Thanks once again, Talos!
Across
1 Victim of Telamon people heard from across the pond? (6)
PHOCUS – homonym of FOLK [people “heard”] + U.S. [from across the pond]
Telamon, envious of his athletic prowess, killed Phocus by the medium of a discus to the head.
5 Greek character held back by Mark Braddock? (8)
GRADUATE – TAU [Greek character] reversed inside GRADE [mark]
Benjamin Braddock is the eponymous Graduate in the 1967 film based on the 1963 novel.
9 A network type likely to caution Sopranos writer (4,6)
ALAN WARNER – A L.A.N. WARNER [a | network | type likely to caution]
Scottish author of The Sopranos and the better-known-by-my Morvern Callar.
10 Job as a Wells headmaster, or as a reformer (4)
HUSS – double def
Job Huss is the schoolmasterly protagonist of H.G. Wells’ “The Undying Fire”. John Huss was an early Church reformer in the Luther/Calvin mould.
11 Writer Auden ignored for Time Lord role, they say! (8)
DOCTOROW – DOCTOR WHO is the Time Lord role, subtract W.H. (Auden), and find a homonym of DOCTOR O
American author E.L. Doctorow, or possibly Canadian Cory (no relation), you never know.
12 Candleford postmistress and counter staff docked money (6)
DORCAS – reverse of ROD [“counter” staff] + CAS{h} [“docked” money]
Dorcas Lane is the postmistress in Flora Thompson’s “Lark Rise to Candleford”.
13 German novelist who sounds a geezer (4)
MANN – homophone of MAN [“sounds a” geezer]
Thomas Mann, author of “Death in Venice” etc.
15 One tapping mobile veteran holds in hospital (3,5)
THE RAVEN – (VETERAN*) [“mobile”] holds in H [hospital]
“Suddenly there came a tapping” upon a midnight dreary in Poe’s poem.
18 Type of elder to put endless value on Hamlet? (8)
DANEWORT – put WORT{h} [“endless” value] on DANE [Hamlet]
19 Slogan alienating foremost American quilt-maker? (4)
OTTO – {m}OTTO [slogan “alienating foremost”]
Whitney Otto wrote “How To Make An American Quilt”.
21 “Like to good angels, nothing can —: / ’Tis less grief to be foul, than to have been fair” (The Anagram, John Donne) (6)
IMPAIR
23 One very tight nurse caught in gusty breeze (8)
EBENEZER – E.N. [(enrolled) nurse] caught in (BREEZE*) [“gusty”]
The miserly Scrooge from “A Christmas Carol”.
25 Jester avoiding outskirts of Icelandic city (4)
YORK – YOR{ic}K [Hamlet’s “fellow of infinite jest”, minus I{celandi}C]
26 Book something seen in a cosmetic dentist’s brochure? (5,5)
WHITE TEETH – straightforward double def.
The 2000 novel from the pen of Zadie Smith.
27 Neologism describing Liberal America? (3,5)
NEW WORLD – NEW WORD [neologism] describing L [Liberal]
28 Unknown soldier working at front for a general (6)
ANTONY – Y [unknown], ANT ON [soldier | working] “at front”
Mark Antony, Roman general, habitue of more than one Shakespeare play
Down
2 Finnish poet deeply set on leaving wife (5)
HOLLO – HOLLO{w} [deeply set, minus [“on leaving”] W for wife]
Anselm Hollo, seems to have been some kind of Finnish beat poet.
3 She loved Oliver and Fagin’s position on things? (9)
CONSTANCE – Fagin is a CON and his position on things a STANCE
Constance Chatterley <3 Oliver Mellors.
4 “The — welkin cover thou anon / With drooping fog as black as Acheron” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) (6)
STARRY
5 Reconstruction work? We do it when night falls (4,4,3,4)
GONE WITH THE WIND – (WE DO IT WHEN NIGHT*) [“falls”]
“Reconstruction” as in the period of rebuilding the USA after the Civil War.
6 I make short work of Darling’s fringe in Barrie novel (8)
ABRIDGER – D{arlin}G in (BARRIE*) [“novel”]
7 Legendary king German theologian doffs cap for? (5)
UTHER – {l}UTHER [German theologian “doffing cap”]
Arthur Pendragon’s dad.
8 Grisham’s novel account sending up vacuous thickie (9)
TESTAMENT – STATEMENT, “sending up” T{hicki}E (from the middle to the beginning)
1999 thriller by “America’s favourite storyteller”.
14 A way guards tie up a graphic novelist (4,5)
ALAN MOORE – A LANE [way] “guards” MOOR [tie up]
Impressively bearded author of Watchmen, V for Vendetta, et al.
16 A shade tense, having taking on soldiers in wartime work? (9)
ATONEMENT – A TONE T [a | shade | tense] taking on MEN [soldiers]
Ian McEwan’s novel, some of which takes place during WW2.
17 A tiny thief returned to do over one pulling blade? (8)
BORROWER – reverse of ROB [“returned” to do over] + ROWER [one pulling blade]
One of the little people in Mary Norton’s 1952 children’s fantasy.
20 One who launched ships with a lover of Demetrius (6)
HELENA – HELEN [the face that launched a thousand ships] with A
Helena one of the lovers in the Bard’s MND.
22 Lopsided, like some gardens Woolf cultivated? (5)
ASKEW – AS KEW
Kew Gardens is a short story by Virginia Woolf.
24 Popcorn writer found in hotel to nibble (5)
ELTON – hidden in {hot}EL TO N{ibble}
Ben Elton the Blackadder scribe and author of 1996’s prizewinning novel Popcorn.
I liked Talos’ diversions, not least the Barrie one, and the Constance? I thought her name was Nancy one. Can’t claim to have known HOLLO, but the wordplay was on the St Nick side of generous.
John Donne’s The Anagram is a fabulous read, much better than Shakespeare’s similarly inclined “My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun” – he goes all gooey at the end.
I loved THE RAVEN clue, too, even though it came straight to mind from the def., which is weird because I’ve never read Poe — most of what I know of him comes from the Alan Parsons Project concept album someone gave me on vinyl when I was about 16 years old. I keep meaning to actually read some.
Thank you for filling in the many blanks, Verlaine. I feel 8% cleverer than I did before I read your blog.
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