1 Sizable hat, roomy but not special (9)
CAPACIOUS – CAP [hat] + {sp}ACIOUS
6 Bird’s bill knocked empty, grabbed by rabbit (7)
JACKDAW – AC [bill] + K{nocked}, “grabbed by” JAW [rabbit]
10 Car crash driver’s ending in sudden pain (5)
PRANG – {drive}R in PANG
13 Top partnership’s victory in cricket match over (7)
TWINSET – WIN in reversed TEST
14 Deadly killer of toxin in jam (5)
NINJA – hidden in {toxi}N IN JA{m}
15 How baleen may be put another way (9)
WHALEBONE – (HOW BALEEN*), &lit
16 Steal from faculty division after head of profession’s function (11,12)
PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION – ROB ABILITY DISTRIBUTION [steal from | faculty | division] after P{rofession}
17 Bird settled on quiet lake (6)
PLOVER – OVER [settled] on P L
18 Belt trio out in vital part of opera (8)
LIBRETTO – (BELT TRIO*)
19 Managed a wicket after at least twelve balls (7)
OVERSAW – A W after OVERS [at least twelve balls, as a single over is six balls]
22 Symbolic when he turns to his dissenting (10)
SCHISMATIC – SC{he->HIS}MATIC
23 Tool with sharpness Henry concealed in prison (12)
SLEDGEHAMMER – EDGE H “concealed in” SLAMMER
27 Set fire to church on hill (5)
TORCH – CH on TOR
29 Air play about high-flying singer (7)
SKYLARK – SKY [air] + LARK [play about]
30 Capital is destroyed when idle (3,5)
NEW DELHI – (WHEN IDLE*)
32 Man’s man, perhaps, is left to drift without wife (8)
ISLANDER – IS L {w}ANDER. Man’s man as in someone who lives on the Isle of Man
34 Woman wrapped up with a cause of death? (7)
BANSHEE – SHE “wrapped up with” BANE, &lit
36 Belief Spanish wine is cut with ecstasy (5)
TENET – TENT “is cut with” E
39 Weapon photographing by press (8,4)
SHOOTING IRON – SHOOTING [photographing] by IRON [press]
41 Offer line round at home in dodgy district in America (10)
TENDERLOIN – TENDER L O IN [offer | line | round | at home]. 33 minutes away from my current location, according to Google Maps
44 Canter wildly round course finally to go through again (2-5)
RE-ENACT – (CANTER*) “round” {cours}E
46 Working bakery introduces rounds for regular output (8)
YEARBOOK – (BAKERY*) “introduces” O O. Regular output, as in, presumably once a year
48 Orders half of paramedics to embrace training at the start (6)
EDICTS – {param}EDICTS “to embrace” T{raining}
50 Daily puff in secret? (10,13)
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENT – cryptic def I think, classified ads appear in a newspaper (daily), “puff” suggests “advertisement” and “secret” is a synonym for “classified”…
53 Cut? Refrain from using bars (5,4)
SPARE RIBS – SPARE [refrain from using] + RIBS [bars]
54 Ring mother about a hotel in US city (5)
OMAHA – O MA “about” A H. Largest city in Nebraska
55 Wealth from a mine in California (7)
CAPITAL – A PIT in CAL
56 Poet’s love interest without name (5)
DANTE – DATE [love interest] “without” N
57 Polite Liberal is after general support (7)
GENTEEL – L is after GEN TEE
58 Think about record beat surrounding one (9)
ENTERTAIN – ENTER TAN “surrounding” I
DOWN
1 Upset dice (3,2)
CUT UP – double def
2 Mill’s thing for grinding? It’s what many have sought (12,5)
PHILOSOPHER’S STONE – John Stuart Mill being the philosopher with his (nose to the grind)stone
3 Go fishing with sons in Spanish sound? (9)
CASTANETS – CAST A NET with S
4 Type of soup unknown in Old Testament, innards in yak milk (6)
OXTAIL – X in OT, + {y}A{k} {m}IL{k}
5 Reforming Sybil ties in as a subject of English novel (11)
SENSIBILITY – (SYBIL TIES IN*). Along with Sense
6 Drug addict on a road where there’s little of value (8)
JUNKYARD – JUNKY on A RD
7 Carriage central heating behaving uncontrollably (7)
CHARIOT – CH ARIOT
8 Oppressed staff study for working in unreal stately home (11)
DOWNTRODDEN – DOWNT{on->ROD DEN}. Downton Abbey is a TV fictional stately home
9 Trying, we come to light embracing sacred mantra (9)
WEARISOME – WE ARISE “embracing” OM
10 Right to avoid following piano piece by Chopin, perhaps (7)
PRELUDE – R ELUDE “following” P
11 Some filo I asked to be rolled in seasoned sauce (5)
AIOLI – hidden reversed in {f}ILO I A{sked}. Mmm, garlicky
12 Verdant area with gardeners working (10)
GREENSWARD – (W GARDENERS*)
17 It is work put up in advance (5)
POSIT – reversed ‘TIS OP
20 Performers of dreadful pathos and corny rhymes (8,9)
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA – (PATHOS + CORNY RHYMES*)
21 Congratulated when having lack of parking brought up (6)
RAISED – {p}RAISED
24 Weakness left current head of state (6)
LIKING – L I KING
25 Advise caution right after beer (5)
ALERT – RT after ALE
26 Grass skirts from Burma, low around back initially (6)
BAMBOO – B{urm}A + MOO “around” B{ack}
28 Detect beat finally in this? (5)
HEART – HEAR + {bea}T, semi-&lit
31 Uses little energy in remote area (6)
WIELDS – E in WILDS
33 Monsoon ruined anyone’s sari (5,6)
RAINY SEASON – (ANYONE’S SARI*)
35 Steady loss putting one into the red? (11)
HAEMORRHAGING – cryptic def, metaphorical or literal, take your pick
37 City has close to eight educational establishments (5)
TUNIS – {eigh}T + UNIS
38 Banished old vehicles coming up on off side? (10)
OSTRACISED – O + reversed CARTS + (SIDE*)
40 Telling number forming a knot around one female (9)
NOTIFYING – NO. TYING “around” I F
42 Soundly studied book on pig in something like a scotch bonnet? (3,6)
RED PEPPER – homophone of READ PEPPA
43 Sailor almost in charge of everyone, primarily (5,3)
ABOVE ALL – A.B. OVE{r} ALL
45 All Ulster, note, contains not a single lough grave (7)
AUSTERE – A{ll} U{l}STER E
47 Seafood, dab and sole — though last of cod is gone (7)
ABALONE – {d}AB + ALONE [sole]
49 Piece about George Cross being taken by a top killer (3,3)
BIG CAT – BIT “about” G.C. being taken by A
51 Locally not in favour of protecting area once more (5)
AGAIN – AGIN [dialect for “against”] “protecting A
52 Volunteers half of the City’s stock (5)
TALON – T.A. + LON{don}
I could have done with some wordplay help for the spelling of HEMMARIAGE, if you see what I mean.
And well done Setter for avoiding any hint of Harry Potter and/for the Philosopher’s Stone