Independent on Sunday 1325 Hypnos

Perhaps not as difficult (for an IoS puzzle) as in recent weeks. Thanks to Hypnos. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1    Local left in charge of a community (6)

PUBLIC : PUB(one that could be your local, a favourite watering place near your home or place of work) + L(abbrev. for “left”) + I.C.(abbrev. for “in charge”).

4    Indication GP is not working after Sunday (8)

SIGNPOST : Anagram of(… working) GP IS NOT placed after(after) S(abbrev. for “Sunday”).

9    Discover gang fight in New York? (6)

RUMBLE : Double defn: 1st: A British term for “to discover”; and 2nd: An American term for a gang fight.

10    Film was screened, hosted by one in club mostly (8)

MEMBRANE : RAN(was screened, as in “the film ran at the Odeon for 4 weeks”) contained in(hosted by) “member”(one belonging to a club) minus its last letter(… mostly).

11    Record latest of poor shoddy diet in bad repute (9)

DISCREDIT : DISC(a record to be played on a player) + the last letter of(latest of) “poor ” + anagram of(shoddy) DIET.

13    A hint about temperature that’s keenly perceptive (5)

ACUTE : A + CUE(a hint;a guiding suggestion) containing(about) T(abbrev. for “temperature”).

14    Information journalist found in change of name for actor (4,7)

GENE HACKMAN : GEN(information;the lowdown) + [ HACK(an uncomplimentary term for a journalist) contained in(found in) anagram of(change of) NAME].

18    Mark retirement of former student beside unrefined resort (11)

SCARBOROUGH : SCAR(a mark from, say, an old wound) + reversal of(retirement of) O.B.(abbrev. for “old boy”;a former student) plus(beside) ROUGH(unrefined).

Defn: … on the coast of North Yorkshire, England.

21    Excuse current in French town (5)

ALIBI : I(symbol for an electric current in physics) contained in(in) ALBI(a town in Southern France).

22    Writer with aim to appear in dictionary that’s adaptable (4-5)

OPEN-ENDED : [ PEN(a writing instrument) plus(with) END(an aim;an objective) ] contained in(in) O.E.D.(abbrev. for the Oxford English Dictionary).

24    I bet a fancy motor racing company’s head is supremely happy (8)

BEATIFIC : Anagram of(… fancy) I BET A + FI(abbrev. for Formula One, the motor racing sport, with the numeral Romanised) + the 1st letter of(…’s head) “company“.

25    Drunkard creates pong emptying bottles (6)

SPONGE : Hidden in(… bottles) “creates pong emptying “.

26    Hear agricultural implement is picked up in wheeled transport (8)

TRICYCLE : Homophone of(… is picked up) [ “try”(to bring to court;to hear a case) + “sickle”(an agricultural equipment) ].

27    Liable to crash? (6)

SLEEPY : Cryptic defn: To crash out is to fall asleep from exhaustion.

Down

1    Inspector in corporate get-together following normal example (8)

PARADIGM : [ D.I.(abbrev. for “detective inspector”) contained in(in) A.G.M.(abbrev. for the Anual General Meeting of the shareholders of a corporation) ] placed below(following, in a down clue) PAR(the normal value;the standard).

2    Like a puzzle Greek character in training begins (8)

BEMUSING : MU(the 12th letter of the Greek alphabet) contained in(in) anagram of(training) BEGINS.

3    Singing comedienne blowing top, one averse to work (5)

IDLER : “Midler”(Bette, the American singer and comedienne) minus its 1st letter(blowing top).

5    Priceless item in Basel damaged (11)

INESTIMABLE : Anagram of(… damaged) ITEM IN BASEL.

6    Breeze and wet weather in much of Borneo sadly (2-7)

NO-BRAINER : RAIN(wet weather) contained in(in) anagram of(… sadly) “Borneo ” minus
its last letter(much of …).

Defn: An easy task or choice requiring little thought, one you would breeze through.

7    Unintelligible work, one somewhat devoid of appeal (6)

OPAQUE : OP(abbrev. for “opus”;a musical work) + A(one;singular) + “quite”(somewhat;to a notable extent) minus(devoid of) “it”(sex appeal).

8    Like some parties in classic holiday area (6)

THEMED : [THE MED](the classic European holiday area to get sun, sand, and sea).

Defn: Descriptive of some social occasions, eg. a toga party.

12    Overbearing police turned up on time with a round figure in case (11)

DICTATORIAL : Reversal of(… turned up) C.I.D.(abbrev. for the Criminal Investigation Department in the police force) + T(abbrev. for “time”) plus(with) + [ O(a round figure) contained in(in) TRIAL(a court case) ].

15    Antagonism? It’s possibly settled in Scottish island (9)

HOSTILITY : [ Anagram of(… possibly) IT’S + LIT(settled on;landed on) ] contained in(in) HOY(one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland).

16    Fellowship left out by a Northern church for instruction (8)

GUIDANCE : “guild”(a fellowship;an association) minus(… out) “l”(abbrev. for “left”) plus(by) A + N(abbrev. for “northern”) + CE(abbrev. for the Church of England).

17    Be quiet like a cow – or prone to trembling? (8)

SHUDDERY : SH(an interjection for someone to be quiet) + UDDERY(whimsical description of a cow, mammary glands and all).

19    Good scope for opening comment (6)

GAMBIT : G(abbrev. for “good”) + AMBIT(scope;range, eg. of one’s power or control).

Defn: … to secure an advantage or promote a point of view.

20    Artist capturing female group on rise in religious festival (6)

DIWALI : DALI(Salvador, Spanish surrealist artist) containing(capturing) reversal of(… on rise, in a down clue) W.I.(abbrev. for the Women’s Institute).

Defn: … of the Hindus.

23    Possibly remove from club old footballer lacking energy (5)

EXPEL : EX-(suffix denoting old;former) + “Pele”(former Brazilian footballer) minus(lacking) “e”(symbol for “energy” in physics).