Thank you to Mudd. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Bargain, your secret (8)
STEALTHY : STEAL(a bargain/something bought or offered for sale at lower than the usual or expected cost) + THY(archaic form of “your”).
5. Exact time for parting kiss (4,2)
SPOT ON : T(abbrev. for “time”) contained in(for parting) SPOON(to behave amorously, including kissing).
9. Tremendous thrashing (8)
WHOPPING : Double defn: 1st: …/massive; and 2nd: …/a severe beating.
10. Humourless drivel, domestic headache? (3-3)
DRY-ROT : DRY(dull and uninteresting/humourless) + ROT(nonsense/drivel).
Defn: … because it is a problem affecting your home/house.
12. Filthy skirt concealed by coat in grey (5)
GRIMY : RIM(an edge or border/skirt) contained in(concealed by) 1st and last letters of(coat in) “grey”.
13. Odious earthborn bum (9)
ABHORRENT : Anagram of(… bum) EARTHBORN.
14. Not well, badly (6)
POORLY : Double defn: 1st: …/in poor health; and 2nd: …/in an unsatisfactory manner.
16. Appalling stewed lamb, say (7)
ABYSMAL : Anagram of(stewed) LAMB, SAY.
19. Meadow beyond river (7)
PASTURE : PAST(on the further side of/beyond, as in “he went past my house”) + URE(river in North Yorkshire, England).
21. Rub tongue (6)
POLISH : Double defn: 1st: To … apply, say, polish to a surface with a back and forth motion); and 2nd: …/language of Poland.
23. Work schematic for inquisition (9)
CATECHISM : Anagram of(Work) SCHEMATIC.
Defn: Rigorous questioning, as in a test or interview.
25. Total bluff (5)
SHEER : Double defn: 1st: …/complete, as in “total ignorance”), and 2nd: …/perpendicular, or nearly perpendicular, like a cliff face.
26. Side arming revolutionary (6)
MARGIN : Anagram of(… revolutionary) ARMING.
27. Twin daughters into sport, out of control (8)
SKIDDING : DD(twice/twin abbrev. for “daughter”) contained in(into) SKIIING(a snow sport).
28. US city ship prepared for maiden voyage? (6)
NEWARK : [NEW ARK](how one might call a ship, an ark in this case, that is setting out on its maiden voyage).
Defn: … in New Jersey, USA.
29. At Christmas, say, hospital department gross (8)
INDECENT : [IN DEC(abbrev. for December)](at the time of, say/eg. Christmas) + ENT(abbrev. for the Ear, Nose and Throat Department in a hospital).
Down
1. Waste time after work on torn clothes, say? (6)
SEWAGE : AGE(a distinct period of time) placed below(after, in a down clue) SEW(to work on/mend, say/eg. torn clothes).
2. Sozzled economist waving hand and kissing face, for example (9)
EMOTICONS : Anagram of(Sozzled) ECONOMIST.
3. Rude item in lady’s handbag? (5)
LIPPY : Double defn: 1st: …/insolent; and 2nd: Short for, in this case, a lipstick, perhaps/? an item in a lady’s handbag.
4. Going without touring a country (7)
HUNGARY : HUNGRY(going without/not having had) containing(touring) A.
6. Elevated creation in play or funny sketch, perhaps (9)
PORTRAYAL : Reversal of(Elevated, in a down clue) ART(a creative work) contained in(in) anagram of(… funny) PLAY OR.
Defn: A depiction of someone or something, in this case/perhaps, a sketch/a rough or unfinished drawing or painting.
7. Short letter sending hugs (5)
TERSE : Hidden in(… hugs) “letter sending”.
Defn: …/uncivil.
8. Never forget it (3,2,3)
NOT AT ALL : Double defn: 1st: …/definitely not; and 2nd: Like “Forget it”, a response to “Thank you”.
11. Stop misery for the audience? (4)
WHOA : Homophone of(… for the audience) “woe”(misery/sorrow).
Defn: A command to a horse to stop, or a call to urge a person to stop.
15. Whipped up, hurricane hotter (9)
RAUNCHIER : Anagram of(Whipped up) HURRICANE.
Defn: More explicit, sexually/….
17. Give wrong meaning for ‘feminised’, embarrassingly (9)
MISDEFINE : Anagram of(…, embarrassingly) FEMINISED.
18. First seen of spin bowler, is he out of this world? (8)
SPACEMAN : 1st letter of(First) “seen” + PACEMAN(a fast bowler, one who uses sheer velocity – on the other hand, a spin bowler uses a rotation of the ball).
Defn: One who goes into outer space, or out of this world, literally.
20. Villainous rogue doffing cap (4)
EVIL : “devil”(one who behaves badly, but is likeable/a rogue) minus its 1st letter(doffing cap, in a down clue).
21. Squash parents, for example, under shoe (7)
PUMPKIN : KIN(relatives, parents for example) placed below(under, in a down clue) PUMP(a type of shoe, variously, a sports shoe or a shoe for dancing or a court shoe).
22. Shock: low grade, certainly (6)
FRIGHT : F(abbrev. for a low grade/a failing grade) + RIGHT!(like “certainly!”, an expression of approval or agreement).
24. Floor is away from this line (5)
THROW : “is” deleted from(away from) “this” + ROW(a series of similar things arranged in a more or less straight line).
Defn: …/to confuse.
25. Carex, in standardised genus (5)
SEDGE : Hidden in(in) “standardised genus”.
Defn: …, one of a large genus of grass-like plants.
I thought SPOON only referred to ‘cuddle’ not ‘kiss’ and EMOTICONS referred to symbols such as ‘:)’, as opposed to ‘emojis’ which are what is needed here. Live and learn (unless Mudd is wrong).
Thanks Mudd and scchua
5ac: I can find spoon defined as “to kiss and cuddle” indicated as old-fashioned slang in Collins 2023 p 1917 and ODE 2010 p 1725. I will let readers of this comment decide for themselves whether this is near enough. I could not find “kiss” on its own.
2dn: Collins 2023 and Chambers 2016 both have emoticon and emoji defined with the distinction indicated by Hovis@1. ODE 2010 has emoticon but not emoji. I suspect that the advance of technology means that language here may be changing rapidly and that emoticon may be well on its way to becoming a standard catch-all term for both meanings.