Solving Time: about 50 minutes, ie just a fraction quicker than average for me. This blog is a bit later than usual, because entries have to be in by the last Thursday of the month, ie yesterday. So rather unusually, we already have another club monthly, out today! Why do we need to have a "crossword of the month" competition, when we have these? :-)


cd = cryptic definition, dd = double definition, rev = reversed, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as *(--)

Across
1	can of worms - *(FOR WOMAN) in civil service = CS
6	dsos - DELIVERIES + help us = SOS. A dso is a hybrid yak/cow, especially useful to setters since it can also be spelt zho, zo, dzho, zobo, zobu, dsobo or dzo.. not to mention the female, zhomo dsomo or jomo. So, you will see it again before long!
9	sheriffdom - very loudly = FF + party = DO in female border = SHE RIM
10	aqua - PARAQUAT. Aqua is just latin for water, and is especially beloved of cosmetic manufacturers, since using it instead of water in the ingredients list makes it more difficult to see what a ripoff most cosmetics really are
12	agalmatolite - A GAL + O LIT. in china = MATE. The word itself being various materials from which chinese figurines were carved, before they all moved on to producing cheap electrical tat
15	wheelback - with = W, + CABLE + EH? both rev., + K = king
17	laari - L + A + ARID
18	reiki - SPIKIER rev., for today's quack medicine
19	ultra-high - hard = H in *(U + HAT GIRL)
20	Jordan almond - *(OLD MAJOR + N + AND)
24	syce - unknown = Y in S{PA}CE
25	lofexidine - see = LO + FAROESE + team = XI + DINE = eat. A drug used as a heroin and opiate substitute
26	swad - directions = SW + PARADING
27	genethliac - L + I, in GENET + HACK. The "old" refers to the word itself, which is obsolete, not to Jean Genet who by crossword standards is recent indeed
Down
1	cusp - second = S in CUP
2	nief - SAFE INSTINCTIVELY, rev. I tend to see hidden clues either immediately or not for ages, and this was one of the latter. Nief, or more commonly nieve, is a dialect word meaning fist (= duke)
3	fringillidae - band = RING in plug = FILL, + papers = ID + RATED. One of the very few bird families I knew, the so called "true finches," including the chaffinch.
4	offal - poorly = OFF + ALL = "completely inadequate." Neat clue
5	Mao jacket - *(OATCAKE + JAM). Habit in the sense of dress of course, another neatly constructed clue
7	saquinavir - I can't quite get this one. St Thomas evidently = AQUINAS. Perhaps the "cycling" is intended to indicate that the S is to be moved from the back to the front? And then followed by VICAR, with the about = CA removed. Since the surface reading is also rather hard to picture, this does seem a less than perfect clue.
8	stage right - "gathering of just men" = STAG NIGHT, with the N replaced by our own dear queen, ER.
11	pollyannaish - election year = POLL + Y, + back to back articles = AN NA, + one = I + peace = SH. "Pollyannaish" really means nothing more than looking on the bright side of things, but it seems there is hardly a word that someone can't make pejorative. The original novel from which the term originates is a classic of children's literature, albeit more for its content than its literary style. You can read it here
13	swarajists - clash = JAR rev. in middle section = WAIST. All inside vessel = SS. So, S(WA(RAJ)IST)S
14	peritricha - one agent = I REP rev., + T + loaded = RICH + A = blood type. Peritricha are cheerful looking protozoa.
16	a cut above - this seems to be *(ABOUT + V) in ACE, which is a one and may be a club, hence the question mark.. but the surface would make no more or less sense if the word club were omitted.
21	mneme - Parisian's missus = MME, containing NE which is the French word for in = EN, rev.
22	ziti - I + TIZZ, rev.
23	aesc - the first letters of Another's Embrace So Cosy