I have only recently become aware of Radian, which suggests that he hasn’t been around for long. But with this crossword I had no feeling that he was in any way a novice: there were some excellent clues, two of which I can’t explain.

We certainly get our money’s worth today, with 32 clues. I’ve noticed that the Indy crossword often has many fewer than this.

The puzzle didn’t pose much difficulty. For me the bottom left corner was the last to fall.

Across

1 NICETIES  - nice,ties
5 RUSTIC  - (citrus)*
10 PENAL  - pen,a,l
11 OVERDRAWN - two def. - In the online version, there is an unnecessary space betwen the last word and the question mark. It is not a matter of style as it is not followed elsewhere in the text.
12 EXTRA TIME - (I am t exert)*
13 ROGUE  - r(og<)ue - In the online edition, I think the space between ‘wrong’ and ‘un is missing.
14 NITWIT  - nit,wit
15 RATCHET  - (chatter)* - familiar anag. fodder.
18 MATINEE  - Solved from def. I am yet to see the homophone. Help!
20 AWNING  - (-y)awning
22 GLEAM  - Solved from def. I am yet to grasp the wordplay. Help!
24 PATRIARCH - (chair part)*
25 LIBELLOUS - li(”lie”),bello(-w),u/s 
26 GENES  - (sen, e.g.)< 
27 RAREST  -R(a)R,est. - Purists may frown on one = a - In India we use ‘estd’, not ‘est’, for ‘established’.
28 VERY WELL - two def.

Down

1 NEPHEW  - ne,phew
2 CONSTRICT - con,strict
3 TILT AT WINDMILLS - cryptic def., but not so cryptic
4 EGOTIST  - (eg is OTT)*
6 UNDERSTANDINGLY - cryptic def.
7 TWANG  - two def. It is an unstated instrument that must be highly strung
8 CONCERTO - c(once)r, to - Here and in 21dn an abbreviation, a small component, is a container rather than a contained. Does this happen often in crossword clues? I don’t recall but my memory is notoriously short.
9 METEOR  - (remote)* - familiar anag. fodder
16 HINDRANCE - (dancer in h.)* - ‘after accident” is an appropriate anag. signal
17 SMUGGLER - cryptic def. - I am not carried away by this clue.
19 EMPLOY  - em,ploy - Do we come across en, the other measure in printing, as often as em?
20 ARTISTE  - (a sitter)* - nice anag. signal in ‘fluffing’
21 CHISEL  - hise, anag. of ‘he is’, in cl.
23 EMBER  - (-m)ember - Thank goodness the last months are left alone.

dd = double definition
cd = cryptic definition
rev = reversed or reversal
ins = insertion
cha = charade
ha = hidden answer
*(fodder) = anagram

I am so fortunate to have landed Paul today, a prized assignment. As usual, he entertained and challenged with his unique brand of wordplay which leaves one tearing off the hair and/or nodding in admiration for his fertile imagination and creativity, both in the word-play as well as some of the definitions

Across
8,17 LEONARDO DA VINCI Leo (zodiac sign) *(candid vain or) with the definition, ‘artist’ simply written as 3
10 CROW What a cheeky indirect hidden answer clue … miCROWave
11 INFLECTION Ins of L (left) in INFECTION
12 FAUCET Sounds like ‘force it’
14 OMELETTE O (old) + ins of TT (two teas say) in MELEE (fight)
15 BEAR HUG I am aways amused by Spooner clues and this Head Bug is no exception
20 EVANESCE Ins of E (English) in EVANS (typical Welsh name) + CE (Church of England)
22 MOHAWK Cha of MO (medical officer or doctor) hawk (bird) - “a skating movement consisting of a stroke on the edge of one skate followed by a stroke in the opposite direction on the same edge of the other skate” from Chambers
23 MOTHERHOOD Ins of Other H (husband) in Mood (sulk) What makes compilers like Paul outstanding is their ability to create imaginative definitions and this one is really good as any new parents will tell you.
24 HERD Sounds like “heard”
25,26 OSAMA BIN LADEN This is a brilliant clue and so topical. Obama (Democrat candidate for the US Presidency) with “second amendment’ became OSAMA + Ins of N (northern) LA (state of Louisiana) in BIDEN (Senator Joe, running mate of Obama) to give you George W Bush’s nemesis

Down
1 DECREASE dd to iron a shirt is to remove the creases from it i.e. to de-crease (cheeky word play)
2 KNOW “no”
3 ARTIST Ins of T in ARIST (o) Lucian Michael Freud, OM, CH (born 1922) is a British painter of German origin. Yes, he is related to the more famous Sigmund since, by definition, all Freuds must have come from a first Freud
4 HOTFOOT Simple cha
5 ALOE VERA A halo is a heavenly hat, so ‘ALO EVER (always) A. I have been told that this plant has many wonderful medicinal properties including being able to soothe a burn or an insect bite
6 CUTTLEFISH Ins of TLEF (rev of FELT or sensed) in CUTIS (skin) H (hard)
7 RESORT DD? allusing to the common term, “the last resort”
13 CORINTHIAN *(nation rich) with gymnastics as anagram indicator. There are many associations and clubs using Corinthian BUT all in plural or have I missed something? I still remember being fooled and foiled by Paul’s big breasts, Double D cups, it seems :-)
16 UPSTREAM Cha of UP (finished like your time) Stream (a group in school doing the same subjects) and once again, Paul has outdone himself with this superb definition ; thank goodness, I remembered watching an Animal Planet film on salmon breeding
18 CO-WORKER Ins of OW (middle letters of fowl) in CORKER (cracker, something wonderful)
19 REDOUBT Cha of RE (on) DOUBT (suspicion) a fieldwork enclosed on all sides; an inner last retreat.
21 VOODOO V (formation of flying geese) OO (ducks) D (died) OO (ducks)
22 MEDINA Cha of MED (Mediterranean Sea) In A. Isn’t it PC of Paul to use this word today, the eve of the Muslim festival of Idilfitri, marking the end of Ramadam to commemorate the Hegira which was the flight of Prophet Muhammad and his followers to the city of Medina in 622 CE and marking the first year of the Islamic calendar, 1 AH (anno Hegirae).
24,9 HEAD LOUSE Lead House (metal building)

Not much to say about today’s, fairly straightforward with a couple of niggles.

* = anagram
cd = cryptic definition

Across

1. FISHWIFE. FISH + W(IF)E.  I’ve never been sure why this is a coarse woman.
5. HEIGHT. H + EIGHT.
9. SHOWGIRL. S + HOW + GIRL.
10. METRIC. ME + TRIC(k).  ‘This system’ seems a bit vague as a def.
11. EMMENTAL. EM + MENTAL
12. BISECT. BI(SECT)T.
14. GANGBUSTER. NUGGETBARS*.
18. HARASSMENT. SARAH* + S(MEN)T.  Sarah Gamp is a character from Martin Chuzzlewit.
22. SOILED. S + OILED
23. BAREFOOT. B(A REF)OOT.  The ‘girl’ seems to be a slight red herring.
24. IDEATE. ID(EAT)E. An Ide is a freshwater fish
25. ANYTHING. germANY THING Girls.  Odd reuse of just part of the phrase as the definition.
26. EGRESS. S + SERGE backwards.  SERGE comes up an awful lot in Guardian crosswords, it seems to me.
27. ASSAILED. A. + S. + SAILED.

Down

1. FASTER. F + ASTER.
2. STORMY. STOR(M)Y.
3. WAGING. WA(GIN)G.
4. FIRE ALARMS. FI(REAL + A)RMS.
6. EMERITUS. SEMITRUE*. Normally used to refer to retired academics.
7. GARMENTS. G(ARM)ENTS.
8. TACITURN. CAT rev. + I TURN.
13. AGONY AUNTS. cd.
15. CHASTISE. CHAS(ITS rev)E.  I wasn’t aware this word meant ‘beat’ rather than ‘verbally beat’
16. FROIDEUR. FUROREID.  I initially misspelt this as FROIDURE which made 24A and 26A tricky.
17. ASBESTOS. A S.O.(BEST)S.
19. BERTHA. THEBAR*. No idea what ‘always’ is doing there.
20. SOCIAL. COALIS*
21. STAGED. DEGAS rev around T.

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed

A neat, not too difficult puzzle by Math with some good surface meanings. The borders of the grid were formed by 4 fifteen letter anagrams, which is quite an impressive effort on its own.