Times Cryptic No 27696 - Saturday, 20 June 2020. Fast start.

This looked for a while like an opportunity for a personal best. I wrote in clue after clue … then, two-thirds of the way through, I hit the wall. How do you all go? My only gripe is the obscure 4dn, where I couldn’t tell from the wordplay whether the unchecked second letter was an A or an E. Thanks to the setter for a very enjoyable puzzle.

Notes for newcomers: The Times offers prizes for Saturday Cryptic Crosswords. This blog is posted a week later, after the competition closes. So, please don’t comment here on the current Saturday Cryptic.

Clues are blue, with definitions underlined. Deletions are in {curly brackets}.

Across
1	Place name to mark round mount (7)
	TOPONYM – TO (from the clue), M (mark), round PONY.
5	Restriction on movement of dog— nowhere near common (6)
	CURFEW – CUR (dog), FEW (nowhere near common).
8	Get one who’s in debt taking in new man of property (9)
	LANDOWNER – LAND (get), OWER (one in debt) ‘taking in’ N (new).
9	Chest covered by father’s jacket (5)
	PARKA – ARK ‘covered by’ PA.
11	Composer’s right to abandon humorous work (5)
	SATIE – SATI{r}E.
12	Having gone without can? (9)
	ABSTINENT – ABSENT ‘without’ (i.e. outside) TIN. The whole clue is wordplay, the last word is not part of the definition. On edit: I think isla3 is right; "can", as in "beer can", is indeed part of the definition too.
13	Put in water and gently boiled after a delay of seconds (8)
	IMMERSED – SIMMERED with the S delayed.
15	Did cure set lad in order? (6)
	SALTED – anagram (‘in order’) of SET LAD. Wikipedia assures me you cure meat by salting it.
17	Torturer is beginning to tremble after feeling sorrow (6)
	SADIST – SAD (feeling sorrow), IS (from the clue), T{remble}.
19	Note worn-out spirits or low spirits (8)
	DOLDRUMS – D (musical note), OLD (worn-out), RUMS (spirits).
22	Uluru’s place: rock as a ritual (9)
	AUSTRALIA – anagram (‘rock’) of AS A RITUAL.
23	Copy three notes (5)
	MIMIC – MI (a musical note), MI again, and C.
24	Kindle returned some week overdue (5)
	EVOKE – backwards hidden answer (‘returned’, ‘some’).
25	What’s about to be planted in pot with a tropical tree (9)
	JACARANDA – CA (about) ‘planted in’ JAR (pot), AND (with), A (from the clue).
26	Stupid person in school is a pain (6)
	STITCH – TIT in SCH.
27	Canal Street clubs won’t open to admit unknown investigator (7)
	ANALYST – {c}ANAL, ST{reet}, with Y (unknown) ‘admitted’. The C on CANAL is the ‘clubs’ that ‘won’t open’ it.

Down
1	Splash article around some very elevated rival mastheads here? (4,5,4)
	TALL SHIPS’ RACE – anagram (‘around’) of SPLASH ARTICLE.
2	Around north-east, rebuilding M1 put lots of cones here (7)
	PINETUM – anagram (‘rebuilding’) NE MI PUT. I was unsure whether this was a real word or a furphy, but at least it looked a bit like ARBORETUM.
3	Somebody unimportant — or the chief? (2-3)
	NO-ONE – Diary of a Nobody? Or, the No. One Boss Man? A double definition, in other words.
4	Crew ate gutted eastern fish (8)
	MENHADEN – MEN (crew), HAD (ate), E{aster}N. I harrumphed at this unknown answer because ‘to crew’ as opposed to ‘the crew’ would make it MANHADEN instead. I had to look it up.
5	Worries over small pet (6)
	CARESS – CARES ‘over’ S{mall}.
6	Reprove about stiffly formal, logical operation (9)
	REPRIMAND – RE (about), PRIM, AND (AND is an operator in Boolean algebra, a form of mathematical/computer logic)
7	Very serious sign of what is to come (7)
	EARNEST – double definition.
10	Bad accident with stain that won’t dry (13)
	ANTIDESICCANT – anagram (‘bad’) of ACCIDENT STAIN.
14	Again appearing divided about good trick set up (9)
	RESURGENT – RENT (divided) about G RUSE backwards.
16	Italian food free of charge on account, I note (8)
	FOCACCIA – F.O.C (free of charge), ACC. (one of several abbreviations for account), I, A (musical note).
18	Misrepresent sordid gossip about thug’s head found in well (7)
	DISTORT – double nesting: DIRT (sordid gossip) around SO (well) around T (thug’s head).
20	Armed criminal with no good lady, heartless like a female? (7)
	UNMANLY – {g}UNMAN (armed criminal), L{ad}Y. The definition is tongue-in-cheek, hence the question mark.
21	High priest takes pilgrimage up for prophet (6)
	ELIJAH – ELI, HAJ backwards.
23	Yacht haven keeping out November seas (5)
	MARIA – MARI{n}A:  lunar ‘sea’ is a MARE, plural MARIA. I guessed it was something like that, and put it in on faith, then looked it up for your blog.