Clues
Across
- 1 Old penny found at the far end of pleasure pool (4)
- 4 Vicious and rife with corruption - the Church? (6)
- 9 Gave nudge, European lyricist primarily played violin (7)
- 10 Behold bronze covering for nail (5)
- 11 Serving comrade’s returned opening speech - “wrong goal!” (6, 7)
- 12 Drive reform of Green party, ultimately (6)
- 14 Song and dance, these days (6)
- 15 Titanic set him off: “so will nine be saved?” (1, 6, 2, 4)
- 18 Figure that is covering organ (5)
- 19 Most profound nuisance on river (7)
- 20 Fixed public figure with stony gaze (6)
- 21 Piece from midsection of cantilever (4)
Down
- 2 Metropolitan headwear covering head (5)
- 3 London’s premier residential location (7, 6)
- 4 “Def,” as I might put it, or: “sick!” (3, 2)
- 5 Enlist soldiers in muddy fun (13)
- 6 Tract by the Spanish officer (7)
- 7 Neat and amiable wrestling craze of the ’60s (11)
- 8 What’s cooked, needing stir? (11)
- 13 More cement cleared out of passage (7)
- 16 Henry’s lip barrier (5)
- 17 Model checked out slippery character, we hear (5)
Setter’s notes
A full-sized cryptic this time. It may look intimidating, but I promise I only set out to make fair, solvable puzzles — never deliberately difficult ones.
Across
- 1 “Old penny” = D, placed at the end of “pleasure” = FUN — FUND.
- 4 An anagram (“with corruption”) of RIFE + “the Church” = CE — FIERCE.
- 9 “European” = E + the first letter of “lyricist” = L + “played violin” = BOWED — ELBOWED.
- 10 “Behold” = LO, covered by “bronze” = TAN — TALON.
- 11 Reverse the lot: “opening” = RENT + “speech” = RAP + “wrong” = SIN + “goal” = NET — TENNIS PARTNER.
- 12 An anagram (“reform”) of GREEN + the last letter of “party” = Y — ENERGY.
- 14 “Dance” = BALL + “these days” = AD — BALLAD.
- 15 Anagram (“off”) of TITANIC SET HIM — A STITCH IN TIME.
- 18 “That is” = IE, around “organ” = MAG — IMAGE.
- 19 “Nuisance” = PEST next to “river” = DEE — DEEPEST.
- 20 Cryptic definition: a public figure, fixed in place and stony-faced — a STATUE.
- 21 Hidden in the middle of “canTILEver”.
Down
- 2 “Headwear” = TURBAN with its head removed (“covering head”) — URBAN.
- 3 Cryptic definition: the London residence of the Prime Minister, who is the “premier” — DOWNING STREET.
- 4 A reverse cryptic: “DEF” is what you get if you write “FED” UPwards.
- 5 “Enlist” = ENTER + “soldiers” = MEN, inside “muddy” = TAINT — ENTERTAINMENT.
- 6 “Tract” = COLON + “the Spanish” = EL — COLONEL.
- 7 Anagram (“wrestling”) of NEAT + AMIABLE — BEATLEMANIA.
- 8 Anagram (“cooked”) of NEEDING STIR — INGREDIENTS. The whole clue doubles as the definition (&lit).
- 13 “More” = EXTRA + “cement” with its middle cleared out = CT — EXTRACT.
- 16 “Henry” = H + “lip” = EDGE — HEDGE.
- 17 Sounds like (“we hear”) “checked out” = EYED + “slippery character” = EEL — IDEAL.