(Please click here for this same blog but with a picture quiz added. Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.) As commented by Pee Dee last week, are the IoS puzzles generally getting more difficult? I was delayed for a little while in the NE corner. There also seems to be an unusual number of prominent persons’ names, though I don’t know what, if anything, to make of it. Thanks to Hieroglyph. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Resuscitate space-traveller with oxygen (4,2)
COME TO : COMET(a celestial body travelling in outer space) plus(with) O(chemical symbol for the element, oxygen).
4 Gets rid of watches elsewhere (4,3)
FOBS OFF : FOBS(plural of a waistcoat pocket to hold a pocket watch or the chain or ribbon attaching such a watch to the waistcoat – used here for the fob watches themselves) + OFF(a distance away;elsewhere) .
9 Scrap rake-head in shack (5)
SHRED : The 1st letter of(…-head) “rake” contained in(in) SHED(a shack).
10 Inn stocking popular fruit (9)
AUBERGINE : AUBERGE(an inn;a tavern) containing(stocking) IN(popular;fashionable).
11 Sailor abroad fathoms expert reversal (5-4)
ABOUT-FACE : A.B.(abbrev. for “able-bodied seaman”;a sailor) + OUT(abroad;out of the country) + F(abbrev. for “fathoms”, the unit of measurement) + ACE(an expert).
12 Doled out diamonds, playing late (5)
DEALT : D(abbrev. for “diamonds”, the suit in card games, bridge, say) + anagram of(playing) LATE.
13 Murdoch‘s uneven coverage of air-raids (4)
IRIS : “air-raids ” minus its 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th letters(uneven coverage of …;covering the letters in the odd positions in the word).
Defn: Given name of Dame Murdoch, author of, amongst others, The Sea, The Sea, a Booker Prize winner.
14 Gofers of interest to the canine anatomist? (10)
DOGSBODIES : Cryptic defn: Corpses of dogs which would be of interest to a canine anatomist.
18 Refusal to vote for obstinate new leader’s motion (10)
ABSTENTION : Anagram of(…’s motion) [OBSTINATE + the 1st letter of(… leader) “new” ].
20 Parks in Truro, say (4)
ROSA : Hidden in(in) “Truro, say “.
Defn: First name of Ms Parks, the “first lady of civil rights” in the US.
23 Have a drink before a play (5)
DRAMA : DRAM(a small amount of an alcoholic drink) placed before(before, in an across clue) A.
24 Where to find hammer in Tolkien’s world after principal characters in The Hobbit have vanished (6,3)
MIDDLE EAR : “Middle Earth”(the setting of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, including The Hobbit) minus(after … have vanished) the 1st letters, respectively, of(principal characters in) “The Hobbit “.
Defn: The cavity in the mammalian ear, between the eardrum and the outer ear, where one finds the malleus, the hammer-shaped bone aka, well, the hammer.
25 Confused, reading extremely dense French novelist (5,4)
ANDRÉ GIDE : Anagram of(Confused) [READING + the 1st letter and last letters of(extremely) “dense “].
Defn: … and Nobel Laureate in Literature.
26 Josh drinks ale at the close (5)
TEASE : TEAS(drinks, made from leaves grown in the East, and highly significant in the British consciousness) + the last letter of(… at the close) “ale “.
27 Sailor volunteers starters of river eel served raw (7)
TARTARE : TAR(a term for a sailor) + T.A.(abbrev. for the British Territorial Army, consisting of volunteers) + the 1st letters, respectively, of(starters of) “river eel “.
28 Old republican at English department lectured (6)
ORATED : O(abbrev. for “old”) + R(abbrev. for a member or supporter of the US Republican party – I’m not sure if the abbrev. works for “republican”, one who support a republic as a form of government) + AT + E(abbrev. for “English”) + D(abbrev. for for “department”, as in “DH”, the UK Department of Health).
Down
1 Price a wealthy husband exchanged for a place in Central America (5,4)
COSTA RICA : COST(the price for a commodity or service) + A + “rich”(wealthy) with “h”(abbrev. for “husband”) replacing(exchanged for) “A “.
2 In old college, butter up physicist (7)
MARCONI : Reversal of(… up) [IN +O(abbrev. for “old”) + C(abbrev. for “college”) + RAM(a male sheep, who has the horns to but with) ].
Answer: Guglielmo, Italian Nobel Laureate in Physics, and inventor.
3 Gallery concealing overdraft until now (2,4)
TO DATE : TATE(a group of UK art galleries, including the Tate Modern in London) containing(concealing) OD(abbrev. for a bank overdraft).
4 Story following a conservative after leaving university (5)
FABLE : F(abbrev. for “following”, in proper use, to refer to the following page) + A + “blue”(a name for a member of the British Conservative Party) minus(after leaving) “u”(abbrev. for “university).
5 Unmissable target on board, right? Wrong! (4,4)
BARN DOOR : Anagram of(Wrong) [ON BOARD + R(abbrev. for “right”)].
Defn: A metaphor, because of its size, for an unmissable target.
6 Paper folding over capital mistake lacking investment (7)
ORIGAMI : O(abbrev. for “over”) + RIGA(capital of Latvia) “mistake ” minus(lacking) “stake”(one’s investment, in say, a commercial venture).
First, take a single piece of paper, then fold as indicated (no cuts please),
… to give you this: 
7 Fast ships leave on time (5)
FLEET : FLEE(to leave hastily) placed above(on, in a down clue) T(abbrev. for “time”). Double defn. as well.
8 Pleasure-seeker‘s complaint, swallowing a drop (8)
GADABOUT : GOUT(a painful medical complaint, historically called the “rich man’s disease”) containing(swallowing) [A + DAB(a small amount;a drop, say of ink) ].
15 More careless birdwatcher breaking silence rule (8)
SHODDIER : ODDIE(Bill, birdwatcher and wildlife presenter on BBC TV) contained in(breaking) [ SH!(a call for silence) + R(abbrev. for “rule”) ].
16 Small, tense eejit landing after a flight (9)
STAIRHEAD : S(abbrev. for “small”) + T(abbrev. for “tense”, in grammar) + AIRHEAD(an idiot;an eejit, in Scottish and Irish vernacular).
Defn: … of stairs.
17 Irish statesman read out farewell therein (2,6)
DE VALERA : Anagram of(… out) READ containing(… therein) VALE(2-syllable word for farewell).
Defn: …, with first name of Éamon, former President of Ireland.
19 Muck-raking Manxman maybe losing his head (7)
SLANDER : “islander”(an example of which;maybe, is a Manxman, a male from the Isle of Man, a British crown dependency) minus its 1st letter(losing his head).
21 Prepared to carve ham (7)
OVERACT : Anagram of(Prepared) TO CARVE.
Defn: To exaggerate or overdo, say, a dramatic role.
22 Might he be seen out on the tiles? (6)
SLATER : Cryptic defn: One who might be seen, literally, on the tiles or slates of a roof, as distinct from one who is metaphorically on the tiles;on a spree, especially of drinking or debauchery.
23 Doctor a newspaper sketch (5)
DRAFT : DR(abbrev. for a doctor) + A + FT(abbrev. for the Financial Times newspaper).
24 Major eastern state (5)
MAINE : MAIN(major;principal) + E(abbrev. for “eastern”).
Defn: … on the eastern seaboard of the US.
(Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)
I found this more straightforward than recent Sundays. My own holdup was the SE corner. Ah, the perils of the CD! I brashly wrote in “roofer” for 22D “slater”. Having, myself, spent time repairing both tile and slate roofs, I reasoned that it couldn’t be “slater”, because (a) slaters are rarely seen on tile roofs – switching slate to tile is not uncommon but tile to slate is very rare – and (b) if you are actually on a slate roof, you will put your foot in it. Slates are not usually strong enough to bear the weight of a slater. But, “slater” it turned out to be.
Ah, well, despite the pedantic nitpicking of the occasional tradesman, I enjoyed this very-clearly-clued puzzle, thanks, Hieroglyph. And thanks, scchua, for the blog with the lovely pictures, and the wondrous origami!
Now, please, excuse me, I must go and feed the peacock before making an attempt to mend the soap dispenser.
Thanks, scchua. I too remember finding this tricky in places, but I got there in the end. I thought MIDDLE EAR was cleverly done.
And nice to see a mention for ROSA PARKS. I don’t really do heroes or heroines, but if I did, she’d be on the list.
[Your Sunday mornings are more exciting than mine, Emrys.]
Thanks Hieroglyph and scchua.
Some lovely clues and laughs, MIDDLE EAR, DOGSBODIES, FOBS OFF, BARN DOOR…
I, too, was glad to see a mention for ROSA PARKS, the Civil Rights activist. She was the first woman and second black person to lie in state in the Capitol when she died.