Across
1. FEARFULLY. The def is "anxiously" and the "received" is redundant. You get it by putting "fly" around "earful" -- a telling-off or rocket.
6. BLUEY. "Melancholy" (BLUE) + Y (one of the extremes of "ugly").
9. REPEL. R(iver) + anag of "Peel".
10. NEBULISER. Anag of "blue resin".
11. FLANNEL FLOWER. Anag of "fell" around ANN. Then F(ade) + LOWER (to a lesser degree). Actinotus, related to carrots.
14. OCTOPOD. OCT (a month) + O (round) + POD (cf whales). Not sure about "after".
16. BEES+WAX.
17. DEWCLAW. If you split the clue between "ruling" and "on", it makes more sense. DEW = "We'd" (reversed) + C (key, music) + LAW (ruling). OED: "a rudimentary inner toe present in some dogs".
19. INK+LING. The ling is a favourite fish in crosswords, as I'm sure you know. I've never looked it up before; but now that I do, I find (OED):
"any of a number of long-bodied edible marine fishes • a large eastern Atlantic fish related to the cod (genus Molva, family Gadidae), in particular M. molva, which is of commercial importance. • a related Australian fish (Lotella callarias, family Gadidae). • a similar but unrelated Australian fish (Genypterus blacodes, family Ophidiidae)". Too much info?
21. OVERSTATE CASE. Anag. But I'm not sure this is a phrase anyone would ever use without "the" between the two main words.
24. CHARIVARI. Anag of "a rich variety" minus "yet". NB how the "somehow" (anagind) and the "lacking" (deletion indicator) have to be transposed to make the surface work. No editor would allow this. Good job for Dot that there isn't one. Back to the OED (love this def):
"a cacophonous mock serenade, typically performed by a group of people in derision of an unpopular person or in celebration of a marriage".
You wouldn't want to get the two uses (derison/celebration) confused, would you?
26. ELIZA. Hidden in "the lizard". Aren't we all?
27. OCHRE. Stick an R (flier's tail) into ECHO (23), then stir well until brownish-yellow.
28. MONOTREME. Anag of "some monster" minus SS (the ship, as ever).
Down
1. FERN FRONDS. Anag of "for n(orth)" and "friends" (minus I). One for the Kiwis? Hope they get their new flag. We're next!
2. ASPHALT. Anag of L(eft) + "a path's". NB pronunciation: not "ash-felt" (cf "tumor-ic").
3. FELON. Inclusive. Breaks the rule which disallows redundant words in the inclusion fodder ("pals").
4. LANGLO DOWNS ?? I'm guessing here and had to go to Google. It only just shows up. So it's probably a station. Somewhere near Charleville? Please help! Anag of "allows dog" + NN (Pole twice).
5. YOB. Not really cryptic. The OED has:
"ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: backward spelling of boy".
6. BELOW DECK. Another of Dot's shots as a cryptic def. Through to the keeper.
7. UNSCREW. Double or cryptic def? Next time you unscrew the lid off a jar or bottle, check which hand you do it with.
8. YERA?? Now I'm really guessing. "Ye RA" could be the (old) gunners (Royal Artillery). And at least two commercial websites seem to think that "yera" means "pleasant resting place". Again, all help welcomed. It's not in Ramson.
12. LUBRICATION. Anag and &lit.
13. EXAGGERATE. Reversal of EGG + AXE. Then RATE (estimate). "Too high", of course, is the wrong PoS -- but this we have come to expect. And, I assume, there should have been some punctuation before "estimate".
15. PULVERISE. Straight anag.
18. WOOD + ASH. Not in the best of tastes on the anniversary of Black Saturday.
20. IMAGINE. AG (silver) inside MINE after I.
22. EVENT. The first mate is EVE. (Always wondered how they begat the next generation without breaking the incest taboo.)
23. ECHO. Inclusive.
25. ARM. R(ight) inside AM -- such that "Am!" might be a claim against, say, "Are not!". Childish stuff.
