Times Quick Cryptic No 1293 by Orpheus

Whilst my time was close to a personal best, that didn’t stop me from enjoying the smooth surfaces.  However, I do feel that I have done a short shift with only 12 across clues (about normal) and 10 down clues (a few fewer than usual).  It made me start to wonder how many of the 169 available squares in a 13 x 13 grid are usually black.  Based on a very limited survey, today’s grid does look overborne with black ones (57).  I wonder if anyone has done an analysis to determine the averages (number of clues and number of black spaces v those that require filling).

Across
1  Greeting the Spanish commended at first – in women, mostly (7)
WELCOME – EL (the in Spanish) and C{ommended} (at first) inside WOME{n} (mostly, drop the last letter)
5  Persian ruler’s quiet expression of satisfaction (4)
SHAH – SH (quiet) and AH (expression of satisfaction).  Of course, Persia is now roughly equivalent to Iran, and there hasn’t been a Shah in power since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
8 Resilient young male worker inspiring union leader (7)
BUOYANT – BOY (young male) into which is slipped (inspiring) U{nion} (leader – first letter) and ANT (worker)
9  Some strapping lad entering forest clearing (5)
GLADE – Hidden inside (some) {strappin}G LAD E{ntering}.
11  Military tribunal heard top officer when speaking (5,7)
COURT MARTIAL –  Part homophone (when speaking) sounds like caught (heard) and Martial (Marshall) (thanks to Des – see comments below)   Marshal is variously defined as a law-court officer or the highest military rank (in France).  A COURT MARTIAL is a tribunal or court held by officers of the Army, Navy or Air Force.
12 Slight breeze extremely rare in Somerset city (6)
BREATH – R{ar}E (extremely – first and last ketters) inside (in) BATH (Somerset city), as in the expression ‘a BREATH of wind’.
14 Scavenge at great length, never finishing (6)
FORAGE – At great length would be FOR AGE{s} (never finishing – drop the last letter).
15  Big tree a jazzman originally identified in Washington (12)
WELLINGTONIA – {Duke} ELLINGTON (jazzman) and I{dentified} (originally) inside (in) WA{shington} – the state not the city in the District of Colombia (DC).
17  Control male ox (5)
STEER – Double definition.
18 Trembling, seeing second colony of bees by railway (7)
SHIVERY – S{econd} and HIVE (colony of bees) by RY (R{ailwa}Y).
20  Time to abandon hackneyed ceremony (4)
RITE – Take the first T (time to abandon) out of {t}RITE (hackneyed}
21  Fawn upon grown-up relative finally touring area (7)
ADULATE – ADULT (grown-up) (touring) A{rea} and finally (last letter) of {relative}E.

Down
2 Flightless bird in Prague museum (3)
EMU – Hidden in {pragu}E MU{seum}.  They don’t come much easier than this!
3  Rodent initially caught on yellow plant, unfortunately (5)
COYPU – First letters of (initially) C{aught} O{n} Y{ellow} P{lant}, U{nfortunately}. 
4  Tiny worker marking time on watch, perhaps? (6,4)
MINUTE HAND – Double cryptic definition, the first pronounced MY NEWT where HAND is a worker, and the second MINNIT where HAND is a hand (or pointer).
6  Composer upset about pistol case (7)
HOLSTER – The composer is Gustav HOLST (famous for the Planets Suite), and HOLST is followed by RE (about) but reversed (upset).
7 Shrub in untidy garden surrounded by fresh hay (9)
HYDRANGEA – My heart usually sinks when I see flowers or plants defined, but this was relatively easy.  An anagram (untidy) of [GARDEN] inside another anagram (fresh) of [HAY]
10  Brought from a distance?  That’s unbelievable! (3-7)
FAR-FETCHED – Almost a double definition.  Something brought from a distance would have been FAR-FETCHED, as would something improbable, unlikely or unbelievable.
11  Woodworker’s writing instrument pinched by carrier(9)
CARPENTER – PEN (writing instrument) inside (pinched by) CARTER (carrier)
13  Sick inmate nursing ultimately fatal illness (7)
AILMENT – Anagram (sick) of [INMATE] containing (nursing) last letter (ultimately) of {fata}L.
16 Original, having first half of month on lake (5)
NOVEL –  NOVE{mber} (first half of month) on L{ake}.
19  Dreary routine involving stags in autumn (3)
RUT – DD.  Something that sexually stimulated stags do in the autumn, and a tedious routine from which it is difficult to escape.