Financial Times 17429 Zamorca

Thank you to Zamorca. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1. Risk all and leave because of having no money (2,3,5)

GO FOR BROKE : GO(leave/clear off) + FOR(because of/as a result of) + BROKE(having no money/penniless).

Defn: …/stake everything for a chance to win big.

7. Primate’s leading service in eastern end of church (4)

APSE : APE(a large member of the primates, a group of mammals including humans, monkeys, etc.) containing(…’s/… has … in) 1st letter of(leading) “service“.

Defn: A recess in a church, typically at its eastern end.

And, of course, the primate in the clue’s surface is not an ape, but one of another order.

9. Complaint when central part of creed’s ignored (4)

BEEF : “belief”(a creed/a faith) minus its 2 middle letters(central part of …’s ignored).

10. About to clear dry section inside that’s for keeping animals in (6,4)

CATTLE GRID : [ CA(abbrev. for “circa”/about or approximately when referring to years as dates) + RID(to clear/to dispose of) ] containing(… inside) [ TT(abbrev. for “teetotal”/without alcohol/dry) + LEG(section of a journey or process) ].

Defn: … an enclosed piece of land and not walk across a road which goes through the fencing …

… but not this animal:

11. Jack was distressed to be imprisoned (6)

JAILED : J(abbrev. for “Jack”, the playing card) AILED(was distressed/was stricken by, say, an illness).

12. Overconfident and fired up, failed final medical (8)

PRIDEFUL : Anagram of(…, failed) FIRED UP + last letter of(final) “medical“.

13. Acquit fellow of blocking escape (5,3)

CLEAR OFF : [ CLEAR(to acquit/absolve of an offence) + F(abbrev. for “fellow”) ] containing(… blocking) OF.

15. Engineer examined mine left abandoned (4)

AXED : Anagram of(Engineer) [ “examined” minus(… left) “mine” ].

Defn: …/dumped.

17. Record gathering morning light (4)

LAMP : LP(abbrev. for “long playing record”, an audio recording in the form of a vinyl disc containing several tracks and played back at 33 and 1/3 revolutions per minute) containing(gathering) AM(abbrev. for “ante meridiem”/before noon/the day’s morning).

19. Look after home when she is out working (5-3)

HOUSE-SIT : Anagram of(… working) SHE IS OUT.

22. Relative‘s issue with the police? (3-2-3)

SON-IN-LAW : SON(issue/offspring) + IN(employed in/with) + LAW(the police).

23. Musical number brought back home (6)

NATIVE : Reversal of(… brought back) [ EVITA(the musical following on Eva Peron’s life) + N(abbrev. for “number”/numeral) ].

Defn: …/relating to where one was born, as in “one’s home country”.

25. Photograph King during a nice relaxed afternoon, beginning outside eating place (6,4)

PICNIC AREA : PIC(short for “picture”/photograph) + [ R(abbrev. for “Rex”/King) contained in(during) anagram of(… relaxed) A NICE] + 1st letter of(…, beginning) “afternoon“.

For a sunset beach picnic:

26. Uncovered detailed study on letter from Greece (4)

NUDE : “den”(a study/a quiet room) minus its last letter(detailed …) placed after(on) NU(13th letter of the Greek alphabet).

27. Love wearing girl’s footwear (4)

SHOE : O(letter signifying 0/love in tennis scores) contained in(wearing) SHE(pronoun for a girl).

28. Lady’s onesie has stripes, incorporating red heart and cuddly toys (5,5)

TEDDY BEARS : TEDDY(a lady’s onesie/a woman’s one-piece undergarment) plus(has) BARS(stripes/narrow bands) containing(incorporating) middle letter of(… heart) “red“.

Down

2. Everyone follows a bit of cricket, generally speaking (7)

OVERALL : ALL(everyone/the whole group) placed under(follows, in a down clue) OVER(a sequence of six balls delivered by a bowler, a part/bit of a cricket game).

3. Liver and kidneys unavailable as lunchtime starters (5)

OFFAL : OFF(temporarily unavailable, in reference to an item in a menu) + 1st letters, respectively, of(… starters) “as lunchtime“.

But this offal-based item is not off at all, especially on Burns Night:

4. Cross with taxi reversing over top of kerb to get to rear exit (4,4)

BACK DOOR : Reversal of(… reversing) [ ROOD(a cross/crucifix) plus(with) CAB(a taxi) ] containing(over) 1st letter of(top of, in down clue) “kerb“.

5. Elated working with the best from our planet (2,3,2,3,5)

ON TOP OF THE WORLD : ON(working/operating) plus(with) TOP(the best/the cream) [OF THE WORLD](coming from our planet)

6. Calorie composition’s not zero in cake (6)

ECLAIR : Anagram of(… composition) “Calorie” minus(…’s/has not) O(letter signifying 0/zero).

7. ‘Goods In’ are by entrance for collection (9)

AGGREGATE : GG(2 x abbrev. for “good”) contained in(In’) ARE plus(by) GATE(an entrance with a hinged barrier).

Defn: A …/an assemblage.

8. Arrest 16 in France around old city (7)

SEIZURE : SEIZE(the number 16 in the language of France) containing(around) UR(an old/ancient city of Sumer).

14. Fruit that’s over, I can mash in blender perhaps (9)

APPLIANCE : APPLE(a fruit) containing(that’s over) anagram of(… mash) I CAN.

Defn: An example of which/perhaps is the blender.

And, in this case, one that can be used to mash fruit).

16. Question Yard suspect about a new situation (8)

QUANDARY : [ QU(abbrev. for “question”) + anagram of(… suspect) YARD] containing(about) [A + N(abbrev. for “new) ].

Defn: A difficult …/a dilemma.

18. Doctor has boil to get rid of (7)

ABOLISH : Anagram of(Doctor) HAS BOIL.

20. One taking over country pub mostly has very top grade wine served up (7)

INVADER : “inn”(a pub/a watering hole) minus its last letter(mostly) plus(has) V(abbrev. for “very”) + A(top grade/class) + reversal of(… served up, in a down clue) RED(short for a red wine).

21. Bring about abrupt defeat in cup match upset (6)

ELICIT : “lick”(to defeat decisively) minus its last letter(abrupt …) contained in(in) reversal of(… upset) TIE(a sports match in which the winners proceed to the next round of a competition for, say, a cup trophy).

24. Subtly get in suggestion (5)

TINGE : Anagram of(Subtly) GET IN.

Defn: A …/a hint of a feeling or quality.