Times 28657 – Club Monthly Invasion?

Not my favourite type of crossword this, where an essentially straightforward puzzle has one clue which is of a totally different character to all the others – an anagram of an obscure word, to boot. No time to record, since I looked up the outlier. Well, my outlier, anyway.

Across
1	Diving bird endlessly showing signs of breathlessness (6)
	PUFFIN – PUFFIN[g]
5	More sprightly junior inspiring the BBC (8)
	JAUNTIER – AUNTIE (term by which the BBC is [was?] affectionately known) in JR
9	Fascinating procedure for joining metal plates together (8)
	RIVETING – double definition
10	Change tack fast, initially willing to wait outside (6)
	SWERVE – W[illing] in SERVE
11	Difficult situation unknown in production of Times (6)
	STYMIE – Y (unknown) in anagram* of TIMES; more common as a verb, STYMIE is originally a golfing term (the rule pertaining to stymies has changed now – as golf rules always are changing, not always in a way that guarantees uniform interpretation thereof from the officials)
12	Badly regarded at first, but collecting tithes regularly (8)
	ROTTENLY – R[egarded] T[i]T[h]E[s] in ONLY (but); ONLY = but as in ‘Talk to granpa; only don’t give him a lollipop.’
14	Wearing glasses, run in to manage light-splitting instrument (12)
	SPECTROSCOPE -R in TO (‘run in to’) in SPECS (wearing glasses) COPE (manage)
17	Singer’s forthright statements initially popular at Academy (5,7)
	FRANK SINATRA – FRANK (forthright) S[tatements] IN (popular) AT RA (Royal Academy, London)
20	Beetle Scottish landowner catches returning by day (8)
	LADYBIRD – reversal of BY D in LAIRD (Scottish landowner)
22	Modern decree keeping first of these unimpaired (6)
	INTACT – T[hese] in IN (modern) ACT (decree)
23	Retired artist’s payoff, perhaps (6)
	REWARD – reversal of DRAWER
25	Fearless traveller in current books and papers (8)
	INTREPID – REP (traveller) in I (current) NT (books of the Bible) ID (papers)
26	Wander aimlessly, having unusual gravitas (8)
	STRAVAIG – GRAVITAS*; N English or Scottish word for what it says. So now I know…
27	Down-and-out, one omitted from file (6)
	DOSSER – DOSS[i]ERU (posh)

Down
2	Presence of posh bishop that is extremely timely (6)
	UBIETY – U (posh) B (bishop) IE (id est > that is) T[imel]Y; ‘the condition of being in a particular place’ (Latin ubi will help many people). How to present weird words, IMHO.
3	Loose woman disturbed by offspring’s secret practices (11)
	FREEMASONRY – FREE (loose) SON in MARY
4	Quiet islands head of Eton enters of all people! (9)
	NOISELESS – IS (islands) E[ton] in NO LESS (of all people!)
5	Remind leftist to take gentle exercise (3-4)
	JOG-TROT – JOG TROT
6	Discombobulate the riding fraternity? (5)
	UPSET – a clue depending on the not strongest play on words
7	Draw a native of Chiengmai, possibly, mentioned in speech (3)
	TIE – sounds like Thai; I must be in a bad mood today, as I’m tyically the setter’s friend, but I don’t really see the point of using the hardly ever used English rendering of the northern Thailand city, which I have actually visited. Normally, it’s Chiang Mai or Chiangmai, which is variation enough for me…
8	Wrapper girl quietly sent off, containing verse (8)
	ENVELOPE – V (verse) in [p]ENELOPE
13	She casts a spell in French song about ship (11)
	ENCHANTRESS – EN (‘in’ in French, non?) CHANT (song) RE (about) SS ([steam] ship)
15	Old union leader, teased and got the better of (9)
	OUTWITTED – O (old) U[nion] TWITTED (old word for teased)
16	Weapon made by millions, the last word in creative skill (8)
	ARMAMENT – M (millions) AMEN (the last word of the Bible) in ART
18	Dropping off, like a casual acquaintance (7)
	NODDING – dropping off as in falling asleep; a ‘nodding’ acquaintance is a slight one
19	One writing school essay originally without illicit aid (6)
	SCRIBE – CRIB (illicit aid) in S[chool] E[ssay]
21	Fashionable medic meeting by a Hindu god (5)
	INDRA – IN (fasionable) DR (medic) A (a); the king of the devas, apparently
24	Woman in commercial area, a US prosecutor (3)
	ADA – a definition with two pieces of wordplay, though I don’t know why: AD (commercial) A (area) & A (a) DA (district attorney, as always popping up in legal dramas – either heroically or villainously; there is apparently nothing in between)

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