The usual from Falcon, elegant and not too taxing.
One new word for me, at 24A, nothing too obscure otherwise.
The parsing for 27A is foggy still, help invited. // 27A updated.
Across
1 PICKLED PICK (cream, as in the best) LED (was first)
2 SPOUSE ESPOUSE (support), ‘losing face’ => remove the first E
8, 25 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA (LADY ON AN ACT ONE PART)*
9 TONIC TO NIC[k] (take, endlessly)
11 IGLOO I (one) GLOOMY (dimly lit) – MY. Very good!
12 AMSTERDAM (SMART MADE)*
13 GO PUBLIC GO (shot, as in ‘Have a shot/go’) PUBLIC (official, as in ‘intended for the notice of the public’)
15 APPEAL A P (quiet) PEAL (ringing of bells)
17 ABOARD A BARD (poet), around O (nothing)
19 UPSTREAM UP (ahead) (MASTER)*
22 TERMINATE TERM (name) IN (fashionable) AT E[ton]
23 ALIEN AN (article) around LIE (invention). A lovely way to define ‘lie’.
24 SAMBO A MB (doctor), in SO (very good). I can’t think of a sentence where ‘so’ can be substituted with ‘very good’. Anyone?
25 See 8
26 INVERT IN (wearing) VERT (green). Another good clue.
27 ALCHEMY I can see ‘a gold may not mean a gold’, but ‘Olympic event’? // Updated with Gaufrid’s comment: ARCHERY, an Olympic sport where even if you score a gold (the centre of the target) you are not certain to get a gold medal.
Down
1 PRAYING MANTIS PRAYING MAN (chap in church) (TIS)<
2 CAT FLAP cd. ‘Ginger’ refers to the popular cat name, I suppose. The last answer entered into the grid. // ‘Ginger’ is the color/type of cat, Gaufrid adds at comment#1.
3 LINGO hidden in ‘DubLIN GOlfers’
4 DRAMATIC dd
5 SADIST AD (notice) IS, in ST (street)
6 ON THE SPOT dd
7 SINE DIE (DEN IS)< IE
10 COMPLEMENTARY sounds like ‘complimentary’ (free)
14 BARBITONE B (bass) in BARITONE (singer). Same as Veronal, popularly used for murder in Agatha Christie novels.
16 EPHEMERA (E HEMP ARE)*
18 OARSMEN (MOANERS)*
20 EPISTLE E (English), ST (saint) in PILE (stack)
21 MASCOT M (maiden) ASCOT (racecourse)
23 ASPIC A S (small) PIC (photograph
Hi Shuchi
27ac is ARCHERY, an Olympic sport where even if you score a gold (the centre of the target) you are not certain to get a gold medal.
I think perhaps ‘ginger’ 2dn refers to the colour/type of a cat rather than its name. I used to have a ginger tom many years ago.
A slight typo in 22ac, you have missed the AT in the wordplay.
“So, let’s move on…”
“Very good, let’s move on… ?
Just a thought.
An enjoyable puzzle. My only quibble is that, at 5A, spouse and espouse both derive from essentially the same root.
I also understood ‘so’ = ‘very good’ along the same lines (a kind of disposable introduction to a sentence; see also ‘okey doke’, ‘right-o’ etc).