I found this quite tough, esp SW corner. Solving time, 26 mins.
* = anagram < = reversed
ACROSS
1 (t)RAP
3 ZIP (nothing) FAST ENER Rene< Archetypal Crossword Frenchman
9 B (OLd) US Should have got this more quickly than I did.
10 NO T (RE D) AME In Paris
11 SEE (DIE) R
12 MATCHES Double definition with pun on striker (football)
14 INSTRUMENT PANEL Cryptic definition referring, I think, to the dashboard of a car
16 RACING CERTAINTY (in grey Antarctic)*
19 E (S) TON IA (A1 not (S) e)<
21 HOTLINE (the lion)*
22 BE (WILDER) S(t) This was cleverly misleading (for me anyway) as it suggested an anagram of less for a long time
23 RE ELS(e)
24 PERISTALSIS (stir palsies)* Glad Phi gave us a fairly obvious anagram for this unfamiliar word
25 RU(i)N i = one
DOWN
1 ROBES PIERRE Character from French Revolutionary period. Pierre Cardin, fashion designer
2 POLLEN SAC (one calls p)* p = tip of petal (first letter)
3 (do)ZES TIER
4 PANAROMIC CAMERA A tip-top cryptic definition – well done, Phi!
5 ANTIMONARCHISTS m (money) in (his transaction)*
6 TRE (E) TOP e in (Potter)* The crossword mind suggested the Potter anagram straight away. Not personally familiar with the books – but a quick Google search shows WW appears in them.
7 NEATH Hidden
8 RU(d) E D = director
13 S (ILL Y SEAS) ON August usually – maybe the financial markets will be quiet again by then…
15 NO N (L IN) EAR mean = near in = inside
17 NO N PLU(g)S
15 ANTARES (a star one)* less o
20 TOW(s)ER Very tricky, as it looked liked first letter off the dog rather than the s = seen initially
22 B A P Phi is from Darlington originally so he’ll know all about those.
I found this mostly straightfoward but was a bit stumped by the meaning of 3 down, so thanks for explaining that. I think I got a bit hung up on the Z being something to do with Zzz and tier for seats didn’t occur to me.
In 7dn, why is NEATH defined as ‘Other Welsh town’ and not simply as ‘Welsh town’?
Yet another appearance of NONPLUS: it was in The Times a day or so ago, and someone mentioned that it has just been in The Guardian. Extraordinary coincidence.
I thought ‘musical assessors’ was rather a vague definition of ‘instrument panel’ in 14ac, unless there’s a meaning of i.p. that I’m not aware of.
An instrument panel is a dashboard surely.
Not deep into this but thought ‘Other Welsh town’ was because Haverfordwest was perhaps a Welsh town also. I’d also agree (after checking dicts before I posted) that ‘musical assessors’ is subsidiary indication suggesting ‘musical instruments’ and ‘judging panel’ rather than definition.