}ING}
9 Bend over empty chair, with a cry of pain (6) CROUCH {C
10 Girl writing about boy in Michigan (3,5) ANN ARBOR {ANN A}{R}{BOR<=}
12 Pretentious boy got high before I had returned (3-2-3) LAH-DI-DAH {LA{H}-D}{I}-{HAD<=}
13 Look to grab victory fast (6) STARVE {STAR{V}E}
15 Shortly take over works housing sick — wrongs committed (12) PECCADILLOES {
18 Born to survive — it's expensive for number one steel maker (5,7) BLAST FURNACE {B}{LAST} {FUR}{N}{ACE}
21 Gold plating — be a Twist in the tale (6) OLIVER {O{LIVE}R}
22 Remove member and a match takes place (8) AMPUTATE {A}{M{PUT}ATE}
24 Reveals fish caught showing identifying marks (3,5) BAR CODES {BAR {COD}ES}
26 Extremely nice to wear a new dress — making an allowance (8) DEARNESS {
27 America's good — no interest or time to pay one's bills? (6) USANCE {USA}{N
DOWN
1 Cut half the cargo in flight (8) ESCALOPE {LO
2 Support him with currency — banks give forecast (8) PROPHECY {PROP}{HE}{C
3 Naomi and Noel bounce off — happens rarely (4,2,1,4,4) ONCE IN A BLUE MOON*
5 Feel sorry having to end with rejection letter (4) RUNE {RU{
6 Slacks after rough weather — you must take control (4,3,8) WEAR THE TROUSERS {WEAR THE}* {TROUSERS}
7 Local has to lift up native (6) INBORN {IN{BOR<=}N}
8 Fish catcher's abrasive (6) GARNET {GAR}{NET}
14 Notoriety of a film with the French characters (3,4) ILL FAME {A+FILM+LE}*
16 Part of American aid — an act to promote a neighbour (8) CANADIAN [T<=]
17 Live normal, shun a drink (8) BEVERAGE {BE}{
19 Stop because it's tender (6) FORBID {FOR}{BID}
20 Mountain climbing is wrong before one (6) SIERRA {SI<=}{ERR}{A}
23 Method exempt for tax (4) CESS
Enjoyed this one.
ReplyDeleteNice
ReplyDeletePut Breeches in place of Trousers and messed up SE corner
ReplyDeleteLoved the twist given to Oliver!
ReplyDeleteBar is high- must learn to climb.
Phew...Atlast, samosas from (H)Arden in this cycle...I too loved the Twist part.
ReplyDeleteGroovy xword - hee hee... been watchin a lot of rerun of old shows so an er ancient word slipped out :) enjoyed Oliver, prophecy, wear the trousers, inborn - did think in blast furnace...the cue for fur is a bit tough but it doesnt matter coz of the rest of the parsing making fur obvious.. Arden week till now has been pretty good :)
ReplyDeleteMissed out on SW corner...could get the long ones in the first go..6D appeared in CU recently in My top ten clues of 2015...
ReplyDeleteJust amazing wordplay..
Prophecy - how is him=he?
ReplyDelete14D - characters implies anagram?
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the crossword. Tripped up by putting INDIAN for INBORN but recovered thanks to crossing letters :) Got the anno through reverse-engineering after getting the answer first. Loved the smooth wordplay in 22A, 13D - thanks Arden!
ReplyDelete26A - Dearness
ReplyDeleteExtremely should indicate ne from nice.
wear "a" new "dress" making
Does new and making indicate anagram?
a is a single letter - doesn't need anagram indicator. If the new is for dress then where is the indication for "a dress" to be anagrammed? The "wear" indicates "ne" should be embedded which is good. However the answer should start with "a" which it is not.
Any thoughts?