We don’t see Janus very often these days and Monday is usually Rufus-day, as it also is in the Telegraph I believe. Anyway, it’s always nice finish a crossword with a few more bits of general knowledge than when you started it, which I certainly did today.
Across
10 PETERSHAM – being an overcoat named after Viscount Petersham. Not quite sure what the word “under” is doing in the clue, apart from giving it a more sensible surface reading than “after”.
11 BINOMI(N)AL – if, like me, you’re dying to know more about Newton’s binomial thereom, Wikipedia is your friend.
12 GORSE – nicely hidden
13 BRIGHTON ROCK – I guessed this as I’d never heard of John Bright (1811-1889), a statesman and orator apparently, but the other bits of the clue fitted and I knew the novel so in it went.
20 A,L,ONE – novice being L(earner) rather than a nun-type person.
21 REHEARSED – anagram of “hares” in REED (“the grass” – is “the” really needed?)
23 GETS OLDER (“Get solder(ing iron)”) – I presume you could also mend other things with it besides a kettle.
26 BARTOK – A composer in a crossword is very often Ravel or Elgar. Hardly ever Syzmanowksi.
Down
5 CATTLE RANCHER – anag of “can let charter”. Nicely misleading surface.
8 DAMPER – something else I didn’t know; damper is similar to Irish soda bread and traditionally baked on an open fire but nowadays is usually done in the oven.
18 DANGER – “hidden in” being the anagram indicator? Hmm.
22 ACCRA – the second “hidden” clue in this crossword. Also, the capital of Ghana.