Times 27913 – Soames, Anyone?

Sorry, folks, I’d written up a goodly part of the blog when I slid my fat fingers onto the wrong bit of the laptop and lost the lot. So, this will be short and sweet, and between gritted teeth. 25:30.

I dedicate this to Dorsetjimbo, AKA Jim Biggin, who I will always think of as The Father of the Blog, even if he pretended to be a bit of a curmudgeon.

ACROSS

1 Protean spirit of record spinner in Islington area (6)
DJINNI – DJ IN NI (‘North One’ in London)
5 German bar inspiring Verdi’s first operatic song (8)
BAVARIAN – V ARIA in BAN
9 Hatching a plot? Fascinating! (10)
INTRIGUING – double definition
10 Take courses at home in centre of Philadelphia (4)
DINE – IN in DE (central letters of philaDElphia)
11 Hesitating to own item of jewellery (8)
HAVERING – HAVE RING
12 Ready in Brazil to accept new tenant’s first payment (6)
RENTAL – N T[enant] in REAL
13 Young woman launching a festival (4)
GALA – GAL A
15 Obsessive knight, socially acceptable, wearing blue? (8)
NEUROTIC – N U in EROTIC
18 Light vehicle going around head of rare crustacean (4,4)
LAND CRAB – LAND (light, as in come down to earth) R[are] in CAB
19 Legendary vessel’s slow movement leaving lake (4)
ARGO – [l]ARGO
21 Universal wit entertaining third of listeners (6)
COSMIC – liSteners in COMIC
23 Most junior guy on set, surprisingly (8)
YOUNGEST – anagram* of GUY ON SET
25 Porter, say, primarily consuming Guinness? (4)
ALEC – ALE (porter, say) C[onsuming]; I was fixated on The Forsyte Saga actor, Eric Porter, and chucked in ERIC
26 Factory transformed into a cultivated area (10)
PLANTATION – PLANT + INTO A*
27 Right over the top, learner breaking the fuel regulator! (8)
THROTTLE – R OTT L in THE
28 Mum meeting Granny? Any time will do (6)
MANANA – MA NANA; nice definition

DOWN

2 Cabal originally taking over area after thirty days (5)
JUNTA – JUN (thirty days) T[aking] A (area); I suppose ‘Jun’ can be thirty days, inasmuch as it’s the abbreviation for the month, but it seemed a bit odd to me. Less so, now that I explain it. I think I have convinced myself.
3 Directions devised, we hear, after athletic activity upset Nanny (9)
NURSEMAID – RUN reversed (athletic activity upset) SE (directions) MAID (sounds like ‘made’, AKA devised)
4 Girl employed in teaching riding (6)
INGRID – hidden(-ish) in teachING RIDing
5 Doctor dealing with Banbury’s charity event, possibly (5-3-3,4)
BRING-AND-BUY SALE – DEALING BANBURYS*
6 Lively operatic prince feeding you in Paris (8)
VIGOROUS – IGOR (the eponymous fellow in Borodin’s opera Prince Igor) in VOUS
7 Stick in the name of a sculptor (5)
RODIN – ROD IN; he must have done something beside ‘The Thinker’, but he’s a bit of a Randy van Warmer of the sculpting world, to be honest
8 Girl going to West London district for toughening (9)
ANNEALING – ANN EALING
14 Religious leader’s Indian maid skirting coral reef (9)
AYATOLLAH – ATOLL in AYAH
16 Primate telephoned by old sick aunt (5-4)
ORANG-UTAN – O (old) RANG (telephoned) AUNT*
17 Nutter’s constant stand on marijuana (8)
CRACKPOT – C (constant) RACK (stand, as in something you get from IKEA, which could be either) POT
20 Copper’s cat’s habitual practice (6)
CUSTOM – CUS TOM
22 Virile army doctor ringing a key hospital (5)
MACHO – A C (musical key) H in MO (medical officer)
24 Faint, without disturbing younger family member (5)
SWOON – W/O (without) in SON