Here’s one of those Cinephile’s that falls out fairly easily once one detects the theme: in this case, Scottish things.
Across
1. REGICIDE – IC (in charge) in RIDE (journey). I learned something here: while very familiar with the meaning of regicide as an act, I had not known that it could also mean the perpetrator of such an act.
5. GLOWER – G (note) + LOWER (F). Is this right? Does “F” signify a lower note?
10. SPELL – double definition
11. VORACIOUS – anagram of CO (company) and SAVIOUR
12. ANTIDOTAL – AN (an) + ID (evidence of who you are) in TOTAL (all)
13. NEPAL – NE (beginning to need) + PAL (friend)
14. PLUNGE – LUNG (breather) in PE (gym)
15. EN SUITE – IT (it) in ENSUE (follow)
16. PENNANT – PENN (Quaker) + ANT (social worker). “Quaker” refers to William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania.
20. REMOVE – [San] REMO (Ligurian saint away) + VE [Venezuala]
22. TOPIC – TO (to) + PIC[k]
24. LEMON TREE – LEMON (useless thing) + TREE (genealogy)
25. GREENHORN – GREEN (ecologically acceptable) + HORN (instrument)
26. TREWS – homophone (“true’s”)
27. DIDDLE – DID (performed) + ELD (antiquity) backwards
28. NEUROSIS – EUROS (currency) in anagram of SINS
Down
1. RASCAL – RA (artist) + SCAL[p]
2. GREAT GLEN – anagram of GET L[eft] ANGER
3. CALEDONIAN CANAL – C (many) + ALE (drink) + DON (fellow) + IAN (Scot) + CAN (can) + AL[ia]
4. DEVOTEE – VOTE (cross) in DEE (river – a Scottish river, of course)
6. LOCH NESS MONSTER – anagram of SCOTS EN[g]L[i]SHMEN
7. WHOOP – double definition
8. RESOLVED – double/cryptic definition
9. GRILLE – homophone (“grill”)
16. INVERNESS – IN (home) + VERNES (sci-fi writer’s) + S (second)
17. UPSTAGED – anagram of GUEST PAD
19. TALLOW – TALL (unbelievable) + OW (utterance)
20. ROMANCE – ROMAN (Catholic) + CE (church)
21. CENSUS – hidden word
23. PLEAD – P[rosecutor] + LEAD (make improper suggestions to witness)
I think that I can help with 5 across.. F is a lower note than G on a scale!
Richard, Thanks for your comment. I realize what I wrote in my original posting was a bit ambiguous: I am well aware that, in the scope of a scale, F is a lower note than G. What I was not certain about was whether that was the intended interpretation in the clue.
Where is Great Glen? It isn’t mentioned in my gazetteer.
I thought 21dn was particularly feeble. Is ‘have’ a satisfactory hidden indicator? In any case it’s ungrammatical and should be ‘has’, which would of course spoil the surface. As bad as ‘I leave’ instead of ‘I must leave’, which Ximenes talks about.
I believe that the Great Glen is well known — although this could just be because I am a Scot. It is actually a series of glens running from Inverness to Fort William and is the home of Loch Ness. The Great Glen follows the course of a large geological fault.
It did not occur to me before but I see your point about 21D.