The Sunday Crossword No 3084, Sunday 26 Jan 2020

REPUBLIC DAY GREETINGS

ACROSS
1   Refined charisma, a thing of the past (8) ARCHAISM*
5   With weapon? Not I packing heat (6) WARMTH {Wi{ARM}TH}
10 Composer with practically modest, humble dwelling (7) PURCELL {PURe}{CELL}
11 Rejecting queen, marquess turns philosopher (7) ERASMUS MARqUESS*
12 Ad-libs entrance, getting around playwright (5) IBSEN [T]
13 Section of cathedral undergoing renovation for a long time (5,4)  ORGAN LOFT {FOR+A+LONG+T}*

Organ loft at The Cathedral Notre Dame in Montreal

14 Australia hadn't thrown Test; England missing bowler – perhaps? End of story! (3,5,4) AND THATS THAT {A}{HADNT}*{TeST}{HAT}
18 ... but a stem cell could become salad ingredient (5,7) LAMBS LETTUCE*

21 Take advantage of past boyfriend when something goes bad (3-2,4) USE-BY DATE {USE}{BY}{DATE}
23 Get rid of quiet, accommodating Republican (5) ERASE {E{R}ASE}
24 Belittle English in German leaflet (7) DETRACT {D}{E}{TRACT}
25 Horny male wanting introduction, wearing come-hither look: withdraw! (4,3) PULL OUT {bULL} in {POUT}
26 Enjoy a condiment (6) RELISH [DD]
27 Pants with pockets (8) TROUSERS [DD]

DOWN
1   A posh couple’s help (2,4) AU PAIR {A}{U}{PAIR}
2   Short, extremely seemly gesture (6) CURTSY {CURT}{Se..lY}
3   A mountain range, a mountain range (9) APENNINES {A}{PEN}{NINES}
4   Decent type with soft heart, health for the most part failing (4,2,3,5) SALT OF THE EARTH {SOFT+HEART+HEALTh}*
6   Old-fashioned stove favoured once more (5) AGAIN {AGA}{IN}
7   Mania on vacation: '1,000 insects! Enormous creatures!' (8) MAMMOTHS {ManiA}{M}{MOTHS}
8   Think twice about abandoning cultivated aesthetic (8) HESITATE AESTHETIc*
9   Fabulous officer in range set out to discharge gunshot (8,6) SERGEANT PEPPER {RANGE+SET}*{PEPPER}
15 Scare about European Union suppressing retrograde imperial weight: blimey (5,4) SACRE BLEU {SCARE}*{LB<=}{EU}
16 Awkwardly struggle with fish (8) FLOUNDER [DD]

17 Take case from Edam before getting crackers and cheese (8) EMMENTAL {EdaM}{MENTAL}

19 Asian city where movie villain returns to get minerals (6) LAHORE {HAL<=}{ORE}
20 Tory PM’s barren lands (6) HEATHS [DD]
22 Stay up to let in eastern poet (5) YEATS {STA{E}Y<=}

Reference List
Queen = Q, Time = T, England = E, Republican = R, German = D, Posh = U, 1000 = M, About = C, Eastern = E