First clues in were 6D and 6A followed by a confident guess at 1A that got me a few down clues to make me feel sure I was correct, even though I couldn't parse the clue just then. I then guessed the phrase for 1D/12A by its last three words. This gave me a big advantage in getting most of the puzzle out. I had to cheat on 24D,25D and 26A, 27A. The two three-letter clues gave me the biggest trouble.
1A - Oscars sight behind screens: Washington, the favoured one (3,6)
I got this as a guess that "Oscars sight" was the definition and the enumeration fit for RED CARPET, but I couldn't see the answer fitting the clue. Lightly pencilled, it began to work with down clues. Rupert at DAT helped clarify this parsing: "Definition is the first two words. behind = 1, 2, 5, 6; Washington = 3, 4; the favoured one = 7 – 9. " Looking at that it's : "Behind" = REAR, "Washington" = DC and "favoured one" = PET put together as RE(DC)AR+PET. I admit to googling famous Washingtons and thought George Washington Carver was a possibility, but no. Although a very interesting person to read about. I do not know the use of the word "screens" unless it's being used as a hint to hide DC into REAR.
6A - Pedestrian over-fussy after boulevard's opening (5)
"Pedestrian" is our definition and "over fussy" = ANAL and "Boulevard's opening" = B for BANAL.
9A - Design technique suitable in hindsight (5)
I had this first put in as "model" thinking "technique" was mode and...somehow I'd figure out the L. Later when that NW corner was going nowhere I had to erase a couple clues to try again. "Technique" = MO (for modus operandi?) and "suitable in hindsight" means take a word for "suitable" = FIT and reverse it to make MOTIF for "Design."
10A - Australian painter admits upstart fled emirate court (3,6)
I got this with cross letters and a guess that "court" was the definition for OLD BAILEY . Once I knew the full definition wasn't "Emirate court" and I stopped looking at royal family names, I knew "Emirate" was part of the parsing and thought "Upstart fled emirate = "DUBAI -U" to fit the middle and left me OLLEY as our Painter, a quick google showed me Margaret Olley. OL(DBAI)LEY
11A - Develop hits over airwaves (3)
I had the first letter, I then had the last letter. Deduction led me to WAX but I don't see why.
12A - See 1-down
13A - Pansy stem I can cut all over the place? (8)
I had this in wrong for ages because "Stem I can" looked like fodder - and it made a word! And it worked with 4D! It didn't fit with either end of the clue for a definition but maybe that's me. No, of course it was the wrong way to work the clue - there's not even a decent anagrind to hint to an anagram. That said, I did not recognise this as a hidden word clue, either. "Cut" is the only word I see as a possible signpost but I usually see that as a subtraction signpost, not hidden word. "panSY STEM I Cut" becomes our word for "all over the place."
15A - Pack astronomy tips in carton for space station (6)
We want the name of a "space station" and "pacK astronomY tips" tips tells us to take either the beginning or ending letters of the previous words and here we want KY, then "carton" = SLAB (Aussie slang for a case of beer) and we want the "tips in carton" like this S(KY)LAB.
18A - Losing $2000 in crippling mortgage near Wagga (6)
I figured we needed to remove two letters from something meaning "losing $2000" and thought it was M or K. But couldn't think of how that was working. "crippling mortgage" made me think that was anagrind+fodder but had too many letters. Eventually I had to search a map of Wagga to see a town nearby called TEMORA, and if you look at the pic you'll see me matching those letters and leaving out the "two G's"= $2000. (the other notation was directed at myself, I assure you)
20A - Heard to twist story out of climber (8)
"Heard" is hinting to a homophone clue. We want homophones of both "twist" and "tale" to give us the name of a climber: WRING/TAIL then one step further for RINGTAIL. That's how I got it, I had to get two versions of ring to be sure.
23A - Chance in time pre-Xmas to suppress secrets now and then (11)
This one took ages and I needed the DAT's help "23A includes a type of calendar used at Christmas after “in” and includes “secrets now and then” Definition is first word." Definition is "Chance" and we need the IN from the clue, "time pre-Xmas" = ADVENT which is what I needed to get the clue. I don't understand "now and then" = RTE to make up IN(ADVE(RTE)NT)
24A - Airhead (again) skips out rest (3)
"Airhead" is our definition and we need the word airhead "(again)" to take the first/head letter A, then "skips out rest" means to remove the word for "rest" from "s
25A - Queenslander prepared ribs for wrong consumer? (9)
We want a slang term for "Queenslander" with "prepared ribs" being anagrind+fodder for BRIS (thinking of Brisbane). If serving ribs, who would be the wrong customer? The VEGAN. BRISVEGAN. Go ahead and google that and be astounded at the lack of hits. That was a faith solve, I just had to trust it was right.
26A - Zurich hub is pricy, wanting a contract's 24-down? (5)
Skip ahead to 24-down and see its solution is ADD-ON. I didn't get this clue, I still don't know how to parse "Zurich hub is pricy" but I could figure out that a "contract's ADD ON" was a RIDER. I've come across that clue enough times in my short cryptics career to get that. Looking closer I think "Zurich's hub" means the centre of the word zuRIch and "pricy" = DEAR "wanting a" means remove the -A leaving RIDER.
27A - Funny trainee accompanies noble, pirouetting (5)
I didn't get this. I knew when I saw the answer I'd kick myself. "Funny" is the definition and "trainee" = L which I'd had in my doodles, it was the "noble" = LORD I was missing. "pirouette" is saying to reverse LORD to make DROLL.
28A - Particularly stitched in pay TV (Turkey) broadcast (5-4)
I got this because I'm a knitter. I could see "pay TV" meant CABLE but I had to trust myself that it wasn't a coincidence that "stitched" and "broadCAST" were knitting terms. I'm not sure what (Turkey) is there for and I'm not sure "broadcast" is meant to be a type of knitting cast-on but answer is CABLE-KNIT.
1D,12A - You can't rush marvels - but Italians may wonder, perhaps (4,5,5,2,1,3)
With cross letters, I could figure out the last three words were "in a day" and then with "You can't rush marvels" the rest fell into place: ROME WASN'T BUILT IN A DAY. It wasn't until it was pointed out by rupert that "perhaps" was an anagrind and "but Italians may wonder" was fodder.
2D - Get clean young soldier, roughly missing fond gestures (5)
I toyed about with this for ages and need to sleep on it to get my head around the clue. "Get clean" is the definition but I needed help with parsing and Robin helped with "2D young soldier roughly missing = 1-3, and fond gestures = 4 and 5 right? Roughly meaning about." So is it "young soldier" = CADET - CA? And Rupert supplied the ending "Fond gestures are found at the end of a letter or email." = OX all for DETOX.
3D - Kind of daft-hearted legend (7)
"Kind" is our definition and "dAFt-hearted" = AF and "legend" = FABLE for AFFABLE.
4D - Oddly, chief killjoy rapt to be flipping fertile! (8)
"Oddly" is a big hint that we have a hidden word and its placement is in an every other letter situation. The word "Flippin" tells us it's in reverse. "ChIeF kIlLjOy RaPt" for PROLIFIC as a word for "fertile"
5D - Go out so far (2,4)
Double definition: TO DATE
6D - Hipster's forebear bashed up family (7)
I got this one first. "Hipster's forebear" is our definition, "bashed " = BEAT (easy to mistake as an anagrind) and "up Family" = KIN where "up" means to put this down clue in reverse, bottom to top, to give BEATNIK.
7D - Big mouth in Africa allied with Ten network (4,5)
I saw this with cross letters. "Big mouth in Africa" is our definition and "allied with ten network" is fodder+anagrind to give us NILE DELTA. I've not seen "network" as an anagrind before.
8D - Roadside reserve (3-2)
Double definition: LAY-BY
14D - Devil stops devilish neglect, an open start to be 3-down (9)
I got this with cross letters and we need 3D as it's the definition, AFFABLE. I was stumped on how to solve this and Ray says "4D – “Devil” = letters 2,3,4. “stops” = container indicator. “devilish” = 8 letter synonym. “neglect, an” = remove “an” for letters 1,5,6,7,8. “an open start” = letter 9. Defn = “to be 3-down." That means "Devil = IMP, "devilish" = SATANIC -AN for SATIC and "Open start" = O like this: S(IMP)ATIC+O for SIMPATICO.
16D - Wit spilt beer nuts (3,6)
"Wit" is the definition and "spilt beer nuts" is fodder+anagrind to give us BEL ESPRIT. Yes, not a term I knew and I even had to write out B_L with each vowel to find one I liked because that's what you do when the words are all starting to betray you and play tricks in your mind.
17D - Vintage wanker complains noisily to big wig (4,4)
Great clue. I had fun pulling this one out. "Vintage wanker" is our definition and don't go down the rhyming slang route. "complains noisily" means we want a homophone of "complains" WHINES/WINES and and a "big wig" is a NOB (are we supposed to go KNOB/NOB to fit the "wanker" part, or was there just one homophone?) to give WINE SNOB.
19D - Rallying, tennis legend climbed to seal half a dozen (7)
"Rallying" is the definition and it's very hard to choose through the list of tennis legends and narrow down to one, but never saw LAVER (Rod Laver) "to seal half a dozen" where "seal" means to put inside LAVER the "half dozen" = VI for six to give REVIVAL (I'd put in Revived so the last two letters were wrong)
21D - Woody in sound? Guys split their jam (7)
"Woody in sound" means a "Woody" known in music, not a homophone as I'd believed. "Guys split" means to take half of "guys" = GU and "their jam" is fodder+anagrind to give us GUTHRIE. My Dad would've gotten this clue, it was his favourite music style. He may have only had an 8th grade education but he could always solve the Jumbles in seconds. He had a natural knack for finding anagrams.
22D - Dire soldier occupies northward transport (6)
I got this from cross letters. "Dire" is the definition and "soldier" = GI and "northward transport" = CART but going from south to north in the grid to give TRAGIC.
23D - Be part of brain without first dreaming, possibly (2,3)
Bleck - What a pickle of a clue! Friggin eck, I didn't get this. Rupert says "23D: Not so much part of brain, as what the brain does, without its first letter and around the first word." What the brain does then take away its first letter? Is that MIND -M? So that means BE+ (part of brain)+"first dreaming"= D put together as: IN(BE)D? I'm not exactly sure at all, but answer is IN BED. I'm not sure where the definition is here, either. Flummoxed!
24D - Extra-modern prof (3-2)
Again I didn't get this. Answer is ADD-ON. That would make "extra" the definition and "modern" = AD and "prof" = DON? Well yeah, down at definition number five.
Sorted! For the most part anyway. I'll have a go at the Paul puzzle later on. We've got another gorgeous day here so I think, since this has absorbed all of my morning (with breaks to wrangle family and bake cookies because I wanted some oatmeal raisin cookies) I have a few errands to run and then my daughter has asked me strip out her hair and dye it pink. I'm cool enough to say "yeah, ok." Because better I do it for her than she try it herself and ruin her hair and my bathroom in the process.
Hope your weekend is glorious, too.
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