Independent on Sunday 1812 Filbert

Thank you to Filbert (a Sunday hat trick for him). Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across
1. Prayer provided illumination for some (6)
LITANY : LIT(provided illumination/shone light on) plus(for) ANY(some/an unquantified quantity of thing or things)

4. A single Venetian magistrate drops round, making you nervous (2,4)
ON EDGE : ONE(a single) + “doge”(historical chief magistrate of Venice) minus(drops) “o”(a round shape).

8. Clothing something you show pride in, twirling (4)
GARB : Reversal of(…, twirling) BRAG(something that you boast about/show your pride in).

9. Poorly-mounted knight‘s day going perfectly, limiting steer to the left (3,7)
DON QUIXOTE : D(abbrev. for “day”) + ON(going/proceeding) QUITE(absolutely/perfectly) containing(limiting) reversal of(… to the left, in across clue) OX(a steer/a bullock).
Defn: Fictional knight who rides/mounts a broken-down/poor old horse.

11. Rich food consumed in most of France, historically (6)
GATEAU : ATE(consumed/eaten) contained in(in) “Gaul”(historic name for France) minus its last letter(most of …).

12. The least out of shape? (8)
ATHLETES : Anagram of(… out of shape) THE LEAST.

13. Flooded land next to lake, people opposed (8)
ATLANTIS : AT(next to/placed beside) + L(abbrev. for “lake”) + ANTIS(people opposed/against, say, an idea).

15. I don’t know what to say faced with silly baby’s prattle (6)
YABBER : ER(expression used when I don’t know what to say) placed after(faced with) anagram of(silly)BABY.

17. Brilliant Djokovic perhaps keeps winning (6)
SUPERB : SERB(an example/perhaps of someone of this nationality is tennis player, Novak Djokovic) containing(keeps) UP(winning/leading in a competition).

19. Pope believing at last, touching blood-stained cross (7,1)
GREGORY X : Last letter of(… at last) “believing” + RE(with reference to/touching on a subject) + GORY(blood-stained/covered in blood) + X(letter representing a cross symbol).
Defn: Former ….

21. Notice soldier holding stick out for OC’s assistant (8)
ADJUTANT : AD(short for “advertisement”, a promotional notice) + ANT(social insect, one of whose castes is the soldier) containing(holding) JUT(to stick/project out)
Defn: A military OC(Officer Commanding)’s assistant/aide.

23. Korean dictator to the west, trouble for Japanese emperor (6)
MIKADO : Reversal of(… to the west, in an across clue) KIM(Jong Un, North Korean dictator) + ADO(trouble/a fuss).

25. Was ringing in ears troubling Greek mathematician? (10)
ARCHIMEDES : CHIMED(was ringing/pealed) contained in(in) anagram of(… troubling) EARS.

26. Vessel used to be back to front (4)
EWER : WERE(used to be/existed before) with its last letter moved to the front(… back to front).

27. Courageous lover gives heart away (6)
DARING : “darling”(term of endearment for one’s lover) minus its middle letter(gives heart away).

28. Short fellow apparently embarrassed about sex (6)
GENDER : Last letter deleted from(Short) “gent”(fellow/gentleman) + reversal of(… about) RED(showing an external sign of embarrassment/apparently embarrassed).

Down
1. Pack animal left priest in the high mountains (5)
LLAMA : L(abbrev. for ”left) + LAMA(a Buddhist monk/priest, loosely, in/from Tibet, the land of high mountains including Everest).

2. You shouldn’t have wasted time over place settings (9)
TABLEWARE : TA(or “thank you”/”you shouldn’t have …”) + BLEW(wasted/spent recklessly) + reversal of(… over) ERA(a significant period of time).

3. Agree, bout fixed for sure (2,5)
NO DOUBT : NOD(to move one’s head indicating agreement) + anagram of(… fixed) BOUT.

5. Decadent city in which anything goes (7)
NAUGHTY : NY(abbrev. for city of New York) containing(in which … goes) AUGHT(anything at all/everything).

6. Southern states pass on hosting Chinese leader (5)
DIXIE : DIE(to pass on/cease living) containing(hosting) XI(Jinping, current leader of China).
Defn: Nickname for the … in the US.

7. Incredibly, optical flickering in old telly limited to one line (9)
EXTREMELY : REM(abbrev. for “rapid eye movement”, describing the many small movements made by the eyes while in deep sleep) contained in(in) [ EX-(prefix signifying “old”/past) + “telly” minus one of two(limited to one) “l”(abbrev. for “line”).
Defn: …/to an extraordinary degree.

10. Red giant she realigned, unable to focus so far (4-7)
NEAR-SIGHTED : Anagram of(… realigned) RED GIANT SHE.

14. English during Root’s last century were deafening (9)
THUNDERED : E(abbrev. for “English”) contained in(during) last letter of(…’s last) “Root” + HUNDRED(a century/a group of 100, as in, say, a score of 100 or more runs scored by a cricketer).
And Joe Root was an English cricketer who scored many centuries.

16. Spooner’s white wine leaked, silly man (9)
BLOCKHEAD : Spoonerism of [ “hock”(a German dry white wine) “bled”(of a fluid, leaked/escaped from a closed system) ].

18. Rower using old cash machine in bar (7)
BOATMAN : [ O(abbrev. for “old”) + ATM(abbrev. for “automated teller machine”, a machine dispensing cash) ] contained in(in) BAN(to bar/to prohibit).

20. Man sees sports as one (2,5)
EN MASSE : Anagram of(… sports) MAN SEES.

22. Show the first and third person as objects (5)
USHER : US,HER(objective case pronouns for, respectively, the plural first person and the singular feminine third person).
Defn: To …. the way.

24. Flat bottom on which daughter stands (5)
DREAR : REAR(bottom, say, of one’s body) placed below( on which …stands, in a down clue) D(abbrev. for “daughter”).