1 Sometime before five, at last landing place, but missing a passing procession (6)
EXEQUY – EX [sometime], before {fiv}E, + QU{a}Y [landing place, missing A]
4 Stone fired over head of Zambian soldier once (8)
STRELITZ – ST [stone] + RELIT [fired over (again)] + Z{ambian}
10 Victorian rest homes, condemned, accepting fine (5-2)
SMOKE-HO – (HOMES*) [“condemned”], accepting OK [fine]
11 Dark area still keeps burning (7)
APHOTIC – A PIC [area | still] keeps HOT [burning]
12 Marry old Victor’s double in start of wish for long life?
WIVE – the start of a wish for long life could be “Vive…!”, double the V to W.
13 Ideas people mad to insist on (10)
NOTIONISTS – (TO INSIST ON*) [“mad”]
15 Leaves arrangement of rave to inn, surprisingly (9)
VERNATION – (RAVE TO INN*) [“surprisingly”]
16 No time for wee hint! (5)
INKLE – {t}INKLE [wee, with no T]
18 Pants with waistband finally going left to sag (5)
DROOP – POOR [pants] with {waistban}D, read from right to left
19 Driver’s warning about salt water submerging live vegetable plant (5,4)
HORSE BEAN – HORN [driver’s warning], about SEA [salt water], submerging BE [live]
21 Polish ready, nearly, to go on blemish covering hard, wide glass decoration (10)
SCHWARZLOT – ZLOT{y}, to on SCAR [blemish] covering H W [hard | wide]
23 Take too much out of alkaline element in water parsnips (4)
SIUM – S{od}IUM – OD [take too much] removed from an alkaline element.
26 Pennies, gold, returning sailor put about cross one’s palm (7)
PAXIUBA – P [pennies] + AU [gold] + reversed AB [sailor], about X I [cross | one]
27 African people’s life to be digested by one another time (7)
IBIBIOS – BIO [life] to be digested by I BIS [one | another time]
28 Compound of molten lead — one doctor would turn to (8)
ALDEHYDE – (LEAD*) [“molten”] + HYDE [one doctor (Jekyll) would turn to]
29 Navy game in which dupe’s first to get to the end (6)
UCKERS – SUCKER [dupe], with the first letter moving to the end of the word
DOWN
1 Result of poet from the past, maybe, heading off west (5)
ENSEW – {t}ENSE [the past, maybe – with first letter removed] + W [west]
2 Mysterious Vern comes, not married, with ring on the other hand (1,8)
E CONVERSO – (VERN CO{m}ES + O*) [“mysterious”]
3 US chemist recalled lawyer undertaking cases (4)
UREY – hidden reversed in {law}YER U{ndertaking}
5 Old Babylonian emperor cut half every six months? (7)
TSABIAN – TSA{r} [emperor, “cut”] + BIAN{nual}
6 Urchins from the city welcome? Not a clue! (10)
ECHINOIDEA – EC HI [the city | welcome] + NO IDEA [not a clue!]
7 Desert plant — about to leave for one gets stress (5)
ICTUS – {ca->I}CTUS [desert plant, replace the CA (about) with I (one)]
8 These merged with zinc to form rocky deposit (9)
ZECHSTEIN – (THESE + ZINC*) [“merged…to form”]
9 Cape, behold, turned up with sash for primates (6)
COLOBI – C [cape] + reversed LO [behold, “turned up”] + OBI [sash]
14 Clash arising with this country hotel about carriage for young head of state (10)
RAJPRAMUKH – reversed JAR [clash “arising”] + UK H [this country | hotel], about PRAM [carriage for young]
15 See higher purpose initially in a stratagem idiot picked up (4,5)
VIDE SUPRA – P{urpose} in A RUSE DIV [a | stratagem | idiot] all reversed
17 Scottish writer’s endless furious interrupting briefly lamented (9)
KEELIVINE – LIVI{d} [“endless” furious] interrupting KEENE{d} [“briefly” lamented]
19 Cheered as Zulu — a boxing unknown — shaded rounds (7)
HUZZAED – Z A [Zulu | a], “boxing” Z [unknown], rounded by HUED [shaded]
20 Aussie creature going over stone grating in Perth (6)
ROOPIT – ROO [Aussie creature] going over PIT [stone]
22 Charmed by opening note (5)
HEXED – X [by] “opening” HEED [note]
24 Some salmon beginning to mate like place across pond (5)
MASUS – M{ate} + AS US [like | place across pond]
25 Advise against releasing our age for the record (4)
DISC – DISC{ourage} [advise against, minus “our age”. Say what you see!]
Always found it interesting that Dr Jekyll turned into Mr Hyde, apparently losing his medical qualifications in the process. Was this at the insistence of the GMC, one wonders, or just part and parcel of the event itself? If Mr Hyde accidentally cut his finger, would he panic and not know what to do?
But I did: possibly why I didn’t win again. A pity: this grid I thought contained a higher percentage than usual of words I knew or could deduce/invent, perhaps bucking that trend of “let’s see how many truly ridiculous words we can pack into one grid”. Maybe I was just lucky.