I took 30-45 minutes for this crossword. I got 4ac to begin with, but botttom-right quadrant was the first to be completed. When I began  writing the draft for this blog, I had not solved three clues - 1, 25, 27, all acrosses. Of these, I got two as I returned to the grid. 25 ac remains elusive (anyone may reveal the answer).

Across

1 ASHORE - a,shore

4 PROPOUND - pro,pound

10 HEARTLESS - heart(les)s - Very neat clue.

11  EXERT - ex(-p)ert - I am not sure if ‘employ’ is an apt def. for the word.

12 LESS - (-b)less

13 FIRE WARDEN - f(i,reward)en

15 ERASURE - era (rev. of ‘are’),sure - Can we write such a sentence outside of the crossword? Subjects are sometimes understood, yet… While on the topic: The local newspaper often has the headline “Commits suicide” where the subject ‘one’ is taken as understood. But when I see the headline “Commit suicide” I am annoyed because, first, I could do without any such suggestion and, secondly, how am I to know whether it was two or more than two who killed themselves?

16 TRIFLE - t,rifle

19 STUPID - stu(pi)d

21 BOUNCER - b(ounce)r

23 CONVERSION - con,version  Again, it seems to me that ‘metamorphosis’ does not seem to be quite a fitting definition/synonym for the required word. Are we to accepts this kind of latitude in crossword clues?

25 Not solved - ?R?D - The clue is: You put lights somewhere in here (4) (On edit) GRID See comment below for explanation.

27 RIDGE - rid(g)e

28 BADMINTON - b, adminton (anag. of ‘dominant’)

29 BREATHER - b(RE)ather

Down

1 ACHILLES -  ac(hill)es

2 HEAD-START - (A hard test)*
 
3 RUTH - rut,h

5 RESPECT - two def. I didn’t get this too quickly. 

6 PRECARIOUS - prec(a r)ious ‘Favourite’ is a way-out synonym for ‘precious’.

8 DOTING - dot,in,g

14 SUPPLEMENT - supple,men,t

17 LACERATED - (Act leader)* Nice clue.
 
18 PRUDENCE - (endure PC)*

20 DISABLE - b in ‘disale’ (Ladies)* Shouldn’t we have ‘the Ladies’? Should definite articles be dispensed with for the sake of conciseness in clue-writing? 

21 BROODY - b,rood,y

22 SCARAB - scar,a b

28 BADMINTON - b, adminton (anag. of ‘dominant’)

29 BREATHER - b(RE)ather

After slogging my way through yesterday’s Monk puzzle last night, I was expecting much easier fare today.  However, this one was no cakewalk either, and I had to use the world of Wiki to justify what was initially an optimistic guess on my part at 12A.

Across
1 THE,O(RISE)D
6 SPECS - double def’n
9 MOOLA - A,LOOM(rev)
10 (-u)NEARTHING - a little bit of a cliche, but I needed Viking to throw me a couple of bones to get started.
11 ELEMENTARY - one of those clues where I suspect you either tumble on the solution immediately, or else have to wait for full checking.  Count me in the latter camp.
12 BA(N)T - I had to confirm the definition of “diet” online… Do you Bant?
15 M(IS,F)ILE - another neat and well-engineered clue.
20 (-t)HICK
22 ASTON,I,SHED - ref A. Villa, those sporting titans of the West Midlands (1874-1982)
26 GREBE - E,BERG(Rev)

Down
1 TE(MP)E - Arizona resort town.
2 EX,ONE,RATE - concise, simple but still tricky.
4 SENATOR - seer with NATO for E(nergy).
6 SAT,I - a variant of Suttee, self-immolation.
7 EVITA - it’s a beheaded reversal of either dative (or sedative?).  The latter fits better with “number”, but less so with “missing original”.
8 SIGH, TREAD
13 A,S(PIR)INGLY - a good plausible surface.
14 FRIGHT,FUL - “journey” = flight (with directional switch of L to R).
21 CARE,T - a.ka the circumflex, ^, “hat” etc
23 D(-u)RESS

Ah, my second Falcon puzzle to blog. This proved moderately easy and somehow I even dredged CHOTA PEG (19A) out of the back of my mind. I love 20D and 10D is very cute.

Across
1. SATANIC - A (a) + TAN (bronze) in SIC[k] (disappointed no end)
5. BRANCH - B (British) + RANCH (large farm)
8. ON THE BALL - double definition
9. CREAM - [profiterol]E in CRAM (stuff)
11. TENSE - T[heatre] + anagram of SEEN
12. CHORISTER - CH (church) + OR (or) + [s]ISTER (nun needing no introduction)
14. NOAHS ARK - anagram of H (hands initially) + ANORAKS
15. DIADEM - D[uke] + anagram of I (one) MADE
17. BALLAD - BALL (dance) + AD (notice)
19. CHOTA PEG - anagram of GOT CHEAP. Chota peg is a British military slang term, Indian in origin I believe, for a short drink like a gin and tonic.
22. AGREEMENT - MEN (soldiers) in A (a) + GREET (salute)
23. AORTA - hidden word
24. ETHER - anagram of THERE. This is a clever and devious clue but also a variation on a well known theme.
25. CLEARANCE - double definition
26. DRAW IN - DR (doctor) + A (a) + WIN (secure)
27. SCRAPIE - I (one) in SCRAPE (tricky situation)

Down
1. SHOOTING BRAKE - SHOOTING (filming) + B (British) + RAKE (playboy). I am old enough to know this term well.
2. TITANIA - TITANI[c] (short film) + A (a)
3. NIECE - PIECE (board game figure) with P (pawn) changed to N (knight)
4. CHANCERY - CHANCER (opportunist) + [cla]Y
5. BALLOT - ALL (everyone) in BOT[tom] (base except Tom)
6. ARCHIVIST - anagram of THE VICAR
7. CHEATED - C[ompany] + HEATED (furious)
10. MARY MAGDALENE - anagram of ELY ANAGRAMMED
14. SCARECROW - S[hows] + CARE (concern) + C (about) + ROW (string)
16. SHATTERS - S (small) + HATTERS (milliners)
18. LURCHER - H (horse) in anagram of CRUEL. A lurcher is a hunting dog. This is the one word I did not know and had to look up.
20. PARSNIP - PAR[e] (cut, cut) + SNIP (cut)
21. BEACON - BEACON[sfield] (Bucks town)
23. AIRER - AIRE (English river) + [wei]R. The definition refers to a stand as in a frame for drying clothes.

Quite a tricky one and I was stumped by the bones question at 19d.  Will await explanations from those more successful.

ACROSS

1.   ESCALATE-(esc-a late (et al <)
5.   AFFAIR (af-f-air)
10. WIDOWER- (Wi(n)dow -er
11. OSMOTIC )- a kind of pressure (even letters from noisome -osm plus otic)
12. NATES - * seat n (an old name for buttocks)
13. ABSTRACTS (abs-tracts )
14. SOLOMON’S SEAL (solo- m-on-ss-eal) - was in the shape of a star
18  IDENTITY CARD ( * did certainty)
21. TROUT FARM ( rainbow trout)
23. KNOLL (kn-OLL) boss as in convexity.
24. ROSTRUM ) rum around *sort
25. ORPHEUS (sue-h-pro <)
26. DOWNER ( d-owner)
27 ASSYRIAN (as-syrian)

DOWN

1.  EDWINA (first letters of extremely & awful, *wind between (The formidable lady herself)
2.  CADETS (ca-de-ts)
3.  LOWESTOFT(lowest-oft)
4.  TERRACOTTA ARMY (straight forward definition)
6.  FEMUR (f- me>-ur)
7.  ALTO CLEF-  (*loca left)
8.   ROCK SALT- (rock - s(ulphur)-alt :even letters of tablets.)
9.   HOUSE OF COMMONS - not sure about the daily element.
15. STRIKE PAY-definition
16. FILTERED (fil-t-ere-d -)
17. TENON SAW (*now nates)
19.This one defeated me - anyone help? -O-E-I
20  ALISON-(Ali -son)
22  THREE (Th-re-e - leash is old name for  triality)

Appropriately enough, I gained toehold in the grid with 9 ac.  After only some three in this set, I moved to Down segment where many fell quickly, one after the other.

I must confess that even after thirty minutes with the puzzle, I could not get a couple. See below.

It is an utter defeat for me as these clues do not have any abstruse UK references. It is just that my brain is tired in Madras where mercury has been hovering above 40 degrees C for the past couple of days. 

Across

1 BOOKWORM - charade - book, worm

5 APPALS - deletion - app(-e)als

9 TREADING - charade - t, reading

10 ESCAPE - charade with anagram - esca (anag. of ‘case’), PE

12 LIE IN WAIT - cryptic def - I am unable to interpret it to my entire satisfaction. 

13 HOARD - container/contained - h(o)ard - Nice departure from the usual hoard/horde homophone ploy.

19 CANTEEN - charade - can, teen

24 FRESH - two def - The clue is “Alert forward”. I am interpreting it as alert = fresh = forward.

25 Not solved - The clue is: End of activities agreed by church. Possibly safe to show anger? (9) (On edit, following a comment below) CEASEFIRE - charade with an anagram - CE, asef (anag. of ’safe’), ire 

27 OPAQUE - charade with deletion - o, p(-l)aque

28 FORENSIC - charade with anagram - f, oresnic (anag. of ‘in score’)

29 DAMSEL - container/contained - MS. in dael (anag. of ‘deal’)

30 INITIATE - charade - I, nit, I, ate

Down

1, 2 BOTTLE OPENER - charade

3 WIDEN - charade - w, I, Den(-nis) - Hope my annotation is correct.

4 RANSACK - charade - ran, sack

6 POST-HASTE - anag. after deletion - Good surface reading. Anag. of ‘osteopath’s’ after removing O (’disc’). But note that we remove only one O while the anag. fodder has two Os.

7 A LA CARTE - Cryptic def.

8 STEADIER - Anag. of ‘as E tried’

11 STIR - Two def.

15 OPEN HOUSE - charade with anagram - openh (anag. of hope, N.)  + Ouse

17 SCAFFOLD - anag. after deletion - anag. of ’scoldffa’ after removing I (one) from ’scold FIFA’

18 UNDERARM - charade with a c/c - under, a.(r.)m.

20 Not solved - The clue is: Take health, for example (4) (On edit) NICK - two def. - See comment below.

21 PLATOON - charade with reversal - Plato, on (rev. of no.)  The def. ‘Greek’ for Plato appears to be rather bald.

22, 23 AIR-SEA RESCUE - anag. of ‘E cruises are a’

26 Not solved - The clue is: In the long run university colleague missed the occasion (5). The answer may be EVENT but I am unable to justify it. (On edit, following a comment below) EVENT - deletion - deleteing U (University), ally (colleague) from ‘eventually’ (’in the long run’)