Solving time, 22 mins. Lower half harder than top half, I found
* = anagram < = reversed
ACROSS
1 LAPP (p pal)<
4 SUBJECT S
9 SCAR(C)E
10 PEA (CO C)KS
11 PA RENTED
12 DE PLOY ed<
13 CO-R(R)ESPONDENT
16 MEALS ON WHEELS Cryptic definition
18 PRO TEA
19 BOUN(d) TIES
21 CAV (AL I)ER Al Capone
22 EXOTIC X (sign of love = kiss) for R (right) in ‘erotic’
23 SOR (BONN)E
24 Arvo PART(y)
DOWN
2 ARCH A1 C (first letter of construction)
3 PUR (G) E
4 SAP I’D
5 BOARDING HOUSES (neighbour so sad)*
6 ECOSP HERE (copes)*
7 TAKE OUT (Kate)*
8 W EATHER STATION (Rain to the east)*
14 ROAST LAMB “lam”
15 PAN nap<
16 MAR CAT O (music)
17 SEE (DIE)R
19 BARRE(l)
20 T ROOP poor<
Harder bottom half? Good! It gives the lie to John Sykes’s theory that the clues at the bottom are easier because the setter is running out of steam. On the BBC4 programme Azed said that he clue his words in strict order to avoid leaving tricky words and serving up poor clues for them. I am the opposite. I start out in order and then spray around, leaving the two or three hardest words to clue until the end, when I might go away and find how to crack them at slightly more leisure! I also aim to provide some easy and some tricky, so that the solver gets easily drawn in before the hard work starts. Thanks again, NMS