Puzzles with a lot of cross-referencing are not my favourite, but in this case the gateway clue was very easily solved. Then it was simply a matter of Googling this person and getting a lot more information than was in my head, and in some cases working backwards to justify the wordplay.
There are some who dislike getting a list of things and simply reading off that list, and there are others who dislike having to ‘post-justify’ the wordplay, but this was all very nicely done and there are some excellent clues.
Definitions in italics.
Across
1 Bonn homemaker hit it off with a Yankee conman nearly (8)
HAUSFRAU
h{it} a US frau{d}
5 Could rowdy students finish work by 3? (6)
CLOUDS
(Could)* {student}s I think, although if it’s this then it should say students’, or else the word ‘finish’ is an imperative applying to what precedes it, neither of them utterly convincing, so perhaps it’s something else that I can’t see
9 They glow when left shielded by brollies (3,5)
GAS LAMPS
g(as l)amps
10 Small joints said to be sign of cold work by 3 (6)
SNEEZE
s [= small] “knees” — according to Wikipedia it’s “The Sneeze”, a Chekhov 20ac
12 Changed mind in Basra when I’d unpacked (11)
BRAINWASHED
(Basra when I’d)*
15 He has a home in the Gulf and Romania (5)
OMANI
Hidden in ROMANIa
17 Conductor‘s sort of Doppler effect, not very soft or very loud (9)
ELECTRODE
(Doppler effect – pp – ff)* — a very nice spot and the soft/loud words mislead to people like Beecham or Rattle
18 Energy with high speed tremors makes big rings (9)
ECLIPTICS
e clip tics — large circles to do with astronomy, as I had to discover, although the wordplay strongly suggests the answer even if one doesn’t know the word
19 What GP urges should be taken regularly (5)
DRUGS
Dr u{r}g{e}s — a would-be &lit., which almost works brilliantly, but the word ‘What’ is misleading in the wordplay, and I’m not convinced: does it apply just to the word following it and so is an elliptical form of ‘What is a’? Surely not. Does it apply to all the words that follow it and so is an elliptical form of ‘What follows is:”? Again surely not. Perhaps someone can explain why it isn’t just there to make the definition better.
20 E.g. 3’s 11 Across in Latin, old boring Latin (11)
TRANSLATION
There is no 11 Across in this crossword, so I couldn’t think what was happening, until I realised that the definition stops after 11, which is 11dn and is THREE SISTERS. Michael Frayn translated this. It’s trans [= across in Latin] Lati(o)n — very good misleading clue
24 Cast mention lovelorn work by 3 (3,3)
TIN MEN
(mention – 0)* — again according to Wikipedia it’s ‘The Tin Men’
25 Train had gone, carrying lost work by 3 at full speed (8)
HEADLONG
‘Train’ is the anagram indicator, and it’s l [= lost] in (had gone)* — there are two definitions here, as ‘Headlong’ is a Michael Frayn novel of 1999
26 The strong may conceivably end in misery (6)
MIGHTY
might [= may conceivably] {miser}y
27 What critic does like Greek hero out of uniform? (8)
ASPERSES
as Perse{u}s — although does a critic slander or accuse falsely, as ‘asperse’ means? Not necessarily, which presumably accounts for the question mark, but is this enough?
Down
1 Learned how bridge is played without hearts (10)
HIGHBROWED
(how bridge)* round h
2 EU clashed with Balkans over hotel firm (10)
UNSHAKABLE
(EU Balkans)* round [= over, never like this but it’s so common that it has become something we accept now without raising an eyebrow] h
3 No church in France admitting unknown writer (5)
FRAYN
The gateway clue — Fra(y)n{CE} — Michael Frayn
4 It could be a palpable hit with catholic, not priest in this order (12)
ALPHABETICAL
(a palpable hit c – p)* — alphabetical order, nice misdirection
6 Yearned to keep a little back as sort of security (4-5)
LONG-DATED
longed around (tad)rev. — referring to securities as in stocks and shares
7 Dog-eared chapter in omnibus edition? (4)
USED
Hidden in omnibUS EDition — chapter is not the usual c but a main division of written material
8 The rise of Jupiter or the fall of Eden? (4)
SUEZ
Anthony Eden was Prime Minister at the time of Suez in 1956 and it was his downfall — also (Zeus)rev. — the Greek counterpart of the Roman god Jupiter
11 3 absurdly resists 3’s take on Chekhov work (5,7)
THREE SISTERS
Three [= 3] (resists)* — Frayn translated this Chekhov work
13 Very old, bright and roomy (10)
VOLUMINOUS
v [= very] o [= old] luminous
14 Queen’s working, guarded by attendants and VIPs (10)
PERSONAGES
(ER’s on) in pages
16 Writer’s clear about one that’s dying (9)
IMPATIENT
I’m [= writer] pat(1)ent
21 Get rotten with beer, swigging generous cups (5)
ADDLE
DD in ale, generous cups as in bra sizes
22 Not much substance in an abridged volume (4)
ATOM
a tom{e}
23 Raise arms to get cosy (4)
SNUG
(guns)rev.
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