No 11850, Saturday 12 Nov 2016, Anon

ACROSS

1 Branch in all directions or stay put (5,6) STICK AROUND  {STICK}{AROUND}

9 Trigger the French alarm (7) STARTLE  {START}{LE}

10 Contemporary odd moron frames lyric (6) MODERN {M{ODE}oRoN}

11 Swirl around pole will nauseate (5) REPEL {RE{P}EL}

12 A langur becomes thin (7) ANGULAR*

15 Almost wreck unorthodox company (4) CREW {WRECk}*

16 Restorers of Paris oddly shelter book (10) PRESERVERS {Pa{RESERVE}RiS}

18 Kidnapped editor beyond Chinese city (10) SHANGHAIED {SHANGHAI}{ED}

20 Steal European cloak (4) ROBE {ROB}{E}

23 Authoritative head of committee put setter in charge (7) CANONIC {Committee}{ANON}{IC}

24 One domain expert (5) ADEPT {A}{DEPT}

26 Asian writer returns with a hollow lathi (6) NEPALI {PEN<=}{A}{LathI}

27 Unacceptable couple of litchis in salad (7) TABOOLI {TABOO}{LItchis}

28 Hero cooks potato rings (11) PROTAGANIST* PROTOGANIST*  PROTAGONIST* (Edited) See comments

DOWN

2 Shred leader tactfully in headline (6) TITTLE {TIT{Tactfully}LE}

3 Prompted to finish off dickens on return (4) CUED {DEUCe<=}

4 Bill to delegate control (10) ADMINISTER {AD}{MINISTER}

5 Original group members, past their prime, keep watch (3,5) OLD GUARD {OLD}{GUARD}

6 Hurried back at speed to explain (7) NARRATE {RAN<=}{RATE}

7 Banishment of music of movie on discrimination (9)  OSTRACISM {OST}{RACISM}

8 Small but sufficient specimen (6) SAMPLE {S}{AMPLE}

13 Co-ordinating instrument when I croon (10) ORGANISNG {ORGAN}{I}{SING}

14 Confirm that I can rest at first at sea (9) ASCERTAIN {I CAN REST At}*

17 Illiterate policeman, on return, to yell (9) IGNORANT {IG}{ON<=}{RANT}

19 Enthusiast with friend in Jaguar? Not odd (7) AMATEUR {jA{MATE}gUaR}

21 Mineral almost disappeared from US city (6) OREGON {ORE}{GONe}

22 Garbage collectors’ clothes include source of oxygen (6) GARBOS {GARB{Oxygen}S}

25 Stupefy good man and peacekeepers (4) STUN {ST}{UN}

GRID