Very entertaining. Thank you Artexlen.

| Across | ||
| 1 | SEASCAPE | Protective cover on sides of settee when painting (8) |
| CAPE (protective cover) on SetteE (side letters from) and AS (when) | ||
| 5 | UPKEEP | Running ahead, look around (6) |
| UP (ahead) PEEK (look) reversed (around) | ||
| 10 | TRIPOLI | Oil wasted on voyage to get to port city (7) |
| OIL* anagram=wasted following (on) TRIP (voyage) | ||
| 11 | RUNNIER | One stopping athlete becoming more fluid (7) |
| I (one) inside (stopping, like a cork) RUNNER (athlete) | ||
| 12 | POLKA | Pressure acceptable when gripping learner beginning to acquire dance (5) |
| P (pressure) then OK (acceptable) containing (when gripping) L (learner) followed by Aquire (beginning letter of) | ||
| 13 | ADULTHOOD | Blue bonnet for US baby has not got there yet (9) |
| ADULT (blue, as of a film) and HOOD (bonnet for US) | ||
| 14 | INCANDESCENT | Line of South American people once enraged (12) |
| people of INCAN DESCENT are a line of South American people once | ||
| 18 | STRANGLEHOLD | Clamp left in odd place in ship (12) |
| L (left) in STRANGE (odd) then HOLD (place in ship) | ||
| 21 | ECCENTRIC | A bit daft carrying around US money in Morecambe, perhaps (9) |
| C (circa, around) CENT (US money) in ERIC (Eric Morcambe perhaps) | ||
| 23 | ICENI | Tribe from Nice nice? Not totally (5) |
| found inside (not totally) nICE NIce | ||
| 24 | MOISTEN | Rock emits no water (7) |
| anagram (rock) of EMITS NO | ||
| 25 | OGREISH | Turn back on one’s husband being ghastly (7) |
| GO (turn) reversed (back) then RE (regarding, on) I’S (one’s) H (husband) | ||
| 26 | DIGEST | Heard long joke’s synopsis (6) |
| sounds like (heard) “die jest” (long and joke) | ||
| 27 | SKIN-DEEP | Sort inside leak that’s superficial (4-4) |
| KIND (sort) inside SEEP (leak) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SET-UPS | Traps ahead buried in batches (3-3) |
| UP (ahead) inside (buried in) SETS (batches) | ||
| 2 | AFIELD | In modern times, life is thrown away (6) |
| anagram (is thrown) of LIFE in AD (modern times) | ||
| 3 | CRO-MAGNON | Monsieur invested in exotic cargo, Frenchman’s no primitive (3-6) |
| M (monsieur) inside CARGO* anagram=exotic then NON (no, in French) | ||
| 4 | PRIMA BALLERINA | A dance in textbook popular with a lead dancer (5,9) |
| A BALL (dance) in PRIMER (textbook) then IN with A | ||
| 6 | PINOT | Wine glass containing nothing (5) |
| PINT (glass) contains O (nothing) | ||
| 7 | EPISODES | Eastern spies do overcome incidents (8) |
| E (eastern) then anagram (overcome) of SPIES DO | ||
| 8 | PERIDOTS | Greek character capturing monarch spots jewels (8) |
| PI (Greek character) contains (captures) ER (Elizabeth Regina, monarch) then DOTS (spots) | ||
| 9 | AROUND-THE-CLOCK | Liquid chocolate drunk all the time (6-3-5) |
| anagram (liquid) of CHOCOLATE DRUNK | ||
| 15 | SOLDIER ON | Relative bearing granddad with resistance to continue (7,2) |
| SON (relative) contains (bearing) OLDIE (granddad) with R (resistance) | ||
| 16 | ESTEEMED | Half of bees swarmed? Well judged (8) |
| beES (half of) then TEEMED (swarmed) | ||
| 17 | CRACKING | Very fast making a witticism (8) |
| double definition | ||
| 19 | CERISE | Father about to enter church for shade (6) |
| SIRE (father) reversed (about) inside CE (Church of England) | ||
| 20 | BISHOP | Man on board second-rate ship uneasy with old interior (6) |
| B (second rate) SHIP* anagram=uneasy contains (with…interior) O (old) – man on a chess board | ||
| 22 | NOTES | Determined to write up records (5) |
| SET ON (determined) reversed (to write up) | ||
*anagram
definitions are underlined
You seem to have a typo in 21A
around C
next to CENT
within ERIC
Well spotted aid, fixed now.
Thanks PeeDee and Artexlen.
A pleasant enough jaunt.
At 5dn, a “pint” is not a glass and a “Pinot” is surely not a wine but we know what the setter meant so I suppose all’s fair.
Liked INCANDESCENT.
Thanks Artexlen and PeeDee
Found this one easier than normal from this setter – all done in a short session with lunch on a very cold Melbourne Tuesday. ICENI jumped out as the first one in and the clues fell steadily thereafter … I did puddle around with OGREISH for a little while trying to make ERGO work for something until the penny dropped to split it out a little further.
Hamish, we do call it a PINOT over here (for the Pinot Noir only – tend to fully say Pinot Grigio, etc.) – but why have it when the world’s best Shiraz lives here :). Having said that, it was my second to last one in – will defer to you guys as to whether a PINT can be referred to as a glass.
UPKEEP was last.