Solving Time: About 1 1/4 hrs, though I don't think it was any more difficult than usual. A few in the SW corner took time to arrive, that's all. Actually (and this is a secret) I don't much care about the time taken. The clues for this crossword are not so much written as crafted. Do join in.. even if you only end up doing three, it is time well spent.. and there must be at least a dozen here that are gettable by all normal daily cryptic standards.
I have noticed before, when doing these blogs, that the number of clues can vary significantly from grid to grid. This one has 32 clues, whereas February's, for example, had only 28. I just hope setters are paid by the clue... athough I suspect not. Bloggers of course are not paid at all, but still I have enjoyed doing these, and indeed have felt quite privileged to watch a top class setter going about his work.
cd = cryptic definition, dd = double definition, rev = reversed. Homophones are written in quotes, and anagrams as *(--)
ODO, OED are the Oxford online dictionaries
Across
1
parrot-jaw - P(arking) + ARROW containing J(ungfrau) and A(sks). Chambers defines this as the "New Zealand glory-pea" which didn't take me much farther but sounds like a climbing plant - in fact it is a clianthus
6
bocca - bill = AC(count) + COB, a male swan, rev. to give the Italian word for mouth. Well, it's in Chambers, but it's Italian, so why? Are there folk all over, saying "Shut yer bocca?"
9
ju-jitsu - U(nited) in judges = JJ, + *(SUIT). My first in, an easy clue given the enumeration. Japanese (5-2)
10
mozarab - MAR + A B(ishop) containing OZ, where Judy went and Dame Edna comes from
11
whort - desert (as in just deserts) = WORTH, with the H moved. It is short for whortleberry, a name for several plants including the bilberry
12
dukhobors - DR(ive) + S(ucceeded), containing UK HOBO. I hadn't thought of DR as an abbreviation for drive, but Chambers helpfully (for once) says "as in street names."
14
cit - (nervous) TIC, rev. A term of dislike aimed by aristocrats at those townsmen who (like me) had to work for a living. Quite familiar to the Georgette Heyer brigade..
15
obsidionary - OBS(olete) + current = I + D(ICT)IONARY. "Of investments" being used here in its besieging meaning
17
pourparlers - serve tea = POUR + R(ight) in PALE, + R(oyal) S(ociety). It's a French word, used in English about as often as bocca
19
bye - well it's a dd; the word "Team" would seem to be redundant, in that the clue works just as well without it, though technically byes do indeed accrue to a (cricket) team and not the individual batsmen
20
Lermontov - room = RM in LEON T(rotsky), + O + V(ersus). The one Russian poet I've actually heard of
22
Qatar - khat, or QAT, + A(utonomous) R(epublic). Where my daughter lives
24
mitzvah - OK, this is HAVE ZE TIME, rev. and with all the E(nglish) removed.. fortunately one of the better known Hebrew words. It does mean a good deed, but also translates as "duty." Bar Mitzvah means "man duty"
26
trigram - TRIG(onometry) + stuff = RAM
27
Rydal - LADY + R(uns) all rev. A village in the Lake District
28
aphyllous - dirty = SULLY containing O(ld), + H(usband) + father = PA, all of it rev. It's a botanical word referring to absence of foliage
Down
1
pi-jaw - hand = PAW, containing IJ, the forerunners of KL and M.. for another word familiar to the Heyer fans.
2
rajpoot - a magistrate = A JP in origin = ROOT. I would spell it Rajput
3
octothorp - for infant, company = PRO + TOT + CO, all rev. and containing H(ospital). An interesting word for the symbol #, not to be found in Chambers, but it is in Collins and the OED. Of recent but nevertheless obscure coining
4
jeux d'esprit - What is this, a language lesson?! It is *(EXPIRED JUST) and another easy clue since we have seen it before, in last May's Club Monthly
5
wem - people in general = WE + M(ass). The word is an old corruption of womb, used to mean corporation, belly or tum..
6
bazoo - B(uenos) A(ires) + ZOO. It is rather crude American slang for mouth, hence the reference to "the other 6," ie 6ac
7
cordoba - my = good heavens = COR, + party = DO, + poor = BA(D). I didn't know the spending unit in Nacaragua, ex foreign cashier though I am. Long time ago though
8
albespyne - perhaps bitter = ALE, containing live = BE + plant = mole = SPY.
13
kidney vetch - complaint = KVETCH (more Yiddish!) containing I'D, + desire = YEN rev.
14
copolymer - arrival = COMER containing college = POLY. A copolymer is a chemical compound, as distinct from a mixture or emulsion
16
obsequial - OB'S + one = I in EQUAL
18
uprated - U + PRATED
19
botargo - T(urnip) in pig = BOAR, + GO, one of the greatest "games" of the world, one of the few rivals to chess in its deceptively complex simplicity. Botargo is cured pressed fish roe. Yuk..
21
orval - cricket ground = R(un) in OVAL. An old word for a sage (hence the "forgotten?") and not just a fine Belgian beer after all
23
ramus - hidden in foR AMUSement.
25
hoa - HoOkAh. I have no clue how this word could be used to express moderation.. possibly akin to "Whoa?" Ie requesting a horse to moderate its behaviour? In which case, serves you right for getting on something that goes fast but has no brake pedal...