An enjoyable and mainly straightforward crossword – just a little delayed by 24down – got the answer from the wordplay, but had to search for confirmation of the (obsolete) synonym for the definition. Definitions are underlined in the clues. [[The pictures at the bottom have unidentified links to the puzzle. Please enclose any comments on them in double brackets. Thank you.]]
Across
1 Flipping doolally! Pair chap with one fighting on set, perhaps (10)
STUNTWOMAN : Reversal of(Flipping) NUTS(crazy;doolally, originally military slang from the town near Bombay, the site of a military sanatorium) + TWO(a pair) + MAN(a chap).
Answer: One who performs, say;perhaps, fighting scenes on a film set.
7 Successfully deal with compass not showing south (4)
COPE : “scope”(the range;compass) minus(not showing) “s”(abbrev. for “south”).
9 Wood first used in manufacturing business (4)
FIRM : FIR(wood from a fir tree) + 1st letter of(first used in) “manufacturing “.
10 Medea, for example, she takes out a Casanova (4,6)
LADY KILLER : Triple defn: 1st: In Greek mythology, Medea killed quite a few, including two of her children; 2nd: A female murderer who takes out;kills; and 3: A Casanova, who is neither a lady nor a literal killer, but figuratively kills women with his charm.
11 Troubled by sea overwhelming Indian (6)
MINDED : MED(short for the Mediterranean Sea) containing(overwhelming) IND(a poetic name, and short, for India, and therefore “Indian” as well?).
Answer: As in “he minded being called a nerd”.
12 Pine export such as Vikings used (8)
LONGBOAT : LONG(to pine;to yearn for) + BOAT(to transport by boat, and presumably for export).
13 Passionate old bird (8)
FLAMINGO : FLAMING(passionate;figuratively on fire) + O(abbrev. for “old”).
15 Care about tree (4)
ACER : Anagram of(about) CARE.
17 Mature French painter endlessly turned round (4)
AGED : Reversal of(turned round) “Degas”(Edgar, the French painter) minus its last letter(endlessly).
19 Towers of hams on a pair of trays (8)
TRACTORS : ACTORS(who overact are “hams”) placed after(on, in an across clue) the 1st two letters of(a pair of) “trays “.
Defn: Tow-ers, eg. used to tow farming equipment.
22 Fine opening for Harrods Emirates, say (8)
HAIRLINE : 1st letter of(opening for) “Harrods “ + AIRLINE(an example of which;say is Emirates, of the UAE).
Answer: Very fine, comparable to the thickness of a single strand of hair.
23 Spiteful about husband given to blethering (6)
CHATTY : CATTY(spiteful, usually used of women) containing(about) H(abbrev. for “husband”).
25 Small bit of dressing (nonsense) for grilled fowl (10)
SPATCHCOCK : S(abbrev. for “small”) + PATCH(a bit of dressing applied to protect a wound or sore) + COCK(nonsense, as in “don’t talk cock!”).
26 Quietly be sick into this (4)
PAIL : P(abbrev. for “piano”, the musical direction to play quietly) + AIL(to be sick;to suffer an illness).
Answer: The “this” in the defn. Something you might throw up;be sick into.
27 Close to new notice (4)
NEAR : N(abbrev. for “new”) + EAR(someone’s notice;attention, as in “to gain someone’s ear”).
28 A president could be dull (10)
PEDESTRIAN : Anagram of(could be) A PRESIDENT.
Down
2 Rinky-dink six in court case (7)
TRIVIAL : VI(Roman numeral for “six”) contained in(in) TRIAL(a court case).
3 Traveller is crazy about New Orleans! (5)
NOMAD : MAD(crazy;doolally) placed below(about? I’m not sure that this indicates “to be placed under”) NO(abbrev. for “New Orleans”).
4 Congrats, it’s burnt to a cinder? OK agreed (4,4)
WELL DONE : WELL(OK, as in “very well”) + DONE(agreed, as in “a done deal”). Double defn: 1st: A congratulatory message; and 2nd: In some establishments, a steak well done might end up being burnt to a cinder?
5 Unadventurous place to put the dotted line? (6-2-3-4)
MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD : Cryptic defn: Reference to the literal sense of painting a dotted line in the middle of a road as lane marking.
Answer: Following a course of action or thought that is not extreme either way, and therefore considered unadventurous.
6 Greek character, a supremo, is warming up (6)
NUKING : NU(the 13th letter in the Greek alphabet) + KING(a supremo;one with complete authority, true of the kings of old).
Answer: Warming up (or cooking) in a microwave oven.
7 Priest getting A-lister’s hissyfit (9)
CELEBRANT : CELEB(short for “celebrity”;a VIP;one who’s on the A-list) + RANT(loud and angry speech;a hissyfit – shouldn’t the latter be two words?).
Answer: One who officiates at a religious ceremony, usually a priest.
8 The nobility always in contact by bleeper (7)
PEERAGE : EER(literary word for “ever”;always) contained in(in) PAGE(to contact someone on his/her bleeper).
14 Judge rated room disorderly (9)
MODERATOR : Anagram of(disorderly) RATED ROOM.
16 Peaks can trouble when airplane lands awkwardly (8)
PANCAKES : Anagram of(trouble) PEAKS CAN.
Answer: When a plane lands hard and awkwardly, hitting the ground in a steep descent, like a tossed pancake landing in your frying pan.
18 Wrestle with gross technological giant (7)
GRAPPLE : GR(abbrev. for “gross”;12 dozens) APPLE(the technological giant of a company).
20 Some regrets in Australian wine (7)
RETSINA : Hidden in(Some) “regrets in Australian “.
Answer: Greek wine flavoured with resin, and hence its name.
21 Serviceman’s mistake over a little work (6)
BISHOP : BISH(British slang for “a mistake”) placed above(over, in a down clue) OP(abbrev.;little for “opus”, a musical work).
Defn: Not your car mechanic nor a military man, but the one who leads (or gets someone from his organisation to lead) the service in church.
24 Cigarette’s not good – it’s rough (5)
ASPER : “gasper”(British slang for a cigarette, presumably because it makes the smoker gasp) minus(…’s not) “g”(abbrev. for “good”).
Answer: An obsolete word for “rough”;coarse, from Latin.
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Thanks Jason for a pleasantly straightforward puzzle and scchua for the blog.
3dn: I took this as “NO MAD”, by analogy with (say) soccer mad.
I was stymied by 12ac ‘longboat’ (the Vikings didn’t have longboats, they had longships). But thanks, Jason and scchua.
Thanks, Jason & sschua. I also struggled with 24d.
[[1: Sir Alec Guinness was in The LADYKILLERs
2: Devil’s claw aka GRAPPLE plant
3: ACER laptop (aspire One D270, to be precise)
4: LADYKILLER crocus
5: Daisy Duke (a duke being a rank in the PEERAGE?)
6: de Havilland FLAMINGO
7: Tweedledum & Tweedledee (connection to puzzle??)
8: John Wayne (who played John BISHOP in Somewhere in Sonora, but I doubt that’s what you have in mind)]]
[[Keeper, the ones left:
7: Tweedledee Tweedledum sung by Scottish group MIDDLE OF THE ROAD,
8: John Wayne, nicknamed The Duke (and 5 is Daisy from the Dukes of Hazzard), all not really belonging to the PEERAGE, of course.]]
scchua, many thanks for the blog. I would never progress if it wasn’t for the bloggers. And thanks Jason for a great puzzle.