Financial Times 18407 GAFF

Across
1. False promise provided by drink containing dark grounds (6,7)
SUNLIT UPLANDS : SUP(to drink) containing(containing) UNLIT(dark) + LANDS(grounds).
Answer: A metaphor for a (false) promise. Also by Leave campaigners to promise a prosperous, independent and a globally-focused future for the UK after Brexit.

10. Artificial summons to argue endlessly (2,5)
IN VITRO : [“invite”(a summons, say, to an event) “row”(to argue)] minus their last letters, respectively(endlessly).
Defn: …, or, in an artificial environment, in reference to, say, fertilisation of an egg.

11. Casts out houses (5)
SHEDS : Double defn: 2nd: …, or, outhouses.

12. Completely prepared to adore envy wrongly (4-5)
OVEN-READY : Anagram of(… wrongly) ADORE ENVY.
Defn: Used figuratively to describe plans or projects without any loose ends and are ready to be implemented.

13. Policeman’s bloomer causes catastrophe (8)
DISASTER : DI(abbrev. for “detective inspector”, a policeman)’S + ASTER(a flower/bloomer).
Answer: And also an opinion as to what Brexit was and is.

15. Winger to start wide, then wheel inside (6)
TOWHEE : TO + 1st letter of(start) “wide” plus(then) internal letters of(… inside) “wheel”.

18. Avoid rocky region (6)
IGNORE : Anagram of(rocky) REGION.

19/9. Grab support with key slogan (4,4,7)
TAKE BACK CONTROL : TAKE(to grab/seize) + BACK(to support/champion) plus(with) CONTROL(full name of the Ctrl key on a computer keyboard).
Defn: … of the Brexiters.

23. Set-back to filling pan with fawn (5)
KOTOW : Reversal of(Set-back) [TO contained in(filling) WOK(a frying pan used in Chinese cuisine) ].
Answer: …, an alternative spelling of “kowtow”.

25/21. Simple agreement derailed as European state gets difficult (7,5,4)
EASIEST TRADE DEAL : Anagram of(… gets difficult) [DERAILED AS + E(abbrev. for “European”) + STATE ].
Answer: Brexiter statement of what the post-Brexit free trade deal with the EU would be. But it was far from that – you might say that it was derailed.

26. Initial excitement around new song (7)
RONDEAU : Anagram of(… new) [ 1st letter of(Initial) “excitement” + AROUND ].
Defn: … in which a refrain is repeated.

27/24. Unfortunate defections will fund shot in the foot (4-9,5)
SELF-INFLICTED WOUND : Anagram of(Unfortunate) DEFECTIONS WILL FUND.
Answer: And also an opinion as to what Brexit was and is.

Down
1. Orders report on getting off (5)
SECTS : Homophone of(report on) [ “sacks”(dismisses somebody, so they’re getting “off”) OR “sex”(activity in which somebody gets off/gets immense pleasure) ]. In either case, I can’t fully explain the connection, so that’s probably the wrong parsing.
Defn: …/formal societies of, say, individual groups of monks.

2. Could be robot’s cipher (9)
NONPERSON : Double defn: 1st: …, a non-human; and 2nd: An insignificant someone.

3. From a mountain rose pillboxes (5)
INROS : Hidden in(From a) “mountain rose”.
Defn: Traditionally small Japanese containers used to keep, eg. medicines.

4. Release top chemist hugging ladies, perhaps (8)
UNLOOSEN : “Bunsen”(Robert, German chemist) minus its 1st letter(top …) containing(hugging) LOO(slang for a toilet, an example of which/perhaps is the “Ladies”).

5. It’s substituted for whiskey in inferior lounge (6)
LOITER : IT replacing(…’s substituted for) “w”(letter represented by “whiskey” in the phonetic alphabet) in “lower”( underneath, say, in status/inferior).

6. Broken toe lost over one metre, no longer (9)
NEVERMORE : Anagram of(Broken) [“toe” deleted from(lost) “over one metre”].

7. Starts to struggle, unwilling to read an instruction manual (5)
SUTRA : 1st letters, respectively, of(Starts to) “struggle, unwilling to read an instruction”.
Defn: … in Eastern philosophies and religions.

8. Commemoration of final days with keyhole surgery (4,4)
HOLY WEEK : Anagram of(… surgery) [ W(abbrev. for “with”) + KEYHOLE ].
Defn: … of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem.

13. A lot of mesh likely to turn up around cleavage (5,3)
DRIFT NET : Reversal of(… to turn up, in a down clue) TEND(likely/prone) containing(around) RIFT(a split/cleavage).
Defn: …/interwoven threads.

14. Perform strongly in court without break? (5,4)
SERVE WELL : In tennis, if a player wins a game when his/her opponent is serving, he/she is said to break service. Hence if the player serving wins the game, he has served well, without a service break.

16. Sincere man painting material (9)
HEARTFELT : HE(pronoun for a man) + ART(an example of which is painting, collectively) + FELT(a soft non-woven textile/material).

17. Reliant, maybe, on leading lady’s choice of very loud composer (4,4)
CARL ORFF : CAR(an example of which/maybe was any of the models manufactured by the former Reliant Motors) placed above(on, in down clue) 1st letter of(leading) “lady” plus(…’s) OR(signifying a choice of alternatives to be made) + FF(abbrev. for “fortissimo”, musical direction to play very loud).
Answer: …, German composer.

20. A bit of ash entails smut (6)
HENTAI : Hidden in(A bit of) “ash entails”.
Answer: A collective term for Japanese anime, manga and video games featuring explicit sexual themes and imagery.

22. Lots of topless idiots (5)
ASSES : “masses”(lots of) minus its 1st letter(topless).

23. King amuses not just international leading characters (5)
KANJI : 1st letters, respectively, of(… leading) “King amuses not just international”.
Answer: Chinese written characters adapted for writing in Japanese.