A not-too-difficult one from Jason, with some nice misdirections. Thanks to Jason. 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 Absolute ruler‘s sayings to rankle initially (8)
DICTATOR : DICTA(plural of “dictum”;a saying;a delaration) + TO + 1st letter of(initially) “rankle “.
5 Compensate for the war paint? (6)
MAKEUP : Double defn: 1st: To compensate, say, for a shortfall; and 2nd: An informal term for cosmetics.
9 Wasted rates involving our renewed travel service (8)
EUROSTAR : Anagram of(Wasted) RATES containing(involving) anagram of(renewed) OUR.
10 Greek ring employ stocky bird (6)
GROUSE : GR(abbrev. for “Greek”) + O(letter that looks like a ring) + USE(to employ).
Defn: A plump;stocky bird.
12 Bishop quits nonsense in a tizzy (6)
LATHER : “b”(abbrev. for “bishop” in chess notation) deleted from(quits) “blather”(nonsensical talk).
13 Tip off wren for a change (8)
FOREWARN : Anagram of(change) WREN FOR A.
15 Toulouse-Lautrec’s crowded affair? (6,1,5)
MÉNAGE À TROIS : Cryptic defn: What Toulouse-Lautrec, a French artist, would call a household of three people sexually involved;having an affair, and occupying the same household. And, of course, “two’s company, three’s a crowd” doesn’t apply here.
18 Match route with what gets Jack down? (12)
COMPANIONWAY : COMPANION(a match;one that resembles another) + WAY(a route).
Defn: The staircase or ladder that Jack(an informal term for a sailor) uses to go down (and up) from one deck to another in a ship.
23 Get the hump with Queen’s musician (8)
BAGPIPER : BAG(to get;to win, say, a trophy) + PIP(a hump;British slang for a fit of depression;an emotional slump) + ER(abbrev. for Elizabeth Regina, the Queen). Risque surface of a groupie having it with one from the band, Queen?
24 Cut close to the stern (6)
SEVERE : SEVER(to cut, say, relations) + the last letter of(close to)”the “.
Defn: Similar to 3down.
26 Flower woman who’s legendary with parrot (6)
AMAZON : Triple defn: 1st: The flow-er in South America; 2nd: In Greek mythology, a member of a nation of women warriors; and 3: A small green parrot from Central and South America.
27 Lotion‘s cold as prepared in abundant supply (8)
CALAMINE : C(abbrev. for “cold”) + À LA(in cookery, as prepared by or for a particular person) + MINE(an abundant supply, as in “he’s a mine of information”).
28 Wogan’s one with expanded tux? (6)
DEEJAY : Expanded tux;the phonetic spelling of DJ, abbrev. for a dinner jacket;a tuxedo.
Answer: A disc jockey;a recorded music presenter at a club or over the radio, an example of which is Terry Wogan on BBC Radio 2.
29 With the latest info little Leonard finished fine (8)
SPLENDID : SP(abbrev. for “starting price”;the latest odds offered by bookmakers at the start of a race – especially in horse racing) plus(With the …) LEN(short form of;little “Leonard”) + DID(finished, as in “he did his homework in no time”).
Down
1 Democrat we will second pauses (6)
DWELLS : D(abbrev. for a member of the Democratic Party, especially in the USA) + WE’LL(contraction for “we will”) + S(abbrev. for “second” in time notation).
Defn: Stays on;lingers over a topic, say.
2 Vicious dog vexed priest’s assistant (6)
CURATE : CUR(a mean and vicious dog) + ATE(vexed;worried, as in “the problem ate at him”).
3 Australian territory on the point of enhancing grave (7)
AUSTERE : AUS(abbrev. for “Australian”) + TER(abbrev. for “territory”) placed above(on, in a down clue) the 1st letter of(the point of;the top end of, in a down clue) “enhancing “.
4 Old chum’s a gem (4)
OPAL : O(abbrev. for “old”) + PAL(a chum).
6 Satire I translated is most visionary (7)
AIRIEST : Anagram of(translated) SATIRE I.
Answer: The most fanciful;visionary;illusory, from which “airy-fairy” is derived.
7 Censor blocks the rise of blunt teacher (8)
EDUCATOR : CATO(Marcus, the Elder, also known as the Censor, an official in ancient Rome who, amongst other duties, supervised public morals) contained in(blocks) reversal of(the rise of, in a down clue) RUDE(blunt;lacking refinement, say, in speech).
8 Place name so “ground” is a word too many! (8)
PLEONASM : PL(abbrev. for “place”) + anagram of(ground) NAME SO.
Answer: A literary term for using more words than necessary, eg. “a tiny little fellow”. Similar to the more familiar “tautology”.
11 An anodyne set of morals in English (7)
CODEINE : CODE(a set of morals;a code to live by) + IN + E(abbrev. for “English”).
Answer: An alkaloid from opium or morphine used as an anodyne;a painkiller.
14 Council who advise where to display unusually rare wine (7)
CABINET : Triple defn: 1st: The council of advisors or ministers set up by a head of state or prime minister; 2nd: A piece of furniture to display objects in; and 3: The term, also known as Kabinett, for German wine of superior quality set aside (as one would set aside an item in a cabinet) for later sale; the German version of “Reserve”.
16 Something to stick the knife into is a blackleg poet (8)
SCABBARD : SCAB(a blackleg;a worker who acts against a trade union’s interests, eg. by working during a strike) + BARD(a poet, eg. the famous Bard of Avon).
Defn: Nicely unexpected.
17 A regime in chaos – about time to leave for ever (8)
EMIGRATE : Anagram of(in chaos) A REGIME containing(about) T(abbrev. for “time”).
19 State in short the modern alpha and omega? (7)
ARIZONA : Cryptic defn: The state whose abbrev. is AZ(respectively, the modern equivalents of “alpha” and “omega” from the Greek alphabet).
20 Declare weather typical (7)
AVERAGE : AVER(to declare;to state positively) + AGE(to weather;to expose to atmospheric conditions, resulting in showing signs of old age).
21 After husband in bed clothes (6)
BEHIND : { H(abbrev. for “husband”) + IN } contained in(… clothes) BED. Nicely misdirecting surface.
22 Tale of heroism for instance in sub (6)
LEGEND : EG(abbrev. for “exempli gratia”, for example;for instance) contained in(in) LEND(to pay in advance, part of one’s wages;to sub)
25 Caught by a politician in military depot (4)
CAMP : C(abbrev. for “caught” in cricket) placed above(by, in a down clue) + MP(abbrev. for a politician who is a Member of the House).
====================================================================
For the answer to pic2 please click here.
Thanks Jason and scchua – as you say, not too tricky overall but with some elegant misdirections.
[[Four of the pics relate to 19d: Pic 1 is Holly Hunter and 6 is Nicolas Cage who both starred in ‘Raising Arizona’. Pic 4 is an Arizona Snake and Pic 7 is an old version of London Bridge which at some point was relocated to Arizona. Pic 3 is from ‘Jules and Jim’ which was about a menage a trois (15a). The other pics are Michael Caine, Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier (the latter two of whom were married to each other for many years). Not sure of the connection(s) to the puzzle other than that they are/were all legends (22d) of stage and screen.]]
Thanks sschua for the blog, and Jason for the puzzle. Having never heard of Terry Wogan, I was at a loss on 28a. I’d never heard the term COMPANIONWAY but guessed it (with a big ? in the margin) from the crossing letters. In 15a, I’m curious if there’s a reason why Jason chose Toulouse-Lautrec over any number of other well-known native Francophones, among whom must be quite a few who have engaged in such a crowded affair…
[[Steve got the lion’s share, but I think the other pics refer to films about ménage a trois: Leigh and Olivier in 1941’s That Hamilton Woman, and Olivier and Caine in 1972’s Sleuth. (Caine also appeared in a 2007 remake of the latter, opposite Jude Law.) And I think pic 4 is specifically a western diamondback rattlesnake, the namesake of the Major League Baseball team that makes its home in Arizona.]]
[[Well done, Steve and Keeper. To complete the picture: that was Francois Truffaut and Jeanne Moreau, director and star respectively of Jules et Jim; it’s an Arizona glossy snake; and I’ve added a link to the answer to the last one.]]