ACROSS
9 Cover club instrument if starting late (7) CRUMPET {C}{tRUMPET} Cover/Crumpet?
11 Candidate mentioned leaders of trade delegation quit to fight (7) NOMINEE MENtIONEd*
12 Mention about commercial law being a stronghold (7) CITADEL {CITE}{AD<=}{L}
13 A follower of Catholic church, say (9) CONFESSOR [CD]
15 Essence of biology's about building, perhaps (5) IGLOO bIOLOGy*
16 By March, the French will get a foot pedal (7) TREADLE {TREAD}{LE}
19 Meaning? (7) SYNONYM [CD]
20 The first letter always lets premises/house/apartment in the very beginning (5) ALPHA Acrostic
21 Russian leader noisily describing American company Nimbus (4,5) RAIN CLOUD {Ru...n}{LOUD} over {A}{INC}
26 Advocate's boy is in agony (7) PALADIN {PA{LAD}IN}
28 Receiver is called AXNI (7) ANTENNA {AN}{TEN}{N}{A}
DOWN
1 First chick in corner, in churidar top, dancing is attractive (6) SCENIC {S{Ch..k}E}{IN{Ch...r}*
2 Gross urchin nearing minister and national leaders — he is a killer (6) GUNMAN Acrostic
3 Commotion is constant in South Norway (4) SPIN {S{PI}N}
4 Anxiety as rest are beaten up by guards outside... (6) STRESS {REST}* in {SS}
5 ...rest shivering at the end specifically facing ghosts (8) SPECTRES {REST}*<=>{SPEC}
6 That man's trilogy's nice, almost melodramatic (10) HISTRIONIC {HIS}{TRIO}{NICe}
8 Place where a game is played, maybe polo with perhaps Aussie man (8) POOLROOM {POLO*}{ROO}{M}
14 Love means close attention, getting people's time (10) ENDEARMENT {END}{EAR}{MEN}{T}
16 One fired in outburst, government recruiting a top person for balance between exports & imports (5,3) TRADE GAP {TiRADE}{G}{A}{Pe...n}
17 Run away (retreat) from payment, hurry (8) EXPEDITE EXPEnDITurE
18 An administrator in EU is fantastic creator — union leader admitted (8) EUROCRAT {E{Un..n}ROCRAT*}
22 Attack a politician with new gun (6) IMPUGN {I}{MP}{GUN*}
23 Swelling is moderate, treat right away (6) OEDEMA MODErAtE*
24 Mafia boss had to pledge (6) DONATE {DON}{ATE}
27 Can king have survey (4) LOOK {LOO}{K}
Reference List
Club = C, Tender in India = PAISA, Mention = CITE, Commercial = AD, Law = L, March = TREAD, The French = LE, American = A, Company = INC, Mineral = MICA, A= AN, X = TEN, I = A
Constant = PI< South = S, Norway = N, Guards = SS, Perhaps Aussie = ROO, Man = M, Time = T, Outburst = TIRADE, Government = G, Politician = MP, Right = RT, Mafia boss = DON, Had = ATE, Can = LOO, King = K
Colour/Font Scheme
Definition, Solution, Component letters, Embedded links, Theme word, Reference list word, Anagram Indicator, C/C indicator, Reversal Indicator, Hidden word Indicator, Letter Pick indicator, Deletion Indicator, Homophone Indicator, Movement Indicator, Positional Indicator, Substitution Indicator, Opposite indicator, Link/Connector, Extraneous
Bit of a struggle in NW corner. Somehow stuck with hitman in stead if gunman fia a while. Struggled to get Pi for constant. Good one.
ReplyDeleteOfcourse,did not get crumpet.
ReplyDeleteCrumpet is still puzzling as I understood it to be a muffin. Any thoughts please on the purpose for ‘if’ and ‘starting late’? Would have of course preferred to see ‘alien follows clean cut of beef for English bread’. Thanks Raj.
ReplyDeleteIf starting late is for removal of the starting T from Trumpet
DeleteAh I see, thanks a lot.
DeleteThat is for the verb form of cake. Crumpet has no verb def.
ReplyDelete13a is it a DD! Catholic Church being def by example?
ReplyDeleteA follower//catholic Church both are confessor's.
Chambers has 'cover' under verb
ReplyDeleteEnjoyable crossword from Afterdark.
ReplyDelete28A: Isn't 'called' in the clue a homophone indicator? The solution shows it as Additive type.
ReplyDelete(The clue somehow reminds me of Rebus puzzles)
I don't think we can use Crumpet in the sense of Cake meaning Cover
ReplyDeleteExcellency ~ XLNC
ReplyDeleteIs such cluing ok in CWPs?
This is not a homophone. AXNI does not sound like antenna.
DeleteIt is each letter represented as AN + TEN+ N +A as given by colonel.
Nice grid. esp.28a was today's fav. some places struggled . but challenging always resulted with Aha moments, Have a nice week end. Sp.thanks to col.for visual pic. GROMMET.
ReplyDeleteAgree that we can't use cover as a definition for crumpet. If the answer is cake it is ok to use cover because the verb meanings match.
ReplyDeleteFrank = Open. Open = Begin. But we can't use 'begin' as a definition for 'frank' :)