Financial Times 14,634 / Neo

[If you’re attending York S&B please see comments 32&33] - here

I didn’t find this quite as much fun as I usually do with a puzzle from Neo but that is probably just down to the rather gloomy and wet morning today. However, it was still an enjoyable solve with some easy entry clues and some that had me scratching my head for a short while.

8dn was a new word for me, but solvable from the simple wordplay, and in several other clues I had to stretch my imagination, with the help of Chambers, to correlate the answer, or part of the wordplay, with the definition.

Across
1 One to run home through W. Shakespeare’s forest? (6)
WARDEN – W ARDEN (Shakespeare’s forest)

4 Christian emblem shows new ideas about horned beast (5,3)
AGNUS DEI – an anagram (new) of IDEAS around (about) GNU (horned beast) – “a figure of a lamb emblematic of Christ, bearing the banner of the cross” (Chambers)

9 Watch male in band (5)
TIMER – M (male) in TIER (band)

11 Pragmatism is shown in study (7)
REALISM – IS in (shown in) REALM (study)

12 Norse book returned and revised for supplement (7)
ADDENDA – EDDA (Norse book) reversed (returned) + an anagram (revised) of AND

13 One to assist in thought where last shall be first (4)
AIDE – IDEA (thought) with the last letter moved to the front (where last shall be first)

14 Last reminder to bank available cash (8)
CONTINUE – CUE (reminder) around (to bank) ON (available) TIN (cash)

17 Conservative on register going round (8)
ROTATORY – ROTA (register) TORY (Conservative)

19 Extended / dream (4)
LONG – double def.

22,10 See-saw contest enjoyed with pint? (1,4,2,3,6)
A GAME OF TWO HALVES – def. & cryptic indicator

24 Old Roman emperor crippled and heavy (7)
ONEROUS – O (old) NERO (Roman emperor) US (crippled {unserviceable})

25 Scotsman after pubs becomes wild fellow (9)
BARBARIAN – BAR BAR (pubs) IAN (Scotsman)

26 Wimbledon’s finalist, French bird eschews metal racket (5)
NOISE – [wimbledo]N (Wimbledon’s finalist) OISE[au] (French bird eschews metal)

27 Team on call close to action (8)
RINGSIDE – RING (call) SIDE (team)

28 Each to secure points in addition (2,4)
AS WELL – ALL (each) around S W E ({compass} points)

Down
2 One crashes into store – to steal butter? (3-6)
RAM-RAIDER – def. & cryptic indicator

3 With soldier brought back to attention in court (6)
EARWIG – EAR (attention) W (with) GI (soldier) reversed (brought back)

5 Greeting from superior PM (4,9)
GOOD AFTERNOON – GOOD (superior) AFTERNOON (pm)

6 Face defaced with an inhabitant of Kampala? (7)
UGANDAN – [m]UG (face defaced) AND (with) AN

7 Prima donna on new bed (5)
DIVAN – DIVA (prima donna) N (new)

8 Developmental stage in tabloid newspaper (6)
INSTAR – IN STAR (tabloid newspaper) – “the form of an insect between moult and moult” (Chambers)

10 Being insane those years ago? (4,3,2,4)
TIME OUT OF MIND – cryptic def. – “from time immemorial” (Chambers)

15 Tight one is come to cut services (9)
ECONOMISE – an anagram (tight {drunk}) of ONE IS COME

16 Spurs nightmare a fragile defence? (8)
EGGSHELL – EGGS (spurs) HELL (nightmare)

18 Cuts groove record a gender-variant person collects (7)
TREPANS – TRANS (a gender-variant person) around (collects) EP (record)

20 Composer / one to profit from the cuts? (6)
BARBER – double def. – this composer

21,1 Thespian warm and intense in performance (6,8)
DENNIS WATERMAN – an anagram (in performance) of WARM AND INTENSE – I’ve not met the actor in question and so cannot comment as to whether this is an &lit

23 Son of Welsh man in skirt (5)
APRON – AP (son of Welsh) RON (man) – for the Welsh Patronym see here