When I tried to download this puzzle on my way to bed in the early hours of this morning the index page linked to a Sudoku, which was not what I was looking for! Fortunately this error had been corrected by the time I got up.
A very rapid solve for me today with all but a handful of entries going in during my first pass through the clues. The remaining five answers then quickly followed, though I did have a slight pause to check the veracity of 29ac as I was not familiar with this novel.
Across
1 Ape, primate one’s shot (11)
IMPERSONATE – an anagram (shot) of PRIMATE ONE’S
7 Some Anna’s hummingbirds in a tree (3)
ASH – hidden in (some) ‘annA’S Hummingbirds’
9 Cast following breather (5)
FLUNG – F (following) LUNG (breather)
10 One after a score at Monte Carlo? (5-2-2)
VINGT-ET-UN – cryptic def. – a reference to the card game played in casinos
11 Check on old character backing theatres (9)
AUDITORIA – AUDIT (check) O (old) AIR (character) reversed (backing)
12 Proportion, or portion, reduced (5)
RATIO – RATIO[n] (portion, reduced)
13 Operative damaged conifer (2,5)
IN FORCE – an anagram (damaged) of CONIFER
15 Expensive organ used by daughter (4)
DEAR – D (daughter) EAR (organ)
18 On the edge of one’s seat since start of Gaslight (4)
AGOG – AGO (since) G[aslight] (start of Gaslight)
20 Swindler swindled? Turn a blind eye (7)
CONDONE – CON (swindler) DONE (swindled)
23 Love affair, a rum do, au pair finishes (5)
AMOUR – A [ru]M [d]O [a]U [pai]R (rum do, au pair finishes)
24 Rogue in favour of cutting repayment (9)
REPROBATE – PRO (in favour of) in (cutting) REBATE (repayment)
26 Trouble between a mother and son over spiritual head (5,4)
DALAI LAMA – AIL (trouble) in (between) A MA (a mother) LAD (son) all reversed (over)
27 Musical – girl is full of it (5)
EVITA – EVA (girl) around (is full of) IT
28 Still by jetty? Nothing odd in that (3)
YET – [b]Y [j]E[t]T[y] (by jetty? Nothing odd in that)
29 New cover for one in a series of espionage novels (11)
GREENMANTLE – GREEN (new) MANTLE (cover) – a novel written by John Buchan
Down
1 Unbecoming, if daring criminal (5,3)
INFRA DIG – an anagram (criminal) of IF DARING
2 Pudding choice no good (4,4)
PLUM DUFF – PLUM (choice) DUFF (no good)
3 Sound cheerful once opener’s dismissed (5)
RIGHT – [b]RIGHT (cheerful once opener’s dismissed)
4 Most of rhyme written in honour of counterpart (7)
OBVERSE – VERS[e] (most of rhyme) in (written in) OBE (honour)
5 Russian-born writer, name appearing in Scottish town also (3,4)
AYN RAND – N (name) in (appearing in) AYR (Scottish town) AND (also) – this writer
6 Put down volunteers in harbour (9)
ENTERTAIN – ENTER (put down) TA (volunteers) IN
7 Shrewd, like ancient king, leader in Egypt (6)
ASTUTE – AS (like) TUT (ancient king) E[gypt] (leader in Egypt)
8 German chap getting round Mainz, initially in a cab (6)
HANSOM – HANS (German chap) O (round) M[ainz] (Mainz, initially)
14 Looking / about (9)
REGARDING – double def.
16 Government supporter, Cavalier having changed sides (8)
LOYALIST – rOYALIST (Cavalier) with the initial ‘r’ changed to L (having changed sides)
17 Song composed about a duke (8)
SERENADE – SERENE (composed) around (about) A D (a duke)
19 Appropriate composer, English (7)
GERMANE – GERMAN (composer) E (English) – this composer
20 Army officer is able to, throwing in a tip, liberal (7)
CAPTAIN – CAN (is able to) around (throwing in) an anagram (liberal) of A TIP
21 Not quite daring to drink litre (6)
HARDLY – HARDY (daring) around (to drink) L (litre)
22 Two OT characters’ collection of odds and ends (3,3)
JOB LOT – JOB LOT (two OT characters)
25 Love game, unfortunately – last of a series (5)
OMEGA – O (love) plus an anagram (unfortunately) of GAME
Thank you Gaufrid. I was especially grateful for the link to 5d – guessed the answer from the wordplay, but I’d never heard of her!
Hi JuneG
Neither had I until today!
Many thanks Gaufrid & Falcon.
AYN RAND as a name was vaguely familiar to me but I had no idea that she had been born in Russia or anything else.
She now turns out to have been a very interesting woman!
Straightforward till I came to a grinding halt on both the “general knowledge” ones
Thanks to Falcon and Gaufrid
For those of us in the U.S., especially among those following politics at all, Ayn Rand is well known. She is the bête noire of most on the left, because a few of her vocal adherents on the right, but mostly for her disdain for the social safety net (Never mind that she took advantage of it herself as she aged.)
For me the hard one was plum duff. Not a phrase I knew, and guessed at daft instead.
Thanks for elucidating! Enjoyed it.
Ayn Rand’s ‘Atlas Shrugged’ and ‘The fountainhead’ are classic novels. Whether you agree with her economic philosophy or not, both are must-reads!
As a teenager reading Atlas Shrugged, I felt Dagny Taggart was a woman one could fall in love with! Of course I was not mature enough to understand the political overtones of the times.
I have not stopped to wonder what would happen to the world if Atlas shrugged! Really!!
it should be: I have not stopped wondering
Ilene: I say Daft is close enough, you get the point. Plum daffy might be more American. Duff is what Homer Simpson drinks.
Thanks Falcon and Gaufrid
Did this one at the time, but only checked it off now. Remember this as being slightly harder than normal from this setter.
Held up slightly in the NW corner with AUDITORIA, INFRA DIG and AYN RAND (who was new to me) as the last few in. Nearly got caught with ROYALIST instead of LOYALIST at 16d, until I read the clue a little closer.