Across
Animated picture returned with wee statuette (8)
Expert professional solver cracks wordplay ahead of time (6)
Revolutionary surrealist inspiring one urban myth (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
DALI (Salvador Dali, Spanish surrealist artist) reversed (revolutionary), containing (inspiring = breathing in) I (one in Roman numerals). A myth about a city: Homer’s epic poem about Troy.
Age immediately following prohibition era in US (6-3)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Cryptic definition: US residents are prohibited from buying alcoholic drinks until they are 21. The US Prohibition era (a failed attempt to outlaw alcoholic drinks altogether) was 1920-1933: our setter may also be hinting at 1921 as the year after it started, rather than strictly after the era.
Repeat Phi puzzle in publication (3,1,5)
Some illicit rendezvous get discussed online (5)
Fellow like a certain piper is followed (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
CO (prefix co-, as in “co-worker” = fellow) + PIED (like the Pied Piper of Hamelin).
Being this might make Spooner say "Bunk off? Whatever for?" (7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Spoonerism of SHIRK (bunk off = avoid work) + WHY (whatever for?). Extended definition: workshy = inclined to avoid work.
Pastry cook reduced hot liquid (7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
BAK [e] (cook in an oven) without the last letter (reduced), then LAVA (molten rock = hot liquid). A dessert from the region around Greece and Turkey: layered pastry with chopped nuts and honey.
Chill spike ultimately following low temperatures? (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Last letters (ultimately) from [chil] L [spik] E , after I C (1 degree Celsius = just above freezing) twice (low temperatures, plural). Clue-as-definition (&lit): a spike of ice created when dripping water freezes.
Couple finally dropping off obscure relative (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
UNCLE [ar] (obscure), with the last two letters (a couple, finally) dropping off.
Sellers of beauty products carrying uniform around explosive event (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
AVON REPS (sales representatives for Avon, multinational cosmetics company), containing U (Uniform in the radio alphabet), all reversed (around).
Sharing a tip, star signs books here (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
LIBRA + ARIES (two star signs), sharing the letter A which is at one end (tip) of each word.
Such fruit passed round back of car (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
DIED (passed, euphemistically) around the end letter (back) of [ca] R . Dried fruit as opposed to fresh, frozen or canned fruit.
See 21 Down
Dodgy come-ons landing male in hot water? (8)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Anagram (dodgy) of COME-ONS , containing (landing = acquiring) M (abbreviation for male). It might look like a comment on a recent UK news story, but to be fair there seems to be a new case of this sort of thing almost every week. Clear soup: not exactly “hot water”, but those who prefer something more substantial might describe it as such.
Down
Bold fellow starts to exercise in animal enclosure (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
F (abbreviation for fellow, as in FRS) + starting letters of E [xercise] I [n] + STY (an enclosure for pigs).
Cop following lead tips off local expert (5,4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
BOOK (cop, as a verb = slang for arrest) after GUIDE (lead, as a verb). A book of advice for tourists from someone who knows the area.
Once again do up a derelict complex (11)
Place to jot down two potential answers to "A flat?" (7)
Method for extending life lapped up by Methuselah (1,1,1)
One serving queen or Medici, perhaps? (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
We need to split “Medici” into MEDIC + I = DR (abbreviation for doctor) + ONE . A male bee: one “serving” the queen in the reproductive sense, rather than a worker.
Stray stayed with us several times a month (8)
Bloke taking drink which may scald tongue (6)
Time machine transports rank little creatures with eight legs (11)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
TARDIS (the time machine from TV’s Doctor Who ), containing (transporting) GRADE (rank). Microscopic eight-legged creatures.
Argument on premises burst gym's lilos (9)
Arab king's flat guarded by a bit of muscle, I see (8)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
DULL (flat = uninteresting), contained in (guarded by) AB (part of the abs = short for abdominal muscles) + AH (ah! = I see! = an expression indicating understanding). King Abdullah II of Jordan, I presume.
Texan city a famous Georgian proclaimed (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Sound-alike (proclaimed) of AUSTEN (Jane Austen, writer from the Georgian era).
Writer's old love laying it on thick (7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
I’M (the writer is) + PAST (old) + O (zero = love in tennis scoring). Painting technique, typically in oils, in which paint is applied thickly to achieve texture (often with a knife) rather than smoothing out the surface.
28a
(and 28 Across) Terribly exhausted locksmith declared "no rest for the wicked" (6,6)
Taxi driver getting the knowledge embracing one secretive group (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
CAB (taxi) + L (as in L-plate = symbol of a driver under instruction = driver getting the knowledge), around A (one).
Old president not quite retired (3)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
ABE [d] (having retired to bed), without the last letter (not quite). Short name for Abraham Lincoln, past US President.
Type letters or click words in the clue