Independent on Sunday 1,084 by Quixote

This is my first attempt at blogging a Sunday Quixote (well, technically it’s my second due to my mixing up the dates, but that’s another story), so I hope I can do it justice. Despite the extra pressure of knowing I would have to explain things, I found this quite a smooth and relatively quick solve.

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.

Across
1	SCAMPS – CAMP in SS.
5	MOPE – MOP + E.
9	TEQUILA SUNRISE – (LIQUERS + TISANE)*.
11	BLAKE – B + LAKE. William Blake is the poet.
12	BENNETT – TEN< in BENT. Bent grass was new to me, but it didn’t hinder solving. Alan Bennett is the playwright.
14	SERIAL PORT – hom. of “cereal” + PORT.
15	AGHA – A + G + H + A.
16	RANK – dd.
17	PLANETARIA – I think this is a cd., with a play on “stars”.
19	FLEMING – ‘EM in FLING. Ian Fleming.
21	MORPH – OR in MPH.
24	EDUCATIONALIST – (ONE AUTISTIC LAD)*.
25	WREN – R in NEW<.
26	CAMDEN – MAC< + DEN.

Down
2	CHIMERA – HIM in C + ERA).
3	MOAN – 0 in MAN.
4	SLUMBERING – LUMBER in SING. “Carol” is used as a verb here.
5	MORON – MO + RON.
6	PASSENGER TRAIN – (GRANNIES TRAPES)*.
7	STUB – STUB[born].
8	SQUADRON LEADER – (DOES QUARREL AND)*.
10	OTTAWA – WATT< in [r]OA[d].
13	APOLOGETIC – A + POLO + GET + I + C.
14	SHRIFT – SH + RIFT.
18	TIMBALE – A in LEMBIT*. Perhaps a satirical reference to the former MP and his cheeky ex-fiancée.
20	INCAN – AC< in INN.
22	HUTU – HUT + U.
23	FORM – FOR + M.

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