I think I might preface my remarks by suggesting a game of guess who. In at least four rows of the grid there are, in the two answers combined, what appear to be hints to particular individuals. Try the ones starting 13, 18, 25 and (most mysterious of all) 27.
Such musings might add to the enjoyment of an otherwise rather humdrum set which I polished off in a tad over 16 minutes.
I am indebted to the setter for 23, which headed off my normal mis-spelling with a U. I’m also indebted for not producing any words that I don’t either know or can’t make up.
I have provided my reasoning below with my usual clues, definitions and SOLUTIONS.
ACROSS
1Check track, one going out for two miles east (7)
TRAMMEL Check in the sense of hinder. Track is TRAIL, change the I into 2x M(iles) + E(ast)
5 Woman feels spite, regularly put off (5)
ELSIE My aunt, as it happens, spelled with every other letter of fEeLs SpItE
9 Winner not needing soldiers after end of battle to turn out (5)
EVICT Our winning VICTOR no longer needs the OR soldiers, not after the end of battlE
10 Hesitation about pretty covering is necessary (9)
REQUISITE Hesitation ER, reversed (about) and followed by QUITE for pretty, containing IS. Pretty good, in case you were wondering
11 Reversals of policy quietly being introduced to bring improvements (7)
UPTURNS U-TURNS are the reversals of policy, P the quiet insertion. I have always thought that a politician who u-turns on realising his/her policy is stupid or demonstrably wrong deserves more credit than ladies who are not for turning. Of course, I could be wrong.
12 Degeneration of a younger wife? (7)
ATROPHY Think the latest Mrs Trump.
13 Fighting group runs volunteers: favoured, assuredly (3,7)
FOR CERTAIN Fighting group: FORCE, R(uns) volunteers T(erritorial) A(rmy), favoured: IN
15 Goat in the French church (4)
LECH French for the: LE, + CH(urch). LECH is derived from lecher, a lewd, grab ‘em by the pussy sort of person.
18 Dull expert, speaker finally restricted (4)
DRAB A DAB hand of an expert with speakeR “restricted”.
20 Author's predicament, having to keep wife in Scottish town (10)
PLAYWRIGHT A matrioshka, W(ife) inside AYR (still Scottish, I believe, if not in Caithness), inside PLIGHT for predicament. No complaints about unknown writers, then.
23 Love being in that place with head of maths — learning this? (7)
THEOREM Love is tennish for 0. Pushed into that place THERE, and with the “head” of Maths
24 Quick swim by jetty is less sensible (7)
DIPPIER DIP for quick swim and PIER for jetty
25Rotten tree woman stumbles over (4-5)
WORM EATEN Our first anagram (stumbles over) of the day, TREE WOMAN
26 Commander keeping order and making folk laugh? (5)
COMIC Of the possible commanders, this one’s CIC, the Order is of Merit
27Strip game bishop should abstain from (5)
RIDGE Not the first synonym for strip I thought of, but to get it remove the B(ishop) from BRIDGE.
28 Start to read crime novelist, one with discursive style? (7)
RAMBLER R(ead) plus AMBLER. Eric was more of a thriller/spy story writer, though he also wrote the script for Yangtse Incident: The Story of HMS Amethyst. I suppose spying is still a crime.
DOWN
1 Oliver starts to experience regret as a crook? (7)
TWISTER full marks if you saw Oliver and thought TWIST. Add the first letters of Experience Regret.
2 Vessels in lake — skill's needed to go round it (8)
ARTERIES The lake in question is ERIE, the rest is ARTS for skills. Ignore the apostrophe.
3 Society weighed down by additional customs (5)
MORES S9ociety) under MORE for additional
4 Use of many words, see, as with large community (9)
LOQUACITY See: LO, as: QUA, large community CITY
5 English difficulty about good person forced to leave? (6)
EMIGRE E(nglish) + difficulty MIRE about G(ood)
6 Pages kept in step, creating a dotty effect (7)
STIPPLE Two P(ages) inside STILE for step.
7 You may get upset about cricket side, producing a lamentation (5)
ELEGY From your glossary of cricket terms extract LEG (aka on) and wrap in YE, for you “upset”
8 Rejected, but shone once more? (8)
REBUFFED Two definitions, buff in the sense of rub to a shine
14 Surveyor's instrument repositioned in the hollowed out elm tree (9)
TELEMETER ThE is “hollowed out”, followed by an anagram of ELMTREE.
16 That peculiar strain leading to sporting success (3,5)
HAT TRICK As produced (unbelievably) by Fernando Llorente for Spurs against the mighty Rochdale last night. An anagram of THAT followed by RICK for strain.
17 Very hot in April and Oct. unusually (8)
TROPICAL An anagram (“unusually”) of APRIL and OCT, perhaps made more obvious by one of them being an abbreviation.
19 Said to 'esitate when meeting danger signal (7)
AVERRED The danger signal is RED, and the AVER I think must be (H)AVER, not (W)AVER as indicated by the missing H in ‘esitate.
21 More unhappy maiden covered in dirt (introduction to rugby) (7)
GRIMMER The dirt covering the M(aide) is GRIME, + the first letter of Rugby.
22 Country match, not the first outside city area (6)
GREECE Match gives you AGREE, knock of the first letter, insert EC (post code) for (London) City area
23Rope perhaps in notorious place of execution? (5)
TOWER A rope might be that which tows. My Grandfather used to delight in singing “With ‘er ‘ead tucked underneath ‘er arm she walked the Bloody Tower” almost certainly because he couldn’t be criticised for using a rude word in front of us impressionable children. See also “On a tree by a river a little tom tit, sang willow, tit willow , tit willow”, from The Mikado, or the Town of Titipu.
24 Material this person's buried under hideaway (5)
DENIM This person’s I’M under the hideaway DEN