Thanks to Basilisk. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Put out broadcast developed with no old characters (6)
PEEVED : Anagram of(broadcast) “developed” minus(with no) “old“(… characters).
Defn: Upset by someone.
4 Army limit a railway having one interchange (8)
MILITARY : Anagram of(… interchange) [LIMIT + RY(abbrev. for “railway”) plus(having) A(article for “one”/singular)].
9 Stop: I’m getting deep in trouble (6)
IMPEDE : Anagram of(… in trouble)[ I’M plus(getting) DEEP].
10 Men on International Court entering through station (8)
VICTORIA : {OR(abbrev. for “Other Ranks”/non-commissioned men in the military) placed after(on) [I(abbrev. for “International”) + CT(abbrev. for “Court”, as with building addresses)]} contained in(entering) VIA(through/by way of, as in “the train travels east via Victoria”).
Defn: Bus and train … in London.
12 Check unusually robust conclusions of scientific experiment (8)
OBSTRUCT : Anagram of(unusually) ROBUST + last letters, respectively, of(conclusions of) “scientific experiment“.
13 Tax banned rubbish bags retrospectively (6)
BURDEN : Hidden in(… bags) reversal of(… retrospectively) “banned rubbish“.
15 Drive off shortly after reversing car (4)
FORD : Reversal of(… after reversing) [DR(abbrev. for “Drive”, as with building addresses) + “off” minus its last letter(shortly)].
What’s in a name? A Car, of course.
16 Alluded to Red Guards fight over head of state (10)
REFERENCED : RED containing(Guards) [FENCE(to fight with swords or foils) containing(over) ER(abbrev. for “Elizabeth Regina”/head of state of the UK)].
19 Not happy with complaint covering limitations of poll (10)
DISPLEASED : DISEASED(with a complaint/suffering from a disease) containing(covering) 1st and last letters of(limitations of) “poll“.
20 What provides some personal support for chief? (4)
ARCH : Double defn: 1st: The curved portion of one’s foot that provides some support for one’s weight; and 2nd: Prefix to indicate the chief/the principal, as in “archbishop”.
23 Gloomy star conveying lines with little energy (6)
SULLEN : SUN(the star of our solar system) containing(conveying) [L,L(plural of a. “line”) + E(symbol for/”little” energy in physics)].
25 Uses right attitude to intervene in medical matter (8)
PURPOSES : [R(abbrev. for “right”) + POSE(an attitude/a stance)] contained in(to intervene in) PUS(thick liquid/matter from infected tissue/a medical condition).
27 Tested material cut in a revolutionary manner (8)
EXAMINED : Reversal of(… in a revolutionary manner) [DENIM(a course fabric/material typically used for jeans) + AXE(to cut/chop off literally, with a, well, axe, or figuratively)].
28 Doggerel essentially ruined Eliot’s name (6)
GEORGE : Anagram of(… ruined) all the inner letters of(… essentially) “Doggerel“.
Defn: …, or more accurately, pen name of the female English novelist.
29 Go through part of song by triphop’s premier artist (8)
TRAVERSE : VERSE(an important part of a song) placed after(by) [1st letter of(…’s premier) “triphop” + RA(a. “Royal Academecian”, an artist who is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts)].
30 Fashionable photograph verges on parody (6)
SNAPPY : SNAP(a picture/a photograph that’s, well, snapped with a camera) + 1st and last letters of(verges on) “parody“.
Down
1 Make couples broadcast despatch under pressure (4,3)
PAIR OFF : [AIR(to broadcast a programme over the radio or television) + OFF(…, as a verb/to kill/despatch someone)] placed below(under, in a down clue) P(symbol for “pressure” in physics).
2 Heartless attitude evident in former partner’s revelations (9)
EXPOSURES : Middle letter deleted from(Heartless) “posture”(attitude/stance) contained in(evident in) EX(one’s former partner in a romantic relationship)‘S .
Kiss and tell sexposures?
3 Objective solution for disorder’s not about to last (6)
ENDURE : END(an objective/an aim) + “cure”(solution/remedy for a disorder, such as a disease) minus(…’s not/has not) “c”(abbrev. for “circa”/about, when referring to years and other time periods).
5 Satirist reveals something the viewer wants to see (4)
IRIS : Hidden in(… reveals) “Satirist“.
Defn: Something the viewer/the eye wants/needs to function/to see.
6 Training run tired unauthorised entrant (8)
INTRUDER : Anagram of(Training) RUN TIRED.
7 Biting cold found in very dry surroundings (5)
ACRID : C(abbrev. for “cold”) contained in(found in) ARID(very dry surroundings, as with the conditions in a desert).
Defn: …/sharp- and strong-smelling or tasting.
8 Felt desire nobody on the far right merited (7)
YEARNED : Last letter of(… on the far right) “nobody” + EARNED(merited/received, having deserved it).
11 School promoted unchanged plans (7)
SCHEMAS : SCH(abbrev. for “School”) + reversal of(promoted, in a down clue) SAME(unchanged/as is).
14 Returns from place of religious instruction? (7)
REVENUE : [RE VENUE][a place/venue where an activity such as RE(abbrev. for “religious education”/instruction) is held].
Defn: Financial … from/in a commercial venture.
17 Sweetener in 60% of corruption cases succeeded in New York (4,5)
CORN SYRUP : 1st 6 letters out of 10 of(60% of) “corruption” containing (cases) [S(abbrev. for “succeeded”) contained in(in) NY(abbrev. for New York)].
18 One confined by banks depressed about reversal of policy (4,4)
BLUE NILE : BLUE(feeling depressed/sad) containing(about) reversal of(reversal of) LINE(policy/a prescribed course of action or behaviour, as in “toe the line or get fired”).
Defn: …, ie. a river between its bank; this one is in Africa.
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… not so confined in some parts of its journey.
19 Express opposition to dictator’s decline (7)
DISSENT : Homophone of(dictator’s/what it sounds like when someone giving dictation means to say …) “descent”(a decline/a decrease).
21 Yorkshire making regular deductions arranged cover for members (7)
HOSIERY : Anagram of(… arranged) [“Yorkshire” minus its 4th and 8th letters(making regular deductions)].
Defn: …, in this case, the legs.
22 Anger about record being overturned is marked (6)
SPLEEN : Reversal of(… being overturned, in a down clue) LP(abbrev. for a “long-playing record”/a disc storing sound, to be played at 33? rpm) contained in(about … is) SEEN(marked/noted).
24 Inhuman South American priest’s reported (5)
LLAMA : Homophone of(…’s reported) “Lama”(a Tibetan Buddhist monk/priest).
Defn: …/a non-human native to South America.
Do we have an antibody to neutralise Covid 19?
26 All-points bulletin? (4)
NEWS : N,E,W,S(abbrev. for “north”,”east”,”west” and “south” respectively, all 4 main points of the compass).
Defn: … a broadcast summary of news. And “all-points bulletin” is a term, with a more specific meaning, used by police in the US.
Not quite as tricky as I’d expected from Basilisk today, but as enjoyable as ever. I even appear to have spotted a mini theme going on with some of the solutions but I could be wrong
Thanks to Basilisk and Scchua
Had a different parsing for 4a. I had A RY (a railway) following MILIT (LIMIT with a single interchange, i.e. that of L & M).
Like crypticsue, I found this easy for a Basilisk but, despite looking, couldn’t see a theme/hidden extra which you tend to expect from this setter.
As always, wonderfully constructed clues with some nice touches such as in the clueing for 4a and 21d. Loved it.
Thanks to Basilisk and scchua.
All correct, and spotted the theme – crosses. Not terribly difficult, but that’s ok as I’m struggling with Soup.
Thanks NNI. Now you mention it, lots of solutions associated with “cross” in one way or another. Drat! Should have noticed that. The icing on the cake (not that I like icing, but you know what I mean).
All of the across solutions (appropriately enough) have a ‘cross’ association, in various senses of the word. Very enjoyable trying to spot them all.
Thanks to scchua and Basilisk
I knew that something was happening here, so well done to those who spotted what was going on (not me!).
I agree with Hovis about the parsing of 4ac (very subtle).
However, funny enough, I didn’t like the other one he mentioned, 21d (HOSIERY), even if I had no problem to find the answer after some crossers.
The deletion is, although kind of ‘regular’, too random for me. Deleting two characters from an 11-letter word would have been much neater, in my opinion.
Many thanks to scchua & Basilisk.
Thanks Basiisk and scchua.
It’s not just that all the aCROSS solutions can be associated with CROSS, there are also two of them in the grid.
Don’t forget that in another recent puzzle (possibly a Telegraph Toughie) all the solutions had a Y in them, and there were two Ys in the grid.
I think he commented then that he was often inspired to find themes linked to shapes in the grid.
Simon S @7
Not the TT, it was last Thursday’s Serpent in the Indy.
Thanks Gaufrid
Many thanks for the illustrated blog scchua and to everyone who has been kind enough to comment. This is indeed another puzzle with a ghost theme inspired by the block pattern.
Many thanks to both. Of course I missed the theme as was looking at the general “downer” theme of many of the across clues. Um, SimonS@7, there are three crosses in the answers – Military, Victoria and George. We might also consider a “news” cross.
Mystogre @ 11
I wasn’t referring to the answers, I was referring to the *grid*, specifically to the shapes in the squares between columns 6-8 & rows 1-3, then C8-10/ R13-15 : + is a cross.
But there are also two minus signs in the grid, and even four that could be seen as X (multiplication).
So, while I like, appreciate and admire Serpent’s way of dealing with this, I wasn’t fully convinced today.
But then, he cannot construct his own grid in the FT.
Just has to choose what comes close.
Thanks Basilisk and scchua
Challenging and enjoyable crossword with a theme that completely bypassed me – even though there was a ‘subconscious noting’ of a couple of the ‘cross words’. A good variety of devices used throughout and some trickily disguised definitions – particularly liked the three subtraction anagrams that were all slightly different. Parsed 4a as per hovis@2 and thought that it was another excellent clue, when the parsing penny dropped.
Finished in the SE corner with PURPOSES (one of those tricky definitions), REVENUE and ARCH (kept trying to find a pair of shoes called ‘chiefs’ for way too long!)