Far ranging puzzle: from ENFIELD to the ACROPOLIS. I also learnt that under the Mersey there are several tunnels, and I thought the only way cross the Mersey was via ferry, a la Gerry and the Pacemakers (my 655th favourite group at that age).
Across
| 1 | M(IFFE)D – Fife* inside of MD. Oddly enough, MB and MO turn up more frequently for doctor in cryptics. |
| 4 | TW(IT)CHER – Wretch* contains IT. Didn’t know that TWITCHER meant “bird-watcher” – according to Chambers, kind of in the anorak sense. |
| 10 | NONPAREIL – double meaning: “having no equal” made this obvious and I discovered later in Chambers that it’s also a kind of confectionary (presumably a “sugar-coated chocolate drop” but I have no direct evidence!) |
| 12 | SCARLET[t] – As in Scarlett O’Hara of Tara… oh, it rhymes. |
| 14 | EN(FIEL)D – Life* inside of END: of which London has two, West and East. Not a bad clue. |
| 15 | EGGS, BEN,EDICT – Nice charade for something cholesterol-centric for Sunday Brunch. |
| 18 | TUNNEL VISION – This is when I worked out that the Mersey must have at least one TUNNEL under it. Not sure though what the River Mersey itself adds – could have been any other river with tunnels under it. Oh, perhaps there aren’t any others in the UK? |
| 22 | MO(NO,C)LE – Only worked out as I write this: this is a case of “X worn by Y” to indicate that Y is wearing X, i.e. Y is surrounded by X. So yes, it works. Dr. NO and a MOLE’s a spy. |
| 26 | TRAVERS,E – Right answer for wrong reason. I was thinking of P.L. Travers (of Mary Poppins) but it’s really Ben TRAVERS who actually was a playwright. |
Down
| 2 | F(AND)AN,GO |
| 3 | ETA – Hidden in “…secrET Agent”. |
| 5 | WALTER DE LA MA,RE –(Ward, late male)* followed by RE, which appears “beneath” given it’s a down clue. “Comic” is the anagrind and the surface works quite well since separating “comic” from “writer” is hard and WARD Just is a well-known American writer. |
| 7 | HEA(LE)R – I found this hard because, for some reason, HEAR for “try” is something that doesn’t automatically occur to me. |
| 9 | REST ON ONES OARS – cryptic definition |
| 13 | LABOUR FOR,CE – Nice charade: convincing surface and well-hidden definition. Simple but elegant. |
| 16 | CIRCULAR – Clever double definition: a CIRCULAR is also the annoying kind of junk-mail pamphlet you all too often find in your mailbox. |
| 17 | IN SEASON – “Fit to be eaten” is the definition. IN is often “at home” and “Salt needs to be added” results in the imperative SEASON! |
| 20 | AR(AB)IA – Able-Bodied “sailor” in ARIA. I liked the way “leaving” is used to mean “results in”. |
| 25 | PEA[r] – the two are often cryptically related. |