Special Instructions: This puzzle was set last year for an American crossword tournament (www.mwxwt.com). Note: there are some American spellings, references and abbreviations.
Across
One wearing Lycra manufactured with carbon fiber (7)
Bizarre new slogan makes a chilly impression (4,5)
Brain activity dreadfully abrupt having consumed four IPAs originally (3,6)
Pouch found in vehicle outside restricted area (5)
Young Scout recalled important English person from Ohio (7)
That thing stuck in front of arena entrance causes stir (7)
Bird eggs on flowers (9)
Excellent grid for the Listener! (5)
Big Bird opening for Kermit with an amusing style of music (4,3,4)
Bad leaks leading to large pools of water (5)
Greek character Euclid's first to be enthralled by math problems - they have lots of old figures (7)
Winning article had inspiring quote at the end (5)
Development in Greece: "Men in chaos" (9)
Down
More cryptic nonsense about to be penned by our excellent setter, ultimately (8)
Doctors drinking whiskey in tumblers? (6)
Organization with meatball logo launching tuna salad sandwiches? (4)
Raced carelessly around a playground? (6)
One not to be trusted with artists' equipment (6)
Low feeling after daughter departs (3)
Essential part officer reported (6)
Application you finally learned (5)
I've lost contest (3)
Little Rock soccer legend netting billions (6)
Revive faulty bot orbiting part of Saturn (5,2)
Large cracks edge to edge (5)
Selection from musical man acquiring record of the year? (7)
Perhaps Holst's van almost overturned after sudden blast of wind (6)
Short letter about a company's final purchase for recent delivery (7)
Players went ahead and made a defensive move (7)
Strange algae and fungi discovered in Java, maybe (8)
As I was going through this now (over a year after I set it) and adding in the annotations, I found several things that I would not do today. How much one grows in a year!
Thanks Liari, that was fun - and despite your warning/comment, I didn't find too much US-centric stuff (9a of course, but I think I've vaguely heard of it) nor much to make my eyebrows wiggle. 18d was my favourite, closely followed by 6d and 19d.
I enjoyed this - nice and approachable and with some real smiles along the way. 15a is great fun. Others earning ticks inc the last three Acrosses - 26a, 27a, 28a - and 6d, 7d, 18d and 19d. Thanks. PM
Very nice! I missed the stream because I was traveling. For this American 9a was FOI. Fun clues included 14a, 15a, 22a, 1d. Many thanks & sorry to have missed you.
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