8.5 minutes on the clock for this medium difficulty puzzle, which doesn't do too much out of the ordinary cryptically (assuming that you've seen the "in prime positions" device before - but I reckon it probably pops up at least as often as the Rev Spooner these days) but has some unusual vocab and oblique definitions to contend with.
FOI 5ac and then 17ac, LOI 18dn after the "MULCHAN? MALCHUN? Ohhhh!" penny finally and quite satisfyingly dropped. Not sure if the 13ac and 17ac combination indicates that the setter has been on a fitness drive lately... or perhaps they've decided to inflict harder puzzles on us going forward?
Clue of the day to 14dn for being an excellently fun and unlikely-looking word. Familiarity-breeds-contempt award to 23dn which seems to have been popping up everywhere lately. Though I'm sure Boise is very lovely at this time of year...
ACROSS
1 Corporal drunk in charge when guarding master (7)
SOMATIC - SOT I/C [drunk | in charge] when guarding MA [master]
5 Somebody's mum pinched by sexist? (3,4)
BIG SHOT - SH [mum] pinched by BIGOT [sexist?]
9 Make laws on introduction of inflammable rubbish (9)
LEGISLATE - LEG [on] + I{nflammable} + SLATE [rubbish, as in "to pan"]
10 Prime letters for clueing a single Italian (5)
LUIGI - the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th letters of {c}LU{e}I{n}G + I [a single]
11 Important vitamin fed to young animal (5)
FOCAL - C [vitamin] fed to FOAL [young animal]
12 Extreme difficulty with fit on small loose garment (5,4)
SHELL SUIT - HELL [extreme difficulty] with SUIT [fit], on S [small]
13 Socrates' usual complicated challenge for division? (7,6)
ASSAULT COURSE - (SOCRATES' USUAL*) ["complicated"]. A challenge "for division" not mathematically, but in the sense that soldiers conventionally have to undertake it.
17 Pervert acts as his mood changes (4-9)
SADO-MASOCHIST - (ACTS AS HIS MOOD*) ["changes"]
21 Line-up so worried about Times sacking? (9)
EXPULSION - (LINE UP SO*) ["worried"] about X [times]
24 John with odd bits of foam sponge (5)
LOOFA - LOO [john] with F{o}A{m}
25 Artist's champ (5)
MUNCH - double def
26 Brandy man on beer, drinking very quietly (9)
APPLEJACK - JACK [man] on ALE [beer], "drinking" PP [very quietly]
27 Party enforcing six-pack ban? It's not possible (2,3,2)
NO CAN DO - a DO is a party; supposing that beer were to be prohibited at it, it could be a "no-can" do.
28 Old Frenchman's grazing cattle finally moving forward (7)
PASTEUR - PASTUR{<-E} [grazing cattle, with the last letter moving two spaces closer to the start of the word.]
DOWN
1 Primarily sold packed lunches in fast food joint (6)
SPLIFF - S{old} P{acked} L{unches} I{n} F{ast} F{ood}
2 Tricky staff? (5,4)
MAGIC WAND - cryptic def
3 Hollow skins left in Tuesday's scraps (7)
TUSSLES - S{kin}S L [left], in TUES [Tuesday]
4 Attendants from Europe breaking frame I chucked out (9)
CHASSEURS - EUR [Europe] "breaking" CHASS{i}S [frame, with its I "chucked out"]
5 Mark's first wife overlooked by brother (5)
BREVE - EVE [the first ever wife] overlooked by BR [brother]
6 Old scientist from Middle Eastern lake, briefly over (7)
GALILEO - GALILE{e} [Middle Eastern lake, "briefly"] + O [over]
7 After vacation, homework at uni contains first-class poem (5)
HAIKU - H{omewor}K + U [uni] "contains" A1 [first-class]
8 Finally bet on neither odd number (8)
THIRTEEN - {be}T on (NEITHER*) ["odd"]
14 College works to introduce new electronic notes? (9)
TECHNOPOP - TECH OP OP [college | works (x2) ] "to introduce" N [new]
15 Intelligent European principle (9)
RATIONALE - RATIONAL E [intelligent | European]
16 Savings at an end: it stops celebrity backing spender with lowbrow tastes (5,3)
ESSEX MAN - {saving}S + SEX [it] "stops" reversed NAME [celebrity "backing"]
18 Marshall in LA worked with 25 (7)
MCLUHAN - (LA + MUNCH*) ["worked"]
19 Hush after street leaves complaint (7)
ILLNESS - {st}ILLNESS [hush, after ST (street) leaves]
20 One who fails to beat king and queen (6)
TANKER - TAN K + ER [to beat | king + queen]
22 Anxiety relating to certain countries that's not his (5)
PANIC - {his}PANIC [relating to certain countries, that doesn't have its HIS]
23 State bore recalled stopping Nixon regularly (5)
IDAHO - reversed HAD [bore "recalled"] "stopping" {n}I{x}O{n}
FOI 5ac and then 17ac, LOI 18dn after the "MULCHAN? MALCHUN? Ohhhh!" penny finally and quite satisfyingly dropped. Not sure if the 13ac and 17ac combination indicates that the setter has been on a fitness drive lately... or perhaps they've decided to inflict harder puzzles on us going forward?
Clue of the day to 14dn for being an excellently fun and unlikely-looking word. Familiarity-breeds-contempt award to 23dn which seems to have been popping up everywhere lately. Though I'm sure Boise is very lovely at this time of year...
ACROSS
1 Corporal drunk in charge when guarding master (7)
SOMATIC - SOT I/C [drunk | in charge] when guarding MA [master]
5 Somebody's mum pinched by sexist? (3,4)
BIG SHOT - SH [mum] pinched by BIGOT [sexist?]
9 Make laws on introduction of inflammable rubbish (9)
LEGISLATE - LEG [on] + I{nflammable} + SLATE [rubbish, as in "to pan"]
10 Prime letters for clueing a single Italian (5)
LUIGI - the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th letters of {c}LU{e}I{n}G + I [a single]
11 Important vitamin fed to young animal (5)
FOCAL - C [vitamin] fed to FOAL [young animal]
12 Extreme difficulty with fit on small loose garment (5,4)
SHELL SUIT - HELL [extreme difficulty] with SUIT [fit], on S [small]
13 Socrates' usual complicated challenge for division? (7,6)
ASSAULT COURSE - (SOCRATES' USUAL*) ["complicated"]. A challenge "for division" not mathematically, but in the sense that soldiers conventionally have to undertake it.
17 Pervert acts as his mood changes (4-9)
SADO-MASOCHIST - (ACTS AS HIS MOOD*) ["changes"]
21 Line-up so worried about Times sacking? (9)
EXPULSION - (LINE UP SO*) ["worried"] about X [times]
24 John with odd bits of foam sponge (5)
LOOFA - LOO [john] with F{o}A{m}
25 Artist's champ (5)
MUNCH - double def
26 Brandy man on beer, drinking very quietly (9)
APPLEJACK - JACK [man] on ALE [beer], "drinking" PP [very quietly]
27 Party enforcing six-pack ban? It's not possible (2,3,2)
NO CAN DO - a DO is a party; supposing that beer were to be prohibited at it, it could be a "no-can" do.
28 Old Frenchman's grazing cattle finally moving forward (7)
PASTEUR - PASTUR{<-E} [grazing cattle, with the last letter moving two spaces closer to the start of the word.]
DOWN
1 Primarily sold packed lunches in fast food joint (6)
SPLIFF - S{old} P{acked} L{unches} I{n} F{ast} F{ood}
2 Tricky staff? (5,4)
MAGIC WAND - cryptic def
3 Hollow skins left in Tuesday's scraps (7)
TUSSLES - S{kin}S L [left], in TUES [Tuesday]
4 Attendants from Europe breaking frame I chucked out (9)
CHASSEURS - EUR [Europe] "breaking" CHASS{i}S [frame, with its I "chucked out"]
5 Mark's first wife overlooked by brother (5)
BREVE - EVE [the first ever wife] overlooked by BR [brother]
6 Old scientist from Middle Eastern lake, briefly over (7)
GALILEO - GALILE{e} [Middle Eastern lake, "briefly"] + O [over]
7 After vacation, homework at uni contains first-class poem (5)
HAIKU - H{omewor}K + U [uni] "contains" A1 [first-class]
8 Finally bet on neither odd number (8)
THIRTEEN - {be}T on (NEITHER*) ["odd"]
14 College works to introduce new electronic notes? (9)
TECHNOPOP - TECH OP OP [college | works (x2) ] "to introduce" N [new]
15 Intelligent European principle (9)
RATIONALE - RATIONAL E [intelligent | European]
16 Savings at an end: it stops celebrity backing spender with lowbrow tastes (5,3)
ESSEX MAN - {saving}S + SEX [it] "stops" reversed NAME [celebrity "backing"]
18 Marshall in LA worked with 25 (7)
MCLUHAN - (LA + MUNCH*) ["worked"]
19 Hush after street leaves complaint (7)
ILLNESS - {st}ILLNESS [hush, after ST (street) leaves]
20 One who fails to beat king and queen (6)
TANKER - TAN K + ER [to beat | king + queen]
22 Anxiety relating to certain countries that's not his (5)
PANIC - {his}PANIC [relating to certain countries, that doesn't have its HIS]
23 State bore recalled stopping Nixon regularly (5)
IDAHO - reversed HAD [bore "recalled"] "stopping" {n}I{x}O{n}