Thanks to Armonie for a quick and enjoyable solve. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Rise awkwardly to position of defiance (10)
RESISTANCE : Anagram of(… awkwardly) RISE plus(to) STANCE(a position;the way one stands, as with, say, a boxer in the ring).
7 Runs behind vessel (4)
RAFT : R(abbrev. for “runs” in cricket score) + AFT(the back part;the behind, say, of an ocean going vessel).
9 Fellow put away fortune (4)
FATE : F(abbrev. for “Fellow”, a member in a learned society) + ATE(put away;to have entirely eaten a lot of food).
10 Trace toxin circulating in blood (10)
EXTRACTION : Anagram of(… circulating) TRACE TOXIN.
Defn: …, used figuratively to mean one’s ancestry;ethnicity.
11 Planes crashed in Italy (6)
NAPLES : Anagram of(… crashed) PLANES.
12 Encourage with popular drink (8)
INSPIRIT : IN(popular;in fashion) + SPIRIT(alcoholic drink).
13 Soldiers cauterise companion in investigation (8)
RESEARCH : RE(abbrev. for the Royal Engineers in the military) + SEAR(to burn the surface of with sudden intense heat;to cauterise) + CH(abbrev. for “Companion of Honour”).
15 Girl briefly eats English beef (4)
VEAL : VAL(short;briefly for the feminine name, Valerie) containing(eats) E(abbrev. for “English”).
Defn: … from a young calf.
17 Caught part of face a blow (4)
CLIP : C(abbrev. for “caught” in cricket scores) + LIP(part of one’s face).
Defn: A glancing hit.
19 Ploughman keeps time for a novel (8)
THRILLER : TILLER(a ploughman;one who uses a till) containing(keeps) HR(abbrev. for “hour”, a period of time).
22 Bloke to swindle student getting popular instrument (8)
MANDOLIN : MAN(a bloke;a chap) + DO(to swindle;to cheat) + L(letter signifying a student driver) plus(getting) IN(popular;in fashion).
23 Revive space traveller with oxygen (4,2)
COME TO : COMET(an object of ice and dust travelling thought outer space) plus(with) O(in chemistry, symbol for the element, oxygen)
25 Housekeeper to speak to girl (10)
CHATELAINE : CHAT(to speak to) + ELAINE(a girl’s name).
… and the keys to the house are attached to the chatelaine hanging from the chatelaine’s belt.
26 Charge rent (4)
TEAR : Double defn: 1st: To move very quickly; and 2nd: A split caused by pulling apart.
27 Sailor keeps a small ruler (4)
TSAR : TAR(informal term for a sailor) containing(keeps) S(abbrev. for “small”).
28 Scholar has sense to respect officer of the law (10)
MAGISTRATE : MA(abbrev. for “Master of Arts”, a scholar) plus(has) GIST(the sense;the general meaning of a speech or text) + RATE(to respect;to have a high opinion of).
Down
2 Oriental couple admitting an issue (7)
EMANATE : E(abbrev. for “Eastern”;Oriental + MATE(to couple;unite sexually) containing (admitting) AN.
Defn: …, as a verb.
3 One type of wood is the best (5)
IDEAL : I(Roman numeral for “one”) + DEAL(fir or pine wood used for building).
4 Exchange rate certain to provide wealth (8)
TREASURE : Anagram of(Exchange) RATE + SURE(certain;without any doubt).
5 Lacking reputation despite anything to the contrary (15)
NOTWITHSTANDING : [NOT WITH](lacking) STANDING(reputation;status).
6 Pass electrical engineer assimilating circuits (6)
ELAPSE : EE(abbrev. for “electrical engineer) containing(assimilating) LAPS(circuits round, say, a racetrack).
7 Romeo upset relative in recovery (9)
RETRIEVAL : R(letter represented by “Romeo” in the phonetic alphabet) + anagram of(upset) RELATIVE.
8 Ruddy amateur in a state (7)
FLORIDA : FLORID(ruddy;having a flushed complexion) + A(abbrev. for “amateur”).
Defn: … in the USA.
14 One dispatches journalist supporting one-time president (9)
EXPEDITOR : EDITOR(a senior journalist) placed below(supporting, in a down clue) [ EX-(prefix signifying former;one-time) + P(abbrev. for “president”, as in POTUS) ].
16 Mad cyber-criminals (8)
CRACKERS : Double defn: 1st: Insane; and 2nd: Those who break into computer systems for an illegal purpose.
18 Hates the French adopting bad language (7)
LOATHES : LES(French for “the”) containing(adopting) OATH(bad language;profane or offensive language expressing, say, anger).
20 Caught after no ball when cutting (7)
EXTRACT : CT(abbrev. for “caught” in cricket scores) placed below(after, in a down clue) EXTRA(a bonus run scored other than from a hit with the bat, eg. when a ball is illegally bowled;a no-ball).
Defn: A cutting from, say, a newspaper;a clipping.
21 Look into crash in obstacle race (6)
SLALOM : LO(look, as in “lo and behold”) contained in(into) SLAM(to crash into).
24 Travel a short time to the river (5)
MOTOR : MO(short for “moment”, a short time period) + TO + R(abbrev. for “river”).
Defn: To trael in a motor vehicle.
One for the beginners, methinks. I like clues like 26a with a nice play on meanings.
On the minus side, I do think the inclusion of both EXTRACTION at 10a and EXTRACT at 20d is a bit sloppy.
Your entry for 14d needs an ‘edit’.
Thank Hovis, typo “editor-ed”.
Thanks Armonie and scchua
Quite straightforward with no standouts, except for the double up mentioned @1 – one of which was my last one in (10a).
Seems gentle enough post solve, but a few gave me problems along the way. I didn’t know INSPIRIT as a word and had trouble parsing MAGISTRATE, thinking MAGI was ‘Scholar’; singular or plural, what does that matter?
Can’t remember having seen MANDOLIN come up in cryptics before and as a fan of classical music for the instrument, this was the clue I enjoyed most.
Thanks to Armonie and scchua
Like WordPlodder I was misled on 29a – coming up with “magi’s trate” and wondering if that might be an alternative spelling of “trait”.
Thanks all.
Not much to add to the comments above, other than that I wasn’t very taken by 27ac.
The clue tells us that TAR keeps “a small” to get TSAR but apparently we have to ignore “a”.
Sometimes it is allrightish to ignore articles, when placed directly in front of a noun (like e.g. in 24d where Armonie shortens “the river” to just R). However, “small” is not a noun and that makes 27ac somewhat awkward.
Many thanks to Grant & Armonie.
Did I say Grant? Clearly a Tuesday automatism.
Many thanks to scchua … !
Sil@6. I felt that 27a was OK if you read it as ‘one small ruler’, i.e., it contains one S.
I see what you mean (and, on second thoughts, agree that it is probably OK). Personally, I would have kept far from it, though.
I’d like to thank and congratulate sschua for always going the extra mile in the fullness of his explanations as well as for the decorative pictures. His work contrasts with other bloggers who seem to do the least possible and forget that there are overseas solvers who are unfamiliar with what, in the UK, are probably household terms and phrases.
Thanks to Armonie and scchua. I had trouble equating EXTRACTION and blood but otherwise smooth sailing and an enjoyable solve. As another non-UK solver, I endorse Sasquach’s comment on scchua’s blog and pictures which I find useful and entertaining.
Thanks Sasquach & ACD! My pleasure!