Times 27,317: I Want My Mummy!
Woof, this one felt proper Friday hard, and this coming after a week of pretty hard puzzles. To qualify that, about half of it was rather straightforward, but then you've got the explosion in a dictionary factory that are 1ac, 8ac, 25ac, 1dn, 7dn, 20dn. I am used to this kind of thing due to manfully tacking the Monthly Club Special 12 times a year but I won't be surprised if some people are completely stopped in their tracks. I got CONGERIES rather quickly due to dear old HP's memorable description of a Shoggoth as "a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic bubbles", but I took forever on the rest of the top half, not getting anywhere at all with 1ac (having no real inkling about a Lincoln being a car), biffing in a foolish placeholder TONICS for 9ac and not being able to see REAL tonic, in the unusual word at 8ac, for many tumbling thoughts of NEOTERIC, NEOGENIC, NEOLOGIC, etc etc. 2dn was my last one in, in the event, and becomes my clue of the day just because I was so well and truly suckered by the "currency" definition; without the crossing W I was convinced it had to be something like NICKELS or NICKERS or whatnot.
So well played setter, you win this round of the game and I tip my hat to you! Close to a Championship Finals level puzzle, to judge by the bruising I took...
ACROSS
1 Organ case of tin work one judge installed in Lincoln, perhaps (7,3)
CANOPIC JAR - CAN OP I [tin | work | one] + J [judge] "installed" in CAR [Lincoln, perhaps]
6 Water-carrier - originally plain Aquarius in Latin (4)
PAIL - P{lain} A{quarius} I{n} L{atin}
8 Recent spirit raiser using scientific principles (8)
NEWTONIC - NEW TONIC [recent | spirit raiser]
9 Musical sounds mostly performed by skaters in seconds? (6)
SONICS - ON IC{e} ["mostly", performed by skaters] in S S [(two) seconds]
10 Former city business manager (4)
EXEC - EX EC [former | city]
11 Oddball tennis hero, one not really brilliant? (10)
RHINESTONE - (TENNIS HERO*)
12 Some slips of actors through that act (4,5)
IPSO FACTO - hidden in {sl}IPS OF ACTO{rs}
14 Michael's ascended, reportedly in confusion (3-2)
MIX-UP - homophone of MICK'S UP [Michael's | ascended]
17 Son put bracelets on, and drag, while walking (5)
SCUFF - S CUFF [son | put bracelets on]
19 Workers mature cheese out of British live collection (9)
MENAGERIE - MEN AGE {b}RIE [workers | mature | cheese, minus B = British]
22 Refuse building permission for concrete shelter (10)
BLOCKHOUSE - BLOCK HOUSE [refuse | building permission]
23 Mirror either side of small recess (4)
APSE - APE [mirror] either side of S [small]
24 Like "Samson’" English choir arranged (6)
HEROIC - (E CHOIR*)
25 Curtain's level in opening (8)
PORTIERE - TIER [level] in PORE [opening]
26 Unknown vehicle's back for service (4)
NAVY - reversed Y VAN [unknown | vehicle]
27 Excited stir after early Christian city sacrifices old religious foe (10)
ANTICHRIST - (STIR*) after ANTI{o}CH [early Christian city, minus O = old]
DOWN
1 Disorderly collections of eels, that is admitted (9)
CONGERIES - CONGERS [eels] with I.E. [that is] "admitted"
2 Currency to have when splitting bill? (7)
NOWNESS - OWN [to have] when "splitting" NESS [bill, as in "Portland Bill"]
3 Auditor's part behind with payments, reportedly, shillings down (5,3)
INNER EAR - a homophone of IN ARREARS [behind with payments], minus S = shillings
4 Lords and ladies give up preaching? (4-2-3-6)
JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT - the flower, or, unhyphenated, to JACK IN [give up] THE PULPIT [preaching]
5 More wildly adventurous food (6)
RASHER - double def
6 Cut up rubbish material (9)
PINSTRIPE - reversed SNIP [cut] + TRIPE [rubbish]
7 Fish caught round north and centre of Greenland, eaten by half Inuits (7)
INCONNU - C O N {gree}N{land}, "eaten" by INU{its}
13 Dealing with smells outside of offal plant (9)
OLFACTORY - O{ffa}L + FACTORY [plant]
15 Go back into press's first books for a previous case (9)
PRECEDENT - RECEDE [go back] into P{ress} + NT [books]
16 Beer in cantina and island clubs of holiday isles (8)
BALEARIC - ALE [beer] in BAR [cantina] + I C [island | clubs]
18 A glowing hot lake across channel rises in crater (7)
CALDERA - reverse all of A RED LAC [a | glowing hot | lake across channel, ie in France]
20 Accompanying groups dancing around pier in India (7)
RIPIENI - (PIER IN I*) ["dancing around"]
21 Church starting a tea dance (3-3)
CHA-CHA - CH [church] + A CHA [a | tea]
So well played setter, you win this round of the game and I tip my hat to you! Close to a Championship Finals level puzzle, to judge by the bruising I took...
ACROSS
1 Organ case of tin work one judge installed in Lincoln, perhaps (7,3)
CANOPIC JAR - CAN OP I [tin | work | one] + J [judge] "installed" in CAR [Lincoln, perhaps]
6 Water-carrier - originally plain Aquarius in Latin (4)
PAIL - P{lain} A{quarius} I{n} L{atin}
8 Recent spirit raiser using scientific principles (8)
NEWTONIC - NEW TONIC [recent | spirit raiser]
9 Musical sounds mostly performed by skaters in seconds? (6)
SONICS - ON IC{e} ["mostly", performed by skaters] in S S [(two) seconds]
10 Former city business manager (4)
EXEC - EX EC [former | city]
11 Oddball tennis hero, one not really brilliant? (10)
RHINESTONE - (TENNIS HERO*)
12 Some slips of actors through that act (4,5)
IPSO FACTO - hidden in {sl}IPS OF ACTO{rs}
14 Michael's ascended, reportedly in confusion (3-2)
MIX-UP - homophone of MICK'S UP [Michael's | ascended]
17 Son put bracelets on, and drag, while walking (5)
SCUFF - S CUFF [son | put bracelets on]
19 Workers mature cheese out of British live collection (9)
MENAGERIE - MEN AGE {b}RIE [workers | mature | cheese, minus B = British]
22 Refuse building permission for concrete shelter (10)
BLOCKHOUSE - BLOCK HOUSE [refuse | building permission]
23 Mirror either side of small recess (4)
APSE - APE [mirror] either side of S [small]
24 Like "Samson’" English choir arranged (6)
HEROIC - (E CHOIR*)
25 Curtain's level in opening (8)
PORTIERE - TIER [level] in PORE [opening]
26 Unknown vehicle's back for service (4)
NAVY - reversed Y VAN [unknown | vehicle]
27 Excited stir after early Christian city sacrifices old religious foe (10)
ANTICHRIST - (STIR*) after ANTI{o}CH [early Christian city, minus O = old]
DOWN
1 Disorderly collections of eels, that is admitted (9)
CONGERIES - CONGERS [eels] with I.E. [that is] "admitted"
2 Currency to have when splitting bill? (7)
NOWNESS - OWN [to have] when "splitting" NESS [bill, as in "Portland Bill"]
3 Auditor's part behind with payments, reportedly, shillings down (5,3)
INNER EAR - a homophone of IN ARREARS [behind with payments], minus S = shillings
4 Lords and ladies give up preaching? (4-2-3-6)
JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT - the flower, or, unhyphenated, to JACK IN [give up] THE PULPIT [preaching]
5 More wildly adventurous food (6)
RASHER - double def
6 Cut up rubbish material (9)
PINSTRIPE - reversed SNIP [cut] + TRIPE [rubbish]
7 Fish caught round north and centre of Greenland, eaten by half Inuits (7)
INCONNU - C O N {gree}N{land}, "eaten" by INU{its}
13 Dealing with smells outside of offal plant (9)
OLFACTORY - O{ffa}L + FACTORY [plant]
15 Go back into press's first books for a previous case (9)
PRECEDENT - RECEDE [go back] into P{ress} + NT [books]
16 Beer in cantina and island clubs of holiday isles (8)
BALEARIC - ALE [beer] in BAR [cantina] + I C [island | clubs]
18 A glowing hot lake across channel rises in crater (7)
CALDERA - reverse all of A RED LAC [a | glowing hot | lake across channel, ie in France]
20 Accompanying groups dancing around pier in India (7)
RIPIENI - (PIER IN I*) ["dancing around"]
21 Church starting a tea dance (3-3)
CHA-CHA - CH [church] + A CHA [a | tea]