Thank you to Hoskins. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. A character seen on autumn break (4,5)
FALL APART : [ A + PART(a character/a role in, say, a play) ] placed after(seen on) FALL(American term for “autumn”).
6. Posh politician held by detective throws down (5)
DUMPS : [ U(posh/upper class) + MP(abbrev. for “Member of Parliament”, an elected politician) ] contained in(held by) DS(abbrev. for “detective sergeant”).
9. Work helping to overcome drug use (9)
OPERATION : OP(abbrev. for “opus”/a literary or musical composition) + RATION(a helping/a quantity of something, say, food given to one) containing(to overcome) E(abbrev. for the drug, Ecstasy).
10. Drive up wall in old car, not side of banking (5)
ANGER : “banger”(an old car, one that is falling apart) minus its leftmost letter(not side of) “banking“.
11. Hum original piece of Mahler in market (5)
SMELL : 1st letter of(original piece of) “Mahler” contained in(in) SELL(to market/to promote, say, an idea).
Answer: “Hum” is an unpleasant …
12. American swinger a liar ties up (9)
AERIALIST : Anagram of(… up) A LIAR TIES.
Defn: A mainly American term for a “swinger”, not one engaging in partner-swapping sex, but one performing acrobatics high above the ground on tightropes or trapezes.
13. A tale about female showing warmth and kindness (7)
AFFABLE : [ A + FABLE(a tale conveying a moral) ] containing(about) F(abbrev. for “female”).
15. Bloomer made by former world leaders (7)
MAYBUSH : MAY(Theresa, once UK PM) + BUSH(George, once US President) – former world leaders.
Online references seem to indicate an enumeration of 3,4 and no 7.
18. Say I clobber contacts? (7)
EYEWEAR : Homophone of(Say) “I” + WEAR(clothing/garb).
Defn: …/contact lenses are examples/?.
20. We deliver subpoenas etc (those starting court action) (7)
SERVERS : Double defn: 1st: What you might call “process-servers” who deliver/serve legal documents like subpoenas, etc.; and 2nd: The tennis or badminton players who serve/start play in court by hitting the ball or shuttlecock.
21. One who tries a devil in hearing (9)
ATTEMPTER : A + homophone of(… in hearing) TEMPTER(The …, with a capital T/the Devil/Satan seen as tempting people into sin).
23. Working? Way to get over bit of ennui for a start! (5)
ONSET : ON(working, as with an electric appliance) + ST(abbrev. for “street”/a way/a thoroughfare) containing(to get over) 1st letter of(bit of) “ennui“.
25. Don’t get up right away as Light Infantry and earl entered? (3,2)
LIE IN : LI(abbrev. for “Light Infantry”) plus(and) E(abbrev. for “earl”) + IN(entered/came inside).
26. After casting, lands more fish (3,6)
RED SALMON : Anagram of(After casting) LANDS MORE.
27. Rubbish sparkling wine mostly drunk by partners (5)
WASTE : “Asti”(a light sparkling wine from the Asti region in Italy) minus its last letter(… mostly) contained in(drunk by) W,E(abbrev. for “west” and “east”, partners in the card game of bridge).
28. Peer dates fools in Dire Straits? (9)
DESPERATE : Anagram of(… fools) Peer dates.
Down
1. Chess win in two moves? My wife is mine! (5,4)
FOOLS MATE : Cryptic defn: Setter is self-deprecatingly refering to his wife/mate.
Defn: In a chess game, a checkmate/a win in two moves by the player of the black pieces.
2. Lord, for example, tucking into Whopper (5)
LIEGE : EG(abbrev. for “exempli gratia”/for example) contained in(tucking into) LIE(a whopper/a gross or blatant lie).
3. I’ve a ball partying with drop of ale on tap (9)
AVAILABLE : Anagram of(… partying …) [I’VE A BALL plus(with) 1st letter of(drop of) “ale” ].
4. At home, about to open a Bud to get lively (7)
ANIMATE : Reversal of(…, about) IN(at home/not out of one’s house) contained in(to open) [A + MATE(bud or buddy/American term for “friend”).
5. Brown cut short demagogue’s childish outburst (7)
TANTRUM : TAN(a yellowish-brown colour) + “Trump”(Donald, a famous example of a demagogue/a political leader who seeks support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people) minus its last letter(cut short …).
6. Little drink and last of rioja creates excitement (5)
DRAMA : DRAM(a little drink of whisky or other spirits) plus(and) last letter of(last of) “rioja“.
7. Maiden upset with gut size (9)
MAGNITUDE : Anagram of(… upset …) [MAIDEN plus(with) GUT].
8. Rod small? Express disapproval about weather ultimately! (5)
STRUT : S(abbrev. for “small”) + TUT(… or “tut-tut”, an expression of disapproval) containing(about) last letter of(… ultimately) “weather“.
Defn: … in a framework that takes compressive load.
14. Group of ships on loch in expedition? (9)
FLEETNESS : FLEET(a group of ships) placed above(on, in a down clue) NESS(name of a large freshwater lake/loch in Scotland, famous for its “monster”).
Defn: …/speed in doing something.
16. Crapulent royal fed a long drink? (4,2,3)
YARD OF ALE : Anagram of(Crapulent/drunken) ROYAL FED A.
17. In the case, criminal is wavering (9)
HESITANCE : Anagram of(…, criminal) IN THE CASE.
Defn: …, as a noun.
19. Soldiers shagged in bed? (7)
RETIRED : RE(abbrev. for the Royal Engineers, the corps of the British army providing engineering and other technical support) + TIRED(shagged/exhausted).
Defn: … at the end of the day.
20. Send up groups covering Free and Steps (7)
STRIDES : Reversal of(Send up, in a down clue) SETS(groups/collections of similar items) containing(covering) RID(to free/to relieve of).
21. A large blue permit (5)
ALLOW : A + L(abbrev. for “large”) + LOW(blue/feeling sad).
22. Disease magician catches close to London (5)
MANGE : MAGE(a magician) containing(catches) last letter of(close to) “London“.
Defn: … that forms scabs on mammals’ skins.
24. Dance sexily at first with topless Serpent (5)
SAMBA : 1st letter of(… at first) “sexily” plus(with) “mamba”(a highly venomous African snake/serpent) minus its 1st letter(topless …).
A natural exponent, dancing sexily:
Great fun as ever from Hoskins with FOOLS MATE, YARD OF ALE (what a great anagram indicator!) and RETIRED making it onto my podium.
I am not sure why “entered” in 25a leads to “in”.
Many thanks to Hoskins and to scchua.
RD @1: my justification for 25a – if a horse is entered for a race, it’s in it. Whether that means ‘for’ should also appear in the clue, I’m not sure?
Possibly the only wrinkle in an otherwise typically smooth puzzle from Hoskins. As usual, the ribaldry is in the clueing, rather than the solutions. Of those surfaces, YARD OF ALE and RETIRED were my favourites and, of the cleaner surfaces, STRIDES, MAGNITUDE and FALL APART. I looked for more in FOOLS MATE: that would be tough for a solver new to this setter and his self-deprecation.
Thanks Hoskins and scchua
The perfect puzzle, completed during breakfast. I’ve often seen e = earl, d = duke and b = baron, but never m = marquess, or c = count – just a thought! Thanks Hoskins for the slightly saucy fun and Sschua for the illustrated blog.
Perfect for a slightly hung over Sunday morning. TANTRUM and YARD OF ALE were my favourites. AERIALIST held me up for a while. Thanks, both.
Learnt something new and quite fascinating in 1d so not just drug terminology that Harry can teach me!
Think my favourite was FLEETNESS with TANTRUM hard on its heels.
Thanks to Hoskins and to scchua for the review.
A lot of fun, as usual. Perfect for Sunday breakfast. What do they call a British aerialist?
Many thanks to scchua for the usual fun blog and to all who solved and commented.
Alliacol@6, I think the British stopped using aerialist after the editor of the OED had a trapeze artist come to look at his bad telly reception, reportedly. Either that or we just like putting folk in boxes so we define them more fully as trapeze artist or tightrope walker etc.
Anyhoo, ’nuff from me. I’ll be back two weeks today with another Sunday puzzle for your entertainments. But until then its cheers and chin chin from moi. 🙂
Did I detect a slight toning down in the smut? Perhaps it was just me? Anyway good fun as always although I found this on the tougher end for Hoskins and only finished this morning, when I realised I’d put eyelens in for 18A DOH!
Thanks Hoskins and scchua
A day late to this but glad I spotted it. Nice & gentle. As is always the case with a Hoskins puzzle a pleasure to solve.
Thanks all.
Not sure if I’d ever done a Hoskins crossword before but I had some time on an airplane flight and this puzzle actually made the trip pleasant. Anything that makes flying tolerable is a miracle. Thanks to both.