By Mark Taylor
The solutions to 5 and 4 down are the partly abridged title of a classic reference work for 5a and the original author of the work. The clues at 4 and 5 down are anagrams of the author and the title.
ACROSS
1. Turf the chopped cabbage – it never goes well (4,3)
5. Readers of Gatherings ‘Inside’ loved it, or so they said! (7)
9. What it’s technically worth? How might we value literature? (4, 5)
10. Sit on the throne or, we hear, in the shower (5)
11. Freud’s personality, taking reason first, is therefore logical (4)
12. Ridgemill, variety unknown, consumed at BBQ (5,5)
14. Established poet Cummings gets top medal honour (6)
15. Twist-top beers (around the Top End) make special gifts (7)
16. The taxidermist’s expression of frustration (5,2)
18. Correct error (unknown) in planetary model (6)
20. Old flame, smash hit I sung for, put out (10)
21. Russian leader first to start attack: reprehensible (4)
24. 21a gutless, bottle, losing face in struggle (5)
25. What desk jockeys might use to surf the web? (9)
26. Kindle enthusiasm, initially, about a revolutionary heading to the West (8)
27. Almost rub out calculation transposed by Renaissance scholar (7)
DOWN
1. Brush antelope (5)
2. Gordon’s disturbed by aussie idiots (7)
3. In Paris it’s everything, in Wimbledon, nothing (4)
4. Jurist link: Mr Law (7,6,2)
5. My font’s ‘E-estelle’ (8,2,5)
6. Baker Street boys: girls are UR confusion! (10)
7. Judgement from first offence: restrain by arms (7)
8. Tennis match makes records (7)
13. Restored hounds-tooth showed the way as fashionably modern (10)
16. Royal staff provide a strange form of respect (7)
17. First update initial network, then duplicate final code, to pull apart the thread (7)
19. OK, at first, to play guitar on railway platform (7)
22. Files have grating effects (5)
23. Dr Pepper upended – trouble after first sip (4)
SOLUTION
ACROSS 1 SODS LAW 5 EDITORS 9 BOOK VALUE 10 REIGN 11 ERGO 12 MIXED GRILL 14 ESTEEM 15 TALENTS 16 STUFF IT 18 ORRERY 20 EXTINGUISH 21 TSAR 24 TRIAL 25 KEYBOARDS 26 EREADER 27 ERASMUS
DOWN 1 SABLE 2 DRONGOS 3 LOVE 4 WILLIAM STRUNK JR 5 ELEMENTS OF STYLE 6 IRREGULARS 7 OPINION 8 SINGLES 13 NEWFANGLED 16 SCEPTRE 17 UNTWINE 19 ROSTRUM 22 RASPS 23 SODA