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Calling all puzzlers! I've made my very own cryptic crossword, especially for you! Good luck, have fun, and happy solving.

Crossword

Across

1. Not-all-there sibling touches bit of leg in lewd locale (7)
5. Discussion about number one steamship adds "it is Spanish" (7)
9. Give directions before the writer? (9)
10. Permit to call ownership of holdings (5)
11. Be aware; it sounds like a melody (6)
12. Mold takes head of white snake into small vessel (7)
14. To jog backwards is a crime (4)
15. Most of shattered lantern found in back section of undeveloped area (10)
19. Born anew, Fang led his pack into the embraces of present-day (10)
20. City will not gerrymander (4)
22. Ice cast away by monk (7)
25. "Yessir", I stuttered in the auditorium (3,3)
27. Canoe flipped at sea (5)
28. Upside-down whale takes false symbolic representation (9)
29. Putting bit of raw rat into boiled emu is a mistake (7)
30. Squashes secondhand kid (7)

Down

1. Beginning of broad assault potentially threatens short Protestant (4)
2. Shoot past and conquer (9)
3. Spasm in strange part of Macchu Picchu (6)
4. Moving slowly, I tire (long walks) (9)
5. Incorrectly parse weapon (5)
6. Loyalist broke law in the beginning (8)
7. Mix bit of grass with scattered potpourri in cool house (5)
8. Early learner is stunned, wet, confused (3,7)
13. Self-contained way to not sit by yourself? (10)
16. Perplexed user shut a reference book (9)
17. Nameless young man's son endlessly beaten (9)
18. Percussion instrument is a way to catch fish (8)
21. Unusual pontiff heads limited edition community (6)
23. Sharp left in confusing race (5)
24. Where was I? Inside a mollusk, I swear (5)
26. He hears a song (4)

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  • $\begingroup$ Ah, lovely! I had fun with AE's themed cryptic crosswords; let's hope this one is as good :-) $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    May 26, 2015 at 19:23
  • $\begingroup$ A more descriptive title (and more accurate - it's not the first cryptic crossword here!) would be good though. $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    May 26, 2015 at 19:31
  • $\begingroup$ I've been having a hard time thinking of a title that both differentiates my puzzle from the rest, as well as accurately describes it! Do you have any suggestions? $\endgroup$
    – Bailey M
    May 26, 2015 at 19:34
  • $\begingroup$ Titles for puzzles can be tough, I know! In lieu of anything better, maybe "Bailey M's Cryptic Crossword #1"? (Others may have better suggestions...) $\endgroup$
    – Rand al'Thor
    May 26, 2015 at 19:42
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Um, "Hard night's work" given the answers to the top across clues... $\endgroup$
    – Pete
    May 26, 2015 at 22:06

3 Answers 3

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Really enjoyed this thanks, some great clues. My answers take the form of 'ANSWER - definition, explanation of wordplay' with stuff in square brackets containing extra comments.

[Edit: Having seen DevOfZot's answer, I would say that 7D may be too tricky for an indirect anagram, whereas 21D is acceptible. Of course, YMMV!]

Across

  1. Not-all-there sibling touches bit of leg in lewd locale (7)

BROTHEL - Lewd locale, BROTHE (sibling [brother] not all there) + L (bit of leg)

  1. Discussion about number one steamship adds "it is Spanish" (7)

SESSION - Discussion, NO (number) + I (one) + SS (steamship) + ES (Spanish 'it is') backwards (about)

  1. Give directions before the writer? (9)

PRESCRIBE - Give directions, PRE (before) + SCRIBE (the writer)

  1. Permit to call ownership of holdings (5)

ALLOW - Permit, contained in (holdings) cALL OWnership

  1. Be aware; it sounds like a melody (6)

ATTUNE - Become aware, sounds like A TUNE (a melody)

  1. Mold takes head of white snake into small vessel (7)

ROWBOAT - Small vessel, W (head of white) + BOA (snake) inside ROT (mold takes)

  1. To jog backwards is a crime (4)

TORT - A crime, TROT (jog) backwards

  1. Most of shattered lantern found in back section of undeveloped area (10)

HINTERLAND - undeveloped area, anagram of (shattered) LANTER (most of lantern) in HIND (back section)

  1. Born anew, Fang led his pack into the embraces of present-day (10)

NEW FANGLED - present-day, contained in (into the embraces of) born aNEW FANG LED his pack

  1. City will not gerrymander (4)

TOWN - City, anagram of (gerrymander [meaning to move political boundaries]) WON'T (will not) [loved the use of gerrymander as anagram indicator - not sure I've seen it used before. The clue reads very well]

  1. Ice cast away by monk (7)

ASCETIC - A monk lives an ascetic life, anagram of (away) ICE CAST

  1. "Yessir", I stuttered in the auditorium (3,3)

AYE AYE - Yessir, sounds like (in the auditorium) I I (I stuttered) [Really like this one]

  1. Canoe flipped at sea (5)

OCEAN - Sea, anagram of (flipped) CANOE

  1. Upside-down whale takes false symbolic representation (9)

ACROPHONY - Symbolic representation [when the names of letters in an alphabet begin with the letters themselves], ORCA backwards (upside-down whale) + PHONY (false) [I had to look up the definition - a new one on me!] [A purist might question the use of 'upside-down' in an across clue]

  1. Putting bit of raw rat into boiled emu is a mistake (7)

ERRATUM - A mistake [in writing], R (bit of raw) RAT inside (putting into) anagram of (boiled) EMU

  1. Squashes secondhand kid (7)

STEPSON - Kid, STEPS ON (squashes)

Down

  1. Beginning of broad assault potentially threatens short Protestant (4)

BAPT - Protestant, Beginnings of Broad Assault Potentially Threatens [short for Baptist? Is it actually a word or is it an abbreviation?]

  1. Shoot past and conquer (9)

OVERTHROW - Conquer, OVER THROW (shoot past)

  1. Spasm in strange part of Macchu Picchu (6)

HICCUP - Spasm, anagram of (strange) PICCHU (part of Macchu Picchu)

  1. Moving slowly, I tire (long walks) (9)

LOITERING - Moving slowly, anagram of (walks) I TIRE LONG

  1. Incorrectly parse weapon (5)

SPEAR - Weapon, anagram of (incorrectly) PARSE

  1. Loyalist broke law in the beginning (8)

STALWART - Loyalist, anagram of (broke) LAW in START (the beginning)

  1. Mix bit of grass with scattered potpourri in cool house (5)

IGLOO - Cool house, G (bit of grass) inside (mix) anagram of (scattered) OLIO (potpourri) [tough one - I vaguely think I might have seen OLIO before in a crossword, but I had to look up the definition]

  1. Early learner is stunned, wet, confused (3,7)

NEW STUDENT - Early learner, Anagram of (confused) WET STUNNED

  1. Self-contained way to not sit by yourself? (10)

STANDALONE - Self-contained, STAND (not sit) ALONE (by yourself)

  1. Perplexed user shut a reference book (9)

THESAURUS - Reference book, Anagram of (perplexed) USER SHUT A

  1. Nameless young man's son endlessly beaten (9)

ANONYMOUS - Nameless, anagram of (beaten) YOUN MAN SO (young man's endlessly)

  1. Percussion instrument is a way to catch fish (8)

CASTANET - Percussion instrument, CAST A NET (way to catch fish) [nice wordplay!]

  1. Unusual pontiff heads limited edition community (6)

PEOPLE - Community, anagram of (unusual) POPE (pontiff) + LE (limited edition)

  1. Sharp left in confusing race (5)

CLEAR - Sharp (e.g. in sharp / clear focus), L (left) in anagram of (confusing) RACE

  1. Where was I? Inside a mollusk, I swear (5)

CLAIM - swear (to claim or swear something), I inside CLAM (mollusc)

  1. He hears a song (4)

HYMN - A song, sounds like HIM (he)

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  • $\begingroup$ 'BAPT' is a moderately common abbreviation, though an abbreviation nonetheless. Since it was likely my weakest answer, I tried to make the clue lead you directly to it. As for 'IGLOO', it turns out there aren't many words with the form I?L?O. :) I'm happy to see you were able to figure out olio nonetheless. I try to use indirect anagrams sparingly, but I do like having one or two to keep the puzzler on his/her toes! Good job with the puzzle here. +1 for sure! (P.S. I hope you can forgive me for the upside-down across clue.) $\endgroup$
    – Bailey M
    May 27, 2015 at 12:56
  • $\begingroup$ You're absolutely right, it was clear from the crossing letters what I?L?O was, so I haven't got much to moan about - this site is supposed to provide a challenge after all! $\endgroup$
    – Pete
    May 27, 2015 at 20:09
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Great puzzle! Particularly loved 18D, which seems so obvious in retrospect that I'm surprised I've never seen it in a cryptic before. And 24D is very well clued!

A note re: 7D and 21D: some people consider indirect anagrams (an anagram of a synonym) to be bad form in cryptics. Not a big deal to me, esp. since those clues are pretty straightforward, just mentioning it FYI.

Answers below.

BROTHEL SESSION
A V I O P T G E
PRESCRIBE ALLOW
T R C T A L O S
.ATTUNE ROWBOAT
S H P R A U
TORT HINTERLAND
A O C N H T N E
NEWFANGLED TOWN
D S S P N T
ASCETIC AYEAYE
L L A L U O M H
OCEAN ACROPHONY
N A E I U L U M
ERRATUM STEPSON

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  • $\begingroup$ I'm glad you were able to figure out 'IGLOO' - as I mentioned, I try to stay away from indirect anagrams for the most part, but I like having one or two to keep things fresh. I'm accepting the other finished answer since he explained all the clues and I think it will be more helpful for people who find themselves stuck, but you will certainly get a +1 from me. :) $\endgroup$
    – Bailey M
    May 27, 2015 at 12:58
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Let's make a start!

1A. Not-all-there sibling touches bit of leg in lewd locale (7)

BROTHEL (not all of "brother" followed by a bit of "leg"; definitely a lewd locale).

14A. To jog backwards is a crime (4)

TORT ("trot" is a synonym of jog, reversed becomes "tort" which is a crime).

27A. Canoe flipped at sea (5)

OCEAN (an anagram of canoe and synonym of sea).

1D. Beginning of broad assault potentially threatens short Protestant (4)

BAPT? ("broad assault potentially threatens, baptists might threaten Protestants?)

5D. Incorrectly parse weapon (5)

SPEAR (an anagram of parse and a type of weapon).

23D. Sharp left in confusing race (5)

CLEAR ("confusing" suggests anagrams, so we want an anagram of "race" with one extra letter; L is the first letter of "left").

24D. Where was I? Inside a mollusk, I swear (5)

CLAIM (the letter I inside "clam" which is a mollusc; swear is a synonym of claim).

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  • $\begingroup$ These look good so far. "Canoe flipped at sea" is one of my favorite clues in the puzzle - every now and then a cryptic clue ends up looking like a newspaper headline more than a cryptic, which always makes me smile! :) $\endgroup$
    – Bailey M
    May 26, 2015 at 19:58

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