As Chaturvasi mentioned we are over to Sankalak today and the change is perceptible .....
ACROSS
1 - The prevailing circumstances need a fresh, safe staff ratio (5,2,7) - STATE OF AFFAIRS*
8 - Half a moment that is totally empty (6) - {MO}{IE}{T(-otall)Y} Totally new word for me
9 - One like Ferdinand whose death sparked a great war (8) - ARCHDUKE [CD]
11 - Passe, churlish, Chief Engineer may get what he needs from someone else (9) - {OUT}{SOUR}{CE}
12 - Extinct birds are so odd, somehow (5) - DODOS*
13 - Thralldom, say, in deceptive garb (7) - SLAVERY Anno eludes me (Addendum with help from Chaturvasi SL{AVER}Y )
15 - Buy food to eat at home (4,3) - TAKE OUT [CD]
17 - City Improvement Trust involved in a genuine performance (7) RE{CIT}AL
19 - Protection from slipping after a shower (4,3) - BATH MAT [CD]
21 - A meeting to discuss the Foreign Office spirit (5) - {FO}{RUM}
23 - Factional race isn’t a novelty (9) - SECTARIAN This appears in 14D which is a no-no in crosswords
25 - A game involving amphibian progress (8) - {LEAP}{FROG} This should have been shown as (4-4) as it is a hyphenated word
26 - He works for a club and with clubs (6) - CADDIE [DD]
27 - Designed to reduce sweat, it traps painter in disarray (14) - ANTPERSPIRANT*
DOWN
1 - A call to court (7) - SUMMONS [CD]
2 - A soldier’s beginning to turn into one who treats older people unfairly (5) - {A}{GIS}{T} Another new word for me
3 - Mover is hemmed in by one-time abstainer, one who likes company (9) - {EX}T{ROVER}T
4 - Prefer men to contain confusion? (7) - FERMENT [T]
5 - Greenfly, say, that a state concealed (5) - {AP}{HID} Why say?
6 - A rum word on destroying parasitic nematode (9) - ROUNDWORM*
7 - Wealthy high-flyers! (3,3) - JET SET [CD]
10 - System of weights? Right in a plaything! (4) - T{R}OY
14 - Make sure of a sectarian distribution (9) - ASCERTAIN*
16 - Ali, joining a North Indian dance, makes it South Indian (9) - {KATHAK}{ALI}
17 - Another glassful for laid-back convict, a drop of lemonade (6) - REFIL<-{L}
18 - The girl is so meticulous and graceful to an extent (7) - LISSOME [T]
19 - German composer returning in a hot taxi (4) - BAC<-{H}
20 - Brown man representing a ratio in a triangle (7) - {TAN}{GENT} or popularly known as TAN in Trigonometry
22 - Civilian clothes, not uniform (5) - MUFTI [CD]
24 - Indian god or part Indian-Egyptian god (5) - {IND}{RA}
5d: Say, because a greenfly is only an example or specimen of an aphid. An aphid could also be a blackfly.
ReplyDeleteLeapfrog - you may prefer to hypenate it but it's used also as one word. See Chambers.
Re SECTARIAN/ASCERTAIN: The compiler seems to have noticed that these two are anagrams of each other and used the answer of one clue in the clue of another. I do agree that usually compilers would avoid the use of a light in the wording of a clue.