Quite a lot of this one reads like a cryptic series of headlines on the affairs of the day, though whether that’s deliberate on the part of the setter or the imaginings of the shell-shocked solver’s brain is probably irresolvable. It struck me as a medium to quite a bit tough solve, and stretched me and my determination to parse everything on the way through to 32 minutes (and two seconds button clicking response time). A substantial aspect of the challenge is, in many cases, identifying the definition – 19ac providing a case in point.
I have provided the usual clue, definition, SOLUTION coding to provide clarity, and my usual tortured syntax to undo all that good work. Errors and omissions expected.
Across
1 Wolf, perhaps, hunted bird (4-4)
WILD FOWL One of those clues where the answer is potentially another clue. Wild fowl might be the word play for WOLF. On the surface, can he mean The Donald?
5 Make stronger complaint before judge (4,2)
BEEF UP Complaint as in Chandler detective stories “what’s the BEEF”, and UP as in standing before the judge. I went to one of those schools with a merry discipline procedure called “Up Pres”, where one was judged by the entire prefect corps for minor offences such as talking in the Abbey or eating in the street. On my third such offence in the entire time at the school, I was told I was “carving myself a record”. By jingo, it still stings to this day.
Oh, and the surface surely references Trump’s other hobby.
9 Spoon about to be used with pasta (8)
CANOODLE “By the light of the silvery moon, I want to spoon, to my honey I'll croon love's tune”. Canoodle neither rhymes nor scans, but may still be the way Donald describes his favourite hobby. CA about (short for circa) and NOODLE for pasta
10 No point backing old preacher (6)
BUNYAN Author of Pilgrim’s Progress, which he conceived while in prison for preaching without a licence in the 1660’s. A reverse of NAY NUB, no point. Of the original Republican candidates, Mike Huckabee, I believe, would fit the surface of clue but not the wordplay
12 Swallow heading off to find some warmth? (3,2)
EAT UP find some warmth gives HEAT UP, from which you remove the “heading”
13 One encouraging followers of Democrat to tweet in support (4,5)
PIED PIPER The mass child abductor of Hamelin so “one encouraging followers” formed for D(emocrat), PIPE (tweet) place inside PIER (support). Nothing to do with Hillary, then.
14 Cry of desperation as girl cornered by dog (3,5,4)
FOR PETES SAKE. The girl is TESSA, the dog a PEKE, which leaves “as” to provide FOR and a simple assembly job
18 What can raise stature of travelling rep most of all? (8,4)
PLATFORM SOLE An anagram (“travelling”) of REP MOST OF ALL. A scarcely veiled reference to the rise and rise of (occasional REPublican) The Donald. Dammit.
21 Fine fellow in train heading to West country (9)
MACEDONIA Our setter proves here (and elsewhere) he can do “street” just as well as Honey G, for ACE translates fine. DON is fellow, and the two are retained by AIM for train (think archery) reversed
23 How to conquer one’s opponent, ultimately? (5)
WORST (It’s a verb). My last in, because in these circumstance you have to parse before entry. And I forgot that “ultimately” sometimes means the last letters of all the words, in this case of the title of Trump’s memoir of the campaign.
24 What you could make on raid? (6)
INROAD. An &lit with an unlikely-looking anagram of ON RAID
25 Lower classes engaged fellow in series of challenges? (8)
DEFIANCE The lower classes are D and E, and the engaged fellow is a FIANCE. Make up your own political connection: I don’t want to get sued.
26 Threaten to go out fighting at the end, say (6)
GUTTER This thing really is about Trump and Clinton after all. Though the wordplay is the end of fighting and UTTER for say. To make sense of threaten to go out = gutter, think Candle in the Wind, your earworm for today. Sorry.
27 Minor country artist a telethon includes (8)
STATELET Hidden in artiST A TELEThon.
Down
1 Sort of basket that’s excellent — right for daughter (6)
WICKER Our Setter down and dirty again, with excellent translating to WICKED. Once you have that, substitute D(aughter) with R(ight)
2 Leave never-ending trash after emptying yard, maybe (6)
LENGTH Another one of those clues where the instruction “Emptying” includes all the words, so LeavE Never-endinG TrasH.
3 Game of pool? For sure! (9)
FOOLPROOF Game indicates this is an anagram, of OF POOL FOR. I think I can make game mean “rearranged” but I’m keeping my reasoning secret.
4 Refreshing coverage of fifties journal in opening flourish (12)
WALLPAPERING My initial biff on this was ILLUMINATION, the florid letter at the beginning of a fancy bit of calligraphy. Clever, eh? Pity about the parsing, which for the real answer is fifties LL + journal PAPER + in IN, all contained in flourish WAG.
6 Fit of pique? (5)
EQUIP as in fit out. I think the anagram indicator for PIQUE is just the question mark, but it’s possible that fit is doing double duty.
7 Smart sons beg mister to stop buzzing? (3,5)
FLY SPRAY What a fine hidden-in-plain-sight definition! Smart: FLY, S(ons) beg: PRAY
8 Cooked a certain way, in a day, glazed on the outside (3-5)
PAN FRIED A day is rendered as FRI, and then set inside PANED, slightly whimsical for glazed.
11 Present for camper, perhaps, includes small, uninspiring books (3,9)
NEW TESTAMENT A decent enough present for a camper would be a NEW TENT, and the necessary insertion is derived from S(mall) TAME (for uninspiring)
15 Time to put an end to very mean fellow’s game (4,5)
SOLO WHIST A very mean person would be SO LOW, and fellows produces HIS. Now if you only had T(ime).. ah, there’s lucky. Trumps, of course, are a feature of the game.
16 Inappropriately sending up plots associated with Dynasty (8)
SPAMMING A close description of The Donald’s election strategy to end the hegemony of dynastic White House occupancy. And also MAPS (plots, verb) up, and the MING dynasty
17 Sponsor, we hear, to desert game (8)
BACCARAT Today’s soundzalotlike BACKER for sponsor (noun) and RAT, desert
19 Sultanate one deserts for large Kingdom? (6)
BRUNEL, as in Isambard Kingdom. BRUNEI is the Sultanate that gives up its roman I for L(arge)
20 Bowled in a cricket match in most favourable conditions (2,4)
AT BEST And today’s cricket references in honour of India v England. A cricket match (especially this sort, is A TEST, a B is the scorecard abbreviation for bowled, one of the 10 ways of a player who is in being out, in which case he goes back in until it’s time for his team to come out again.
22 One famously kept bowling partner for a duck (5)
DRAKE Sir Francis playing boule on Plymouth Hoe, allegedly, before tackling the Armada, or indeed the partner of a duck.