Thank you to Chandler. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Group to assess for a speaker a passage between seats (7)
GANGWAY : GANG(a group of people) + homophone of(… for a speaker) “weigh”(to assess/to evaluate).
Defn: …, in a theatre, say.
5. Protection for the finger or the limb possibly (7)
THIMBLE : Anagram of(… possibly) THE LIMB.
Various models:
10. Examine source of contagion in medical facility (4)
SCAN : 1st letter of(source of) “contagion” contained in(in) SAN(short for “sanatorium”/a facility providing medical treatment and rest).
11. Top bunch of musicians get drink with Queen and rise round dinner’s end (10)
SUPERGROUP : SUP(to drink in swallows or gulps) plus(with) ER(abbrev. for “Elizabeth Regina”, Queen Elizabeth) plus(round) GO UP(to rise/to increase) containing(round) last letter of(…’s end) “dinner“.
The first of them:
… and by definition this is another: 
12. One serving has disposition to submit (4,2)
GIVE IN : GI(a soldier serving in the US Army) plus(has) VEIN(disposition/distinctive quality, as in “a sequel that is in a lighter vein”.
13. Loops put round excellent line in barriers (8)
RAILINGS : RINGS(loops/circles) containing(round) [ AI(A1/top grade/excellent, with the Roman numeral substitution) + L(abbrev. for “line”) ].
14. Pose price mistakenly for part of a submarine (9)
PERISCOPE : Anagram of(… mistakenly) POSE PRICE.
16. Worries shown by European in distant society (5)
FEARS : E(abbrev. for “European”) contained in(in) [ FAR(distant) + S(abbrev. for “Society”) ].
17. Hackneyed ceremony after last part of Lent (5)
TRITE : RITE(a ceremony/a ritual) placed after(after) last letter of(last part of) “Lent“.
19. Separation from companion with old cat amid household work (9)
DICHOTOMY : [ CH(abbrev. for “Companion of Honour”, awarded to certain distinguished persons in the Commonwealth) plus(with) O(abbrev. for “old”) + TOM(a male domestic cat) ] contained in(amid) DIY(abbrev. for “do-it-yourself”/activity of decorating, building, and repairing in the home by oneself rather than employing professionals).
23. Ticket seller following confused impression gets to speak without thinking? (5,3)
BLURT OUT : TOUT(one selling tickets at a higher than the official price) placed after(following) BLUR(a confused/vague impression).
24. Promise made by a leader of scouts? Certainly! (6)
ASSURE : A + 1st letter of(leader of) “scouts” + SURE!(certainly!/of course!).
26. Vets eg able to be corrupted? They could be roasted! (10)
VEGETABLES : Anagram of(… to be corrupted) VETS EG ABLE.
27. US city linked to Irish haunt (4)
LAIR : LA(abbrev. for Los Angeles, a US city) plus(linked to) IR(abbrev. for “Irish”).
Defn: …/somebody’s favourite place to often go/retreat to, such as a den.
28. Briefly refer to chaps with container containing oxygen (7)
MENTION : MEN(chaps/blokes) plus(with) TIN(a container made of tinplate or aluminium) containing(containing) O(symbol for the chemical element, oxygen).
29. Lots in police department recalled as enterprising (7)
DYNAMIC : Reversal of(… recalled) [ MANY(lots/plentiful) contained in(in) CID(abbrev. for the Criminal Investigation Department in the police force) ].
Down
2. Leading lives essentially shown in place of records (7)
ARCHIVE : ARCH-(leading/principal, as in “arch-enemy”) + inner letters of(… essentially) “lives“.
3. Information on a category of music? (5)
GENRE : GEN(information) + RE(on/with reference to).
Defn: …, or art or literature?
4. Poison spilt in case? About right (7)
ARSENIC : Anagram of(spilt) IN CASE containing(About) R(abbrev. for “right”).
6. Very unpleasant mob shortly around Rhode Island (6)
HORRID : “horde”(a mob/a large group of people) minus its last letter(shortly) containing(around) RI(abbrev. for “Rhode Island”, the US state).
7. Trim men when dancing welcoming outsiders from earlier jollity (9)
MERRIMENT : Anagram of(… when dancing) TRIM MEN containing(welcoming) 1st and last letters of(outsiders from) “earlier“.
8. See a French and German comfortable outdoor chair (7)
LOUNGER : LO!(see/behold!) + UN(French for the article “a”) plus(and) GER(abbrev. for “German”).
9. A preppy tailor dressed in a fitting way (13)
APPROPRIATELY : Anagram of(… dressed) A PREPPY TAILOR.
15. Varied centres in information technology converge (9)
INTERSECT : Anagram of(Varied) CENTRES contained in(in) IT(abbrev. for “information technology”).
18. Take the place of first woman supporting rector and priest (7)
RELIEVE : EVE(first woman in the Bible) placed below(supporting, in a down clue) [ R(abbrev. for “Rector”) + ELI(Biblical high priest) ].
20. Try, for example, to generate rumour (7)
HEARSAY : HEAR(try in a court of law) + SAY(for example/such as).
21. TV chef James has current drink (7)
MARTINI : MARTIN(James, TV chef) plus(has) I(symbol for “electrical current” in physics).
22. Ceramic item at front of office is thing that’s chipped? (6)
POTATO : POT(a ceramic item) + AT + 1st letter of(front of) “office“.
Defn: …, ie. sliced into long rectangular pieces and then deep-fried.
25. Some reversal sadly for Latin American dance music (5)
SALSA : Hidden in(Some) “reversal sadly“.
Thanks Chandler and scchua
Not all that easy, but very nice. Loved POTATO.
Very enjoyable. Never heard of James Martin — or is it Martin James?
Thanks Chandler & scchua.
I want one of those loungers, what a great design! Nice puzzle, ta scchua and Chandler.
GDU @3 James Martin has been a stalwart of our (UK) Saturday morning cooking shows plus others for decades.
I found this a fairly straightforward Quiptic, a couple I needed the crossers for, but otherwise OK.
Thanks to Chandler and scchua.
gdo @2 I’d never heard of him either – I tend not to watch Saturday morning telly!
Took me a while to parse GI in 12a, a real d’oh! moment when I twigged it.
Enjoyed this in the main. Took a long time to parse DICHOTOMY apart from OTOM, The VEGETABLE clue was a bit weak even for a Quiptic, or is it like Everyman’s primary clue, giving us all a foothold?
Thanks both.
SUPERGROUP and DICHOTOMY were a bit fiddly for a Quiptic, but I got there eventually. Took a minute or two for GI VEIN to click.
Not too easy, this was an enjoyable puzzle but maybe a little difficult for beginners?
Favourites: LOUNGER, POTATO. SUPERGROUP.
Thanks, both.
Geofff@2
Similar to Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson, James Martin has written some cookery books as well as having TV shows.
No, I hadn’t heard of the TV chef either and I have lived in the UK all my life. Somehow I can never remember that ‘companion’ is crosswordese for CH, despite having lived in the UK …
Perfectly pitched for a Quiptic. DICHOTOMY was my favourite, and my LOI.
Just on Chandler’s wavelength I guess. My quickest Quiptic by far. Very nice clues.
Ta Chandler & scchua for the colourful blog but not sure about the ear worm :-;
😉
I am close. Very close. But stuck.
I’m not looking at solutions yet, but could anyone please give me some tips for:
1a
10a
12a
16a
27a
2d
3d
22d?
8 clues is, for me, ridiculously close.
great stuff, thank you both
Steffen@13
Relative beginner myself, but some hints from me
1a – 2nd part of the answer is a homophone (ie sounds like a word that could mean) for “assess”
16a – answer means “worries”, use “European” and “distant”, and remember that S can be short for “society” (e.g. FRS)
27a – it’s a US city that’s frequently referred to by a 2 letter abbreviation
2d – defn is “place of records”, for latter half look at “essentially lives”
3d – defn is “category of music?”, think about “information” plus “on”
15. Many thanks. Very helpful but still bamboozled by 1/10/12, and a couple of down clues.
REVEAL to the rescue.
Steffen @16,
Try these, perhaps they are less cryptic:
1 Unit of weight no good crossing elsewhere for aisle
10 Look quickly through the lead of sturdy container
12 Add 4 to the first of 1 and 1 in brief English to surrender
16 Fares badly has worries
27 Retreat from half of 13 loosely
2 Zip? Buzzing place with smooth curve on top
3 German rain brought in art form
22 One of 26, Italian river and skin design skipping thirds
This was not especially Quiptic to my taste.
James Martin is one of those where it’s completely fair if you’re conversant with British TV, but for those of us who aren’t… Fortunately the clue is gettable from the definition and the crossers, and, “oh, I guess that means there must be a British celebrity chef named James Martin.”
[SALSA (the food item) has passed ketchup as America’s best-selling condiment, incidentally. Of course, it’s just Spanish for “sauce,” so salsa can cover an enormous variety of condiments, so that’s not really even fair. Even bottled salsas in my local grocery range from sweet to smoky to spicy. But a propos of the crossword, it’s actually weird to see it defined as dance music rather than molé or pico de gallo. ]
@17. Do you have numbers of letters for solutions?
@19 Sorry, if it wasn’t clear: I just tried to provide different clues to yesterday’s quiptic’s answers from your list @13 (and thought they would be somewhat clearer than the originals).
The answers are the same as yesterday, so 1a – 7, 10a – 4, 12a – 4,2, 16a – 5, 27a – 4, 2d – 7, 3d – 5, 22d – 6. (Some clues have references to other answers which I assumed you solved, since they were not on your list.)
Hope this helps, and sorry again for the confusion 🙂
Came to this late as the Mon and Tues Grauniad Cryptics were virtual Quiptics themselves. Found it all very straightforward and correctly pitched for the curious newcomer…until I arrived in the SE which slowed me down somewhat.