10th Anniversary Puzzle by Isla

This was a most welcome bonus bespoke crossword, sent to us by Isla a/k/a Rob, to coincide with the Times for the Times celebrations in London and New York.  It’s well composed and has a distinct and refreshing Antipodean flavour.  It was also something of a relief after the OTHER one (which thank goodness Andy is blogging).  Not that we didn’t enjoy that one mightily but I’m afraid it was game, set and match to the setter, at least with the NY group.  There was only one of Isla’s clues that I flat-out didn’t know, but it was solver-friendly.  And there’s one I can’t parse completely.  [Parsed now with Mohn’s help infra.]  I can’t give a time for this because I did it here and there, but about 15 minutes. Clues are in italics, definitions are underlined and answers are in caps.  Many thanks to you, Rob.  P.S.  Rob also sent his own notes on the puzzle which I’ve avoided doing anything more than glancing at until the blog was done but which are also available and interesting.  Let me know.

I’m mortified to admit that I never saw the Nina.  It’s in the second row from the top and the second row from the bottom.  Lovely job, setter!

Across
1  Gnome, trolls and sharp-nosed creatures. (9)
SAWFISHES.  Saw, as in axiom or gnome.  Trolls, as in fishing.  Nice clue.
6  A savoury preserve is commended for starters.  (5)
ASPIC.  First letters of “a savoury preserve is commended”.
9  Lock for pivot?  Explain unconventional…  (4,3)
AXLE PIN.  Anagram of “explain” (unconventional).
10  …rugby manager perhaps is about to unleash contained energy.  (7)
REFEREE.  Re=about. Free=unleash, containing E for energy.
11  When swimming, polar bears love splashing out wildly.  (8)
PRODIGAL.  Anagram of “polar” (swimming) containing “dig”=love.  Another very nice clue.
12  Filmmaker embraces island location in Alaska. (6)
KODIAK.  Another kind of bear too.  Kodak (filmmaker) hugging I[sland].
14  Wine from the east: Vietnam ups its annual bottles.  (4,8)
ASTI SPUMANTE.  Reading from East to West (backwards) the wine is bottled in “Vi[etnam ups its a]nnual”.  Well executed clue.
18  Main course: hot ling pies pan cooked (12)
SHIPPINGLANE.  Anagram of “h[ot] ling pies pan”, “cooked” being the anagram hint.  I tend to think of this as two words and to me it was probably the weakest of the clues surface-wise.  But who am I to judge.
23  One from the deck, ten of hearts.  (6)
CARDIO.  “Deck” is the American (and might be the Australian) word for a pack of cards.  So one of those plus 10(ten) and there’s the heart of the matter.
24 Lashings of duff, now diet’s required.  (3-5)
TIE-DOWNS.  I took “duff” to be the anagram indicator for “now diet’s”.
27 Attack port, quaffing large glass.  (3,4)
RIP INTO.  The setter’s very useful port of Rio contains a pint glass.
28  Dinner satisfied, comprising a duck cut.  (3,4)
MEAT TEA.  This was a clever and rather more complex clue which also had some cultural/social aspects.  “Met”=satisfied, containing A.  Plus the abbreviated tea[l]=duck.  This may be the Australian version of the British “high tea”, but then there’s the “dinner” definition.  I hope this doesn’t start a thing about which meal is called what because there are all kinds of shibboleths and U/nonU markers that surround the subject.  Some people call the meal in the middle of the day “dinner” rather than lunch and some call the meal at the end of the day “tea” rather than supper or dinner. In one of Barbara Pym’s novels the mousey woman likes to think she’s cut her pretentious fiance down to size by getting him to admit he likes a meat tea. I say brunch and I say the hell with it.
29 Land, say, by unknown point.  (5)
EGYPT.  E.G.=say plus Y=unknown plus PT=point.
30  Loose women lay back, accepting currency from waterfront vermin.  (6,3)
STRAND RAT.  I wrestled with this a bit because my brain refused to let go of Norway, which is where I think our NYC subway denizens originated, and because the term was unfamiliar.  It’s “tarts” = loose women backwards, containing the “rand”, as in currency.

Down
1  Might Spooner consolidate piles of money charged on transactions? (5,3)
STAMP TAX.  The good doctor might be heard to “tamp stacks”.
2  Frisky, finally get laid – sow these!  (4,4)
WILD OATS.  Frisky anagram of “[ge]t laid sow”.
3  Spoils naughty child displaying haughtiness.  (7)
IMPAIRS.  “Imp”=naughty child.  “Airs”=haughtiness.
4  New article presented under layer of colouring.  (5)
HENNA.  “Hen”=layer followed by N and A.
5 Depression treatment discovered in USSR initially.  (1.1.1.1.)
S.S.R.I.  Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.  This was the one I didn’t know but it was extractable from U[SSR i]nitially.  I’m more familiar with ECT (electro-convulsive therapy) turning up in puzzles.
6  Brazen insult delivered with a fine impudence.  (7)
AFFRONT.  “Front”=impudence with A and F=fine tacked onto the front.
7  One disguised in maritime city on introduction to Antonio.  (6)
PORTIA.  Good Shakespearean clue.  The “port”, or maritime city, does double duty as part of the definition and part of the answer.  Then I[ntroduction] and A[ntonio] are tacked on.  In Merchant of Venice she disguises herself as a young male lawyer.  Penfold has a better parsing infra.
8  Lewis stops to smell the flowers.  (6)
CREEKS.  C.S., as in Lewis, contains “reek”=smell.  The flowers are the watery kind.  Neat one.
13  Dress post-graduate team.  (4)
MAXI.  M.A.=post-graduate.  XI=team.
15  Aussie 10 commonly nervous, losing head.  (4)
UMPY.  Australian slang for referee.  [J]umpy=nervous losing first letter.  I didn’t know this but it wasn’t too much of a stretch.  Some years ago Crocodile Dundee was in an ad encouraging Americans to visit Australia, saying he’d put another shrimp on the barby for us.  Aussie shrimp must be bigger than ours.
16  Utilitarian product having wide coverage cheers father.  (3,5)
TAP WATER.  “Ta”=cheers.  “Pater”=father covering W=wide.
17 Media report of nun losing heart to cruciverbalist perhaps, having fling.  (8)
NEWSCAST.  I’m sure of “cast”=fling but I’m not seeing what the news, the nun and the cruciverbalist are doing.  Anyone?  Thanks to Mohn.  It’s NUN dropping the U so as to become 2 Ns to us solvers.
19  The rain’s tumbling, get protective cover.  (7)
HAIRNET.  Anagram of “the rain”.
20  In school, strange name is hateful. (7)
GODDAMN.  “Odd”=strange contained in “gam”=school plus N.
21  Vestige of drug turned up in card game. (6)
ECARTE.  “Trace” backwards plus E for the drug.
22  Degenerate forced to relinquish a cup awarded.  (6)
TROPHY.  Remove the A from atrophy (degenerate) and you have the cup.
25  Is lake being sounded in Turkish city?  (5)
IZMIR.  Homophone – sounds like “is mere”.  I dithered between the S and the Z but this wasn’t one of the dodgy ones.
26 Many airplanes taking off vertically upwards (4)
LOTS.  STOL is the acronym for short take-off and landing aircraft.  Reverse them upwards and they’re many.