Times Saturday 26766 – July 1, 2017. Nothing tedious today.

After struggling last week, this week went very smoothly until the last answer! I started well, finishing the bottom half (all bar one) and then the NW followed by the NE, but then found myself still staring at that last one. If not for blogging duties, I would have biffed it. I suspected others would turn in impressive times. (As I prepare to post, I see that times for the top 100 solvers are the fastest I’ve ever noted for a Saturday.)

My choice for the clue of the day was 24dn for the elegance of the surface, closely followed by 26ac and 17ac. Congratulations to the setter.

Clues are reproduced in blue, with the definition underlined. Anagram indicators are bolded and italicised. The answer is in BOLD CAPS, followed by the parsing of the wordplay. (ABC)* means ‘anagram of ABC’, {deletions are in curly brackets}.

Across
1. Unknown American fellow can take drugs (4,3)
JOHN DOE: JOHN=can, DO=take, E=drug of crossword setters’ choice.
5. Make half-baked blunder documenting stocks (7)
UNDERDO: hidden.
9. Domestic trouble diverts a man (11)
MAIDSERVANT: (DIVERTS A MAN*).
10. Job in theatre goes on fine and dandy (3)
FOP: F=fine, OP=job in theatre.
11. Staff in jacket of ermine, with diamonds worn (6)
ERODED: ROD=staff, in E{rmin}E, with D.
12. Film headliner’s clothing turned green (4,4)
STAR WARS: STAR’S “clothing” WAR=turning of RAW=green.
14. What diocesan prepared, welcoming bishop and aspiring ministers (6,7)
SHADOW CABINET: (WHAT DIOCESAN B*). Aspiring to be Caesar’s ministers, not God’s.
17. Utterance from me, perhaps a setter? (13)
PRONOUNCEMENT: PRONOUN=“me, perhaps”, CEMENT=“setter”.
21. Work is copied in different sections (8)
EPISODIC: (IS COPIED*).
23. Newspaper accepting alcoholic drink is a slippery slope (3,3)
SKI RUN: SUN accepting KIR.
25. Single currency agreement, one that can’t get off the ground (3)
EMU: double definition: (European) Economic and Monetary Union, or the Australian bird.
26. Doctor writing to renegotiate role with patient (11)
INTERPOLATE: (ROLE PATIENT*). Chambers’ first definition is “to insert a word or passage in a book or manuscript, esp in order to mislead”. I was only familiar with the numerical sort of interpolation.
27. Hero in strip clubs leaves raciest dancing, getting cross (7)
ASTERIX: (RA{c}IEST*) plus X. Wikipedia: Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix is a series of French comics. It first appeared on 29 October 1959.
28. What we inherit with lives beginning (7)
GENESIS: GENES + IS.

Down
1. The athlete who is top (6)
JUMPER: double definition.
2. Ambassador across Atlantic admits nothing shocking (7)
HEINOUS: HE=ambassador, IN US, “admitting” O.
3. Bandit‘s gone round, holding sellers up (9)
DESPERADO: DEAD=gone, O=round, “holding” REPS=sellers “up”.
4. Rake in pot, we’re told (4)
EARN: sounds like “urn”.
5. Sort of case in German and it’s not fixed (10)
UNATTACHED: ATTACHÉ=case in UND=German for “and”.
6. Put off time to cut grass back (5)
DETER: T in REED backwards.
7. Card-carrying official drops burden (7)
REFRAIN: REF=(red/yellow) card-carrying official, RAIN=drops. Refrain (n) = burden = a line or phrase recurring esp at the end of a stanza. But of course you knew that.
8. Work place around Post Office counter (8)
OPPOSITE: OP=work, SITE=place, around PO.
13. Barrister changes direction, articulating charge householder faces (7,3)
COUNCIL TAX: sounds like COUNSEL TACKS.
15. Rolls maybe occupied by king to have mechanical trouble (5,4)
BREAK DOWN: BREAD=rolls, maybe, “occupied” by K=king, OWN=have.
16. They rapidly pass border in record time (8)
EPHEMERA: HEM in EP ERA.
18. Old bridge, not a place where eggs are transported (7)
OVIDUCT: O + VI{a}DUCT.
19. Pope in street brought round clothes for believers (7)
TURBANS: URBAN in ST reversed.
20. Except if overcast, going topless (6)
UNLESS: {s}UNLESS.
22. Person selling legwear, but not opening set of branches (5)
OSIER: {h}OSIER.
24. What’s on TV is something tedious (4)
DRAG: double definition. The first relies on your knowing that “TV” can be an abbreviation for transvestite. I didn’t know, but I see it’s commonplace in “setter world” – it turned up again six days later in the Friday Cryptic! Not knowing, I wondered for a long time whether some neologism like “prog” also meant tedious.