An enjoyable puzzle, with the northwest corner being the last one in. Thanks to Hypnos. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Girl outwardly loving and enchanting (9)
GLAMOROUS : The 1st and last letters of(… outwardly) “Girl” + AMOROUS(loving).
6 Medic facing no hospital work, as it were, in decline (5)
DROOP : DR(abbrev. for a medical doctor) plus(facing) [ O(signifying 0;no) OP(abbrev. for “operation”, hospital work, one might say;as it were) ].
9 Blue van’s crashed, avoiding very restricted traffic area (3,4)
BUS LANE : Anagram of(… crashed) [ “Blue van’s” minus(avoiding) “v”(abbrev. for “very”) ].
10 Swelling muscles two seconds back (7)
ABSCESS : ABS(short for the abdominal muscles) + reversal of(… back) [ S(abbrev. for “second”, in time notation) + SEC(short for the time period of a second, the second of two seconds in this clue) ].
Defn: … or inflammation leading to pus accumulation.
11 New driver operating by Fenland location without company (6)
LONELY : L(the plate displayed by a learner or new driver) + ON(operating, as with an electrical appliance) plus(by) ELY(the region or city located in eastern England with extensive fens).
12 Tennis player in largely awkward game (8)
WAWRINKA : Anagram of(… game) [IN + “awkward” minus its last letter(largely …) ].
Answer: Stan, Swiss professional tennis player.
14 Variable drink in university (4)
YALE : Y(symbol for a variable quantity in maths, as in an x-y graph) + ALE(an alcoholic drink).
Answer: One of the Ivy League universities in the US.
15 It’s produced by soldiers in a colony? (6,4)
FORMIC ACID : Cryptic defn: What’s found in soldier ants (and the rest of their society) in an ant colony.
18 Bent type prison reformed (10)
PROPENSITY : Anagram of(… reformed) TYPE PRISON.
Defn: An inclination or tendency.
20 A companion beginning to exaggerate pain (4)
ACHE : A + CH(abbrev. for a Companion of Honour, a British title) + the 1st letter of(beginning to) “exaggerate “.
23 Oil facility about to be put by remarkable railway (8)
REFINERY : RE(about;with reference to) plus(to be put by) FINE(remarkable) + RY(abbrev. for “railway”).
24 Fellow with prestigious award in circle of followers (6)
FANDOM : F(abbrev. for “fellow”) + AND(with;plus) + OM(abbrev. for “Order of Merit”;an award for distinguished service).
26 Asian language and English found in Asian island (7)
BENGALI : ENG(abbrev. for “English) contained in(found in) BALI(the Asian island in Indonesia).
27 Corruption shown by a French lawyer in domed building (7)
ROTUNDA : ROT(corruption) plus(shown by) UN(French for “a”) + DA(abbrev. for “District Attorney”, a prosecuting lawyer in the US).
28 Fool damaged pewter with no end of haste (5)
TWERP : Anagram of(damaged) [ “pewter” minus the last letter of(with no end of) “haste ” ].
29 Rock band hated room for playing (9)
MOTORHEAD : Anagram of(… for playing) HATED ROOM.
Defn: … playing heavy metal rock and roll music.
Down
1 Fail to work with inventor? Certainly (2,5,2)
GO BELLY UP : GO(to work;to function properly, as in “the car won’t go”) + BELL(Alexander Graham, inventor of the telephone) + YUP(informal of yes;sure;certainly).
2 Team magazine (7)
ARSENAL : Double defn: 1st: English football team; and 2nd: A store for weapons and munitions.
3 Seemingly wise sort in rowing boat heading off (6)
ORACLE : “coracle”(a small rounded rowing boat) minus its 1st letter(heading off).
4 Uncovered shop enhanced somewhat (4)
OPEN : Hidden in(. somewhat) “shop enhanced “.
5 A fool carrying money in dated cave formation (10)
STALAGMITE : [ A + GIT(a fool) containing(carrying) M(abbrev. for “money”) ] contained in(in) STALE(dated;no longer new).
6 Inspector not tolerating laxity in locality (8)
DISTRICT : DI(abbrev. for “Detective Inspector”, the police rank) + STRICT(not tolerating laxity).
7 Characterising Indian, say, in the main? (7)
OCEANIC : OCEAN(an example of which;say is the Indian Ocean) + -IC(the suffix that forms an adjective, denoting a characteristic, as in “metallic”).
Answer: Describing something pertaining to the main;the sea, as in “oceanic fauna” or “oceanic currents”.
8 Food, for example, stocked by educational body (5)
PASTA : AS(for example, as in “spring flowers, as the tulip”) contained in(stocked by) PTA(abbrev. for a Parent-Teacher Association in a school).
13 Minor cost possibly probed by unionist in business group (10)
CONSORTIUM : Anagram of(… possibly) MINOR COST
containing(probed by) U(abbrev. for “unionist”).
16 Chap about 50 put in terror in imaginary world (9)
DREAMLAND : [ MAN(a chap) containing(about) L(Roman numeral for 50) ] contained in(put in) DREAD(terror).
17 Geordie politician accepting dodgy loan? That’s illuminating (4,4)
NEON LAMP : [ NE(abbrev. for the North East of England, or Tyneside, a native or inhabitant of which is a Geordie) + MP(abbrev. for a Member of Parliament) ] containing(accepting) anagram of(dodgy) LOAN.
19 Displeasure with battery, maybe (7)
OFFENCE : Double defn: 1st: As in “to give someone offence”; and 2nd: An example of which;maybe, is battery, the unlawful beating or wounding or touching in a hostile manner of a person.
21 By the sound of it, woman with impenetrable intonation (7)
CADENCE : Homophone of(By the sound of it) [“Kay” (a feminine name) + “dense”(impenetrable, as in “a dense jungle”) ]. I’m not sure about the second half of the homophone.
Defn: The modulation of the voice.
22 Joking comment, nothing less, in pub (6)
BANTER : “note”(a written comment) minus(… less) “O”(letter representing 0;nothing) contained in(in) BAR(a pub).
Defn: As a noun, or does “comment” do double duty?.
23 Book in beginning a mechanical creation (5)
ROBOT : B(abbrev. for “book”) contained in(in) ROOT(the beginning;the origin, as in “the root of all evil…”).
25 Son overlooked in joint legal document (4)
WRIT : “s”(abbrev. for “son”) deleted from(overlooked) “wrist”(a skeletal joint).
It was the north-east corner that defeated me. I guessed 8dn might be PASTA but I couldn’t parse it and 12ac I’d never heard of nor was the word play at all obvious. Don’t think it turned up in any word searches, either.
Thanks, scchua.
I found this a bit unHypnos-like and struggled to finish it. I think WAWRINKA is unfair. You’d need to know your tennis to guess it and the clueing is not exactly a gimme. Compare that with MOTORHEAD: you’d need to know your rock bands to guess it, but if you didn’t the wordplay was clear and it couldn’t be much else with the crossing letters.
FANDOM is given as a ‘circle of followers’, but it wouldn’t be my first definition. But then again I don’t do hero worship.
And since I’ve started being picky, I’ll finish. A ‘new driver’ wouldn’t be showing L plates because they’d still be learning. In the UK, they might show P plates, with the P in green, denoting that they have ‘passed’ their test but are still comparatively inexperienced.
I’ll stop now and thank the setter for the puzzle.
KD: I consider myself to be a member of science fiction fandom and that definition seems OK to me.6
Fair enough, Dormouse. Just not a usage I’m familiar with Perhaps I was confusing it with FANBASE.
An enjoyable puzzle IMHO. I finished in the SE with FANDOM after CADENCE. I don’t have a problem with the homophone for the latter, but it took me a while to see it because I bought the Sacrebleu album by Dimitri From Paris shortly after it came out 19 years ago and ever since I can’t help mentally pronouncing the word the French way.
K’sDad, About the L thing, I initially had the same reservation as you. But a new driver need not be one who’s got a licence, just one who’s recently started driving.
Andy B, the references I have give “cadence” as “kay-derns”.
The first IoS crossword I’ve failed to complete for a very long time!
12a was the one that defeated me – having absolutely no interest whatosever in tennis, Wawrinka is a name I’ve never heard of. Maybe a little bit too obscure?