The grid is almost 90 degree symmetrical: would be if 3D and 15D were both 15 letter lights. And we encounter Orlando Di LASSO again. I searched high and low for a Scots, Bond or Connery reference… but to no avail.
Across
| 4 | DISC,US – nice smooth surface: especially “Field sport record…” |
| 8 | VISITING FIREMAN – F,I (“female one”) in (Virginians met)*. Brit term for VIP visit. |
| 12 | LUG(GAG)E – not a drug dealer’s case: “crack” is a comedian’s GAG here. |
| 13 | SERVICE, FLAT – I might have too much Roland Garros on my brain right now, but I think the idea is that a SERVICE goes over (the net). Actually now that I think about it, it’s probably the verb “go over”, as in “I better have my mechanic go over my car before we start the Paris-Dakar rally”. |
| 15 | CHARGE(CARD)S – CARD for “eccentric” in CHARGES for “loads” and I suppose you can buy “loads” of stuff with them… (or perhaps as in top-up cards?) |
| 19 | OR,INOC=coin*,O – a fairly popular cryptic “river” |
| 22 | PUBLIC, TRANSPORT – nice clue: especially considering that London buses once upon a time didn’t have doors. |
| 24 | BO(ST)ON |
Down
| 2 | VIS-A-(V,I)S – where V for “versus”. |
| 3 | [n]UTTER |
| 6 | CO,MP,ACT – as in COMPACT car (e.g. Ford Focus) |
| 7 | SINNER=”Cinna” – Caesar’s uncle as it happens even though he was part of the conspiracy. |
| 9 | NOTHING TO IT – (Not tonight I)* – “suspect” is our suspect adjectival anagrind. |
| 10 | FALSE ACACIA – (a Calais café)* – FALSE ACACIA is also the Black Locust (a kind of plant: I had to look this up). |
| 14 | RE,A,SON,IN,G – SON as in “native son” and middle of BanGkok. |
| 17 | POM,POM – our dog used to get a little POMPOM round her neck as a reward for being groomed. |
| 18 | WON TON – rev(not now=later). I actually thought DIM SUM my first time through! |
| 21 | LASS,O – ref. Orlando Di LASSO — not really Belgian since didn’t exist back then – more accurately, Flemish. |
Love ‘not now’ rev for the soup – brilliant.