Guardian Quiptic 711 Hectence

This was quite straightforward except for a few (14, 22 and 13 down) which took slightly longer than the others.  Thanks to Hectence.  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 Vegetable from Spain collected medal (7)

SPINACH : Anagram of(from … collected;as in “assembled from”) CH(abbrev. for “Companion of Honour”, a conferred British title, that comes with a medal).

5 Girl pinching posh car gangster’s after is bizarre (7)

SURREAL : [ SUE(a girl’s name) containing(pinching) RR(abbrev. for the Rolls Royce, the posh;luxury car) ] placed before(…’s after) AL(Capone, the American gangster).

9 Wandered around Dover (5)

ROVED : Anagram of(around) DOVER.

10 Valerie, taken in by retired gentleman, has no heart for personal battles (9)

RIVALRIES : “Valerie ” minus its middle letter(has no heart) contained in(taken in by) reversal of(retired) “sir”(gentleman).

11 Drug concealed in kebabs and cooked, which may cause flatulence (5,5)

BAKED BEANS : E(slang abbrev. for the drug Ecstasy) contained in(concealed in) anagram of(cooked) KEBABS AND.

Answer: One of the foods (not kebabs) that has a high content of raffinose (a sugar, not a drug) that may cause flatulence.

12 Genuine concord initially comes out of ceasefire (4)

TRUE : The first letter of(initially) “concord” deleted from(comes out of) “truce”(a ceasefire).

14 Note chapter on Queen struggling with church (11)

CONSEQUENCE : I can’t quite explain this one. I think it is: C(abbrev. for “chapter) + ON + anagram of(struggling) QUEEN plus(with) CE(abbrev. for the Church of England). That leaves a missing “S”, which could be a typo (“Queens” and not “Queen”?). Or am I missing something?

Defn. and Answer: Importance or significance, as in “an event of consequence/note”.

18 A man in a cap coming back north on a long waterway (6,5)

PANAMA CANAL : Reversal of(coming back) [ A MAN contained in(in) A CAP ] + N(abbrev. for “north”) plus(on) A + L(abbrev. for “long”, denoting a size longer than regular, for suits and coats for taller people ].

21 Kind of neck band (4)

CREW : Double defn: 1st: A kind of (round) collar for T-shirts; and 2nd: A group of working people, eg. on a ship or on stage.

22 French author talked standard English to blend in (10)

CAMOUFLAGE : Homophone of(talked) “Camus”(Albert, French author) + FLAG(a standard, with distinctive colours and emblems, denoting a nation, cause, or military unit, say) + E(abbrev. for “English”).

25 Porcelain from good French earth gets a following after feature (4,5)

BONE CHINA : BON(“good” in French) + E(abbrev. for “earth”) plus(gets) [A placed after(following after) CHIN(a facial feature) ].

26 Is rented land bounded by water? (5)

ISLET : IS + LET(rented;leased out).

27 Following Reds’ second half drop-off, can United get a point? (7)

RETINUE : “Reds” minus its last 2 letters(…’ second half drop-off) + TIN(a can for containing food, say) + U(abbrev. for “United”) plus(get) E(abbrev. for “east”;a compass point).  A footballing surface from a setter who’s a Manchester City fan.

Defn: and Answer: The group of aides following and attending to an important person, like a royal or a bride, or a god.

28 Lovely to look at place reportedly left unknown (7)

SIGHTLY : Homophone of( ) “site”(a place;a location) + L(abbrev. for “left”) + Y(the symbol for an unknown quantity in mathematics).

Down

1 Old writer‘s son gets copy before first edition (6)

SCRIBE : S(abbrev. for “son”) plus(gets) CRIB(to cheat;to plagiarise) placed above(before, in a down clue) first letter of(first) “edition “.

2 Poor Kevin with nothing to call upon (6)

INVOKE : Anagram of(Poor) [KEVIN plus(with) O(the letter that looks like zero;nothing) ].

3 Decide a map needs to be redrawn by adjutant (4-2-4)

AIDE-DE-CAMP : Anagram of(… needs to be redrawn) DECIDE A MAP.

4 Establish order within huge crowd (5)

HORDE : Hidden in(within) “Establish order “.

5 Number interviewed without incident (9)

SEVENTEEN : SEEN(interviewed) containing(without) EVENT(an incident;a happening).

6 Annoy king by backing priest (4)

RILE : R(abbrev. for the Latin Rex;a king) placed above(by, in a down clue) reversal of(backing) ELI(the biblical priest).

7 One leaving country with Russian fighter fled into Egypt (8)

EMIGRANT : [ MIG(the series of Russian fighter planes) + RAN(fled) ] contained in(into) ET(the International Vehicle Registration code for Egypt).

8 Eavesdropper abandoned silent queen (8)

LISTENER : Anagram of(abandoned) SILENT + ER(abbrev. for “Elizabeth Regina”, the queen).

13 Toning down F1 practice session (10)

QUALIFYING : Double defn: 1st: Modifying or limiting a statement or position to make it less strong or positive; and 2nd: In the sport of Formula One motor racing, a practice session prior to the actual race. I wasn’t sure of the equivalence of the defn. and answer. Firstly, as a noun, the answer is the process of qualifying, though I suppose it could be loosely used for the means; and secondly, as I understand it, practice sessions are distinct from a qualifying session, with the latter, but not the former, determining the starting grid positions for the actual race. And I don’t think one could or should consider any session before the actual event as practice.

15 Fruit has natural sugar containing antioxidant vitamin (9)

NECTARINE : NECTAR(the natural sugar produced by a plant in its flowers) + IN(containing) + E(a vitamin that’s an antioxidant).

16 Key to a watering hole in the sky? (5,3)

SPACE BAR : Cryptic defn: A fanciful watering hole;bar in the sky;in space.

Answer: That key originally on a typewriter (remember that?), and now on computers.

17 Cut short political prisoner’s time in cyberspace (8)

INTERNET : “internee”(a political prisoner) minus its last letter(Cut short) + T(abbrev. for “time”).

19 Vote for graduate tax to rise (6)

BALLOT : BA(abbrev. for a Bachelor of Arts graduate’s degree) + reversal of(to rise, in a down clue) TOLL(a tax).

20 Can’t hear without a T loop you first performed with skill (6)

DEFTLY : “deaf”(can’t hear) minus(without) “a” + T + first letters respectively of (first)” loop you “. And there are T(telomere)-loops at the end of your chromosomes.

23 Friend’s wearing very large gemstones (5)

OPALS : PAL(a friend) contained in(…’s wearing) OS(abbrev. for “outsize”;very large).

24 Scrutinise turnover of new accounts (4)

SCAN : Reversal of(turnover, in a down clue) [ N(abbrev. for “new”) + ACS(abbrev. for “accounts”) ].

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For answers to pics 2 and 5 please click here; and to pic 4 here and here.