A mixture of some very easy and some very difficult clues, I found. Solving time, 24 mins
* = anagram < = reversed
ACROSS
1 C (cold) OAT (I) S oats = porridge
4 S TAMP A CT
9 T(W)ILL till = work
10 PERSONAGE (one’s pager)* ‘figure’ was nicely misleading
11 CONSTABLES i.e. police force and Constable’s – 16 down being PAINTER
12 Dame EDNA Everage, I guess – hidden ‘agreED NAme’ ‘should be shortened’
14 MODERNISATION (in room instead)* Something I use at times with anagrams worked here. When I’d some crossing letters, I wrote out all the letters in two lists, vowels and consonants, both in ABC order, and the answer came.
16 PICTURE PALACE As noted above, 16 down is PAINTER
19 (c)HA(I)R Definition: mop
20 RIVERDANCE (dire Cavern)* Show that came to prominence after featuring in the interval of a Eurovision contest in the 1990s
22 PUT(throw) SCHIST(rock) Throw is usually ‘putt’ but dicts confirm ‘put’ is also acceptable.
23 LE (G I)T G.I. = soldier
24 PORTRAYS “poor traits” indicated by “during talk”
25 R OUTER
DOWN
1 CATACOMB Cryptic definition – I wondered for quite a while if there was a London Tube station named after a cemetery or something similar.
2 ALIGNED (dealing)* definition = in order
3 I’LL ITE(m) RACY Was first looking for an adj, but ‘showing’ is a link.
5 THREE-DAY EVENT (they entered a)* including v = victory. Enumeration and definition made this quite easy, I thought
6 MO ON This refers, I think, to the late Keith Moon the Who’s drummer from the 1960s and after
7 A BAD DON
8 THE (BA) N then = next
10 PUBLIC (U TIL) ITY u = centre of Truro (appearing in puzzle two days in a row) lit<
13 P (IRAN DELL) O
15 RE PEATER “peter” (safe)
16 PAINTER (a print e = minimum of effort)* &lit.
17 A T (N)IGHT tight = drunk (adj)
18 CHO(w) P UP
21 SCAR(e)
Thanks for the blog. I fell down on PUTSCHIST. ‘Figure’ was, as you say, nicely misleading – I was looking for a shape called something like ESPERAGON.
This took me longer than the excellent Times crossword of today, which is universally praised on Times for the Times and in the view of many people is remarkably difficult. PUTSCHIST was a new word to me and I never got this before electronic help. And I never understood HAIR, although that’s entirely my own incompetence.
I too needed electronic help for PUTSCHIST and, I’m sorry to say, COATIS – didn’t think of oats as a synonym for porridge as oats aren’t porridge till they’ve been cooked. 25a threw me for a bit; I guessed R OUTER but thought of “rowter” (power tool) rather than “rooter” at first. Quite challenging overall.