This looked daunting at first pass, but it proceeded quite well after that. There are some inter-related answers and clues. The over-riding link for these seems to be 2 wars, the Trojan War and the American Civil War. I wonder if there is something to it? Thanks to Neo. Definitions are underlined in the clues. [[The pictures at the bottom have unidentified links to the puzzle. Please enclose any comments on them in double brackets. Thank you.]]
Across
1 Lovely home wants one evicted (3,3)
DES RES : “desires” minus(… evicted) “I”(Roman numeral for “one”).
Answer: Short for “desirable residence”, used in the property market.
4 God shelters unknown ship that goes after Zero the Hero (8)
ODYSSEUS : { DEUS(Latin for “god”) containing(shelters) Y(symbol for an unknown quantity in mathematics) SS(abbrev. for “steamship”) } placed after(goes after) O(the letter that looks like zero).
Answer: The Greek hero of the Trojan War, also known by the Roman name, Ulysses.
9 Following peacekeepers, soldier comes to kingdom (5)
FUNGI : F(abbrev. for “following”) UN(abbrev. for the United Nations Organisation, peacekeepers) + GI(an American soldier).
Answer: In biology, one of the kingdoms, a taxonomic rank.
10 Greek leader soon to host contest millions follow (9)
AGAMEMNON : ANON(soon;in a short time) containing(to host) { GAME(a sporting contest) placed before(… follow) M(abbrev. for “millions”) }.
Answer: A Greek king who led his army into the Trojan War.
11 Anything whatever in Big Apple is mildly indecent (7)
NAUGHTY : AUGHT(anything whatever, as in “for aught I know”, which in modern usage would usually be “for all I know”) contained in(in) NY(abbrev. for New York City, nicknamed the Big Apple).
Answer: As with: “Man who walks around with hands in pockets all day, feels cocky”, or “Viagra is like Disneyland, a 1-hour wait for a 2-minute ride”.
12 As Hector to Achilles where bout cancelled? (2,5)
NO MATCH : NO MATCH(a boxing match;bout cancelled).
Defn: Reference to the easy killing of Hector by Achilles in a one-to-one fight during the Trojan War.
13 Time, lunchtime perhaps, sets mood (4)
TONE : T(abbrev. for “time”) + ONE(short for 1 p.m., start of the lunch break for some, perhaps).
14 Meets with an accident? (4,4)
RUNS INTO : Cryptic defn./answer: Meets by chance or by accident/To collide with, well, in an accident.
17 Servant in violent incident at home (8)
DOMESTIC : Double defn: 1st: One who works as a domestic help; and 2nd: Police jargon for violence in a household, shortened from the euphemistic “domestic incident”.
19 Present from Andromache returned (4)
HERE : Hidden in(from) “Andromache returned “.
Answer: A word to indicate one is present, eg. in a roll call.
22 See 1 down
24 Coffee time? (7)
INSTANT : Double defn: 1st: Coffee in a dried form, soluble in hot water, thus requiring only an instant to make; and 2nd: A very short time, eg. that taken to make the coffee in 1.
25 Museum has modified procedure with bank (9)
ASHMOLEAN : Anagram of(modified) HAS + M.O.(abbrev. for “modus operandus”, Latin for a method of operation;a procedure) plus(with) LEAN(to bank;to slant to one side).
Answer: The Museum of Art and Archaeology attached to Oxford University.
26 Confederacy, or those opposed to it? (5)
UNION : Cryptic defn: Reference to, in the American Civil War, the northern states called the Union opposed to the southern states called the Confederacy.
27 Cooked on both sides, done with a piece of cake (4,4)
OVER EASY : OVER(done with;finished) + EASY(as in “That was easy, in fact it was a piece of cake”).
Answer: Fried eggs that are turned over when nearly done and fried briefly on the reverse side so that the yolk remains somewhat liquid but hard on top. And that is the technical definition.
28 Boys in rhyme – one back in doghouse (6)
KENNEL : KEN and LEN(rhyming boys’ names) with reversal of(back) of the second one.
Down
1,22 The thing fixed first (8,7)
DEFINITE ARTICLE : ARTICLE(a thing;an object) placed after(… first) DEFINITE(fixed;for sure).
Answer: What the word “the” is in grammar.
2 Girl departs, carrying new black vase with light damage (9)
SUNBURNED : { SUE(a girl’s name) D(abbrev. for “departs”, as in airline flight schedules) } containing(carrying) { N(abbrev. for “new’) B(abbrev. for “black”) + URN(a vase, sometimes for ashes) }
3 Prophet, first in Israel, heals mysteriously outside (6)
ELISHA : First letter of(first in) “Israel ” contained in(… outside) anagram of(mysteriously) HEALS.
Answer: The biblical prophet.
5 Pathologist‘s indication with gas lit (13)
DIAGNOSTICIAN : Anagram of(lit) [INDICATION plus(with) GAS].
Defn: The one who diagnoses what caused you to die.
6 Son the one she loves in general (7)
SHERMAN : S(abbrev. for “son”) + HER MAN(the one she loves, sapphists excluded).
Answer: William Tecumseh, general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. And he served under Ulysses Grant, linking the two wars.
7 Orient harbours UK ships having extradited a German artist (5)
ERNST : EAST(the Orient) containing(harbours) R.N.(abbrev. for the UK Royal Navy) minus(having extradited) “a “.
Answer: Max, German painter, sculptor and graphic artist, and poet, and a pioneer of the Dada and Surrealist movements.
Respectively, “The Garden of France”, “Long Live Love”, and “The Robing of the Bride”.
8 Buddhist community praised in verse first couple from Halaesa (6)
SANGHA : SANG(praised in verse, as in “he sang of the hero’s prowess”) + first 2 letters of(first couple from) “Halaesa “.
Answer: A community of Buddhist monks, from the Sanskrit word.
10 Ulysses remake represented modern-day exiles (6-7)
ASYLUM SEEKERS : Anagram of(represented) ULYSSES REMAKE.
15 Manage without Conservative helping process (9)
OPERATION : “cope”(to manage;to be able to handle) minus(without) C(abbrev. for “of the Conservative Party”) + RATION(a helping;a portion doled out).
16 One watches from Bastille the 9s, keeping temperature raised (8)
SENTINEL : Reversal of(raised) { LE(“the”, in the language of the Bastille, the French prison) + NINES(9s) } containing(keeping) T(abbrev. for “temperature”).
18 Bacterium found in rodents where Sting resides? (7)
MICROBE : MICE(small rodents) containing(where … resides) ROB(to sting, as in “I was stung for 100 dollars by that crook”).
20 Catholic washing in very hot stream to cover bodily stench (6)
LAVABO : LAVA(hot stream from a volcano) placed above(to cover, in a down clue) B.O.(abbrev. for “body odour”).
Answer: Washing of the hands in a Catholic Mass.
21 Donkey taken to northern water shows promise (6)
ASSURE : ASS(a donkey) plus(taken to) URE(a river in northern England).
23 Mountain lake appreciated by old male coming about (5)
TAHOE : TA(short for “thanks”, an expression of appreciation) placed above(by, in a down clue) { O(abbrev. for “old”) contained in(… coming about) HE(pronoun for a male) }.
Answer: The lake along the border between California and Nevada in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
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Most enjoyable. 16D my favourite and although the last one in was 15D I couldn’t parse it until I cam here so thanks Neo and scchua.
Neat studdf — a reals pleasure to solve, and misleadinga things everyhere, like ‘Catholic washing;.
Cheers
Rowlys
Indeed, neat stuff.
In my opinion, relatively easy on the scale of this setter but very enjoyable nonetheless.
Some clever misdirections of which I admired the one in 19ac (HERE) the most. Yes, the answer was as simple as that but by using the word ‘returned’ Neo made me intially look for something hidden backwards in Andromache.
I have one technical question to which I am sure Neo is keen to give an answer.
A long time ago we had a discussion on the use of “I follow” for “+I”. We came to the conclusion that it had to be “follows” from a cryptic grammar pov – therefore one should opt for ” I will/must follow”.
Does this mean that “millions follow” in 10ac should also be “millions will/must follow”?
I am just curious.
Many thanks, sschua, for the blog and Neo for the puzzle.
Many thanks all, esp to scchua for his characteristically flamboyant bloggery.
Re GAME/ M, you are quite right Sil, dammit. Not quite what I submitted, but that’s twice in recent FT puzzles I’ve unzimmed myself. Hope nobody minds TOO much, though I probably would have picked up on it in someone else’s puzzle, I am prepared, shamefully, to admit.
Thanks scchua.
Super puzzle! I loved [of course] the Trojan War mini-theme [ I, too, was looking for a reversal in Andromache] and so 10dn was joint favourite with 16dn – once I got it. I thought at first sight it must surely [somehow] be SPECTATOR [beginning with reversal of CEPS – French/ Bastille fungi – ‘9s’] but it had too many letters! A wonderful moment when the light finally dawned!
One [tiny] quibble : in 12ac, I think ‘for’ for ‘to’ would make better sense of the solution and wouldn’t spoil the surface.
Huge thanks, Neo, for a really enjoyable puzzle, and particularly for your response to Sil’s comment re 10ac. 😉
Thanks to Neo for the puzzle and scchua for the blog. John Cazale #4 and Al Pacino #7 were both in Godfather which took place sometimes in TAHOE. They were also both in Dog Day Afternoon in which there was a bank robbery to pay for an OPERATION. Picture #1 is Ike and Tina Turner and picture #6 is Farrah Fawcett. Someone else will have to explain the connection. Help! Robi!
Cheers…
Good puzzle with me almost in it (18d). 😉 I can see why Eileen particularly liked it.
Thanks scchua; I wouldn’t have worried about ‘millions follow,’ seemed OK to me, although it might not be technically correct.
[[Hi Grandpuzzler; I suppose I am going to have to look at the pictures now………..]]
[[rats! Just lost all my typing by not doing the captcha……….
#3 is a SUNBURNED tomato and Farrah Fawcett {#6} appeared in SUNBURN
#2 is a Greek island, probably Zakynthos which was conquered by ODYSSEUS
#8 is the board game ‘Camp Granada,’ based on a song by Alan SHERMAN
As Grandpuzzler @6 said, John Cazale and Al Pacino were in Dog Day Afternoon (aT ONE perhaps??)
Tina Turner and Whitney Houston had very unsuccessful UNIONs, although maybe there is some other dastardly connection??]]
[[The 1992 film “The Bodyguard” (Whitney Houston) was partly filmed at Lake TAHOE. Tina Turner was at South Shore TAHOE (first tour after divorce). Any good, scchua???]]
[[Hi grandpuzzler and Robi, sorry didn’t reply earlier. In Godfather 2, Michael (Al Pacino) had his HQ at Lake TAHOE, and had his brother Fredo (John Cazale) killed in a boat on the lake. Ike/Tina Turner and Bobby Brown/Whitney Houston were in high-profile DOMESTICs (the 2nd defn.). “Camp Granada” was in the lyrics in Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah by song parodist Alan SHERMAN, and became a spin-off board game. SHERMAN’s Lagoon is a comic strip, click http://shermanslagoon.com/. (picture shows a lagoon, but probably not Sherman’s). Sunscald is the plant version of SUNBURN, and Farah Fawcett (by no means a drip) starred in SUNBURN.]]