Certainly the toughest challenge of the week so far, with some typically Araucarian liberties which will be a step too far for some. I’ll say no more at this stage!
Across
1 DECLARE: double definition: voluntarily end an innings at cricket / make a statement of goods at customs
5 BUS STOP: BUSS [kiss] TOP [spinner]
9 ORMER: OR + MER [French for sea: the answer to 20dn is ABROAD]
10 CYRENAICA: anagram of CE [Church of England] and CANARY I[sland]: Cyrenaica is a region of Libya, in Africa [3dn]: I don’t much like the use of ‘by’ here.
11 MISCHIEF-MAKING: seeing ‘stirring’ at the beginning of a clue for a long answer like this in an Araucaria puzzle suggests ‘Anagram’ – but this time it’s the definition: CHIEF [leader] MA [mother] in SKIN [hide] all inside MIG [aircraft]: [why ‘leader’s’ and not, perhaps ‘leading’?]
13, 1dn TRAP DOOR: reversal of ROOD [measure – the same as a rod, pole or perch] and PART [piece]
14 LOTHARIO: LOTH [unwilling] + A RIO [a river abroad {Spanish}]
17 GUIDANCE: this is naughty!: GUID [Scottish ‘good’ {virtuous}] + N[ame] in ACE [winning serve in tennis]
18,22 ETON MESS: anagram of SEMITONES minus I [one]
21 CANTERBURY BELL: CANTER [move fast] + BURY [deal with dead] BELL [ringer]: this time ‘flower’ means just that – and I liked the ‘dead ringer’.
23,8 ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND: ADVENT [coming] + U [posh] + REPLAY [second match] + GROUND [put through the mill]
24 OXEYE: X [unknown] in O[ld] E[nglish] + YE [solvers]: ‘Old English’ is doing double duty here. Another genuine flower!
25 TANCRED: sounds like tank [military vehicle] read [studied]
26 DODGEMS: DO + D [number] + GEMS [jewels]
Down
2 COMBINATION OVEN: BIN [throw away] AT I[sland] in COMO [lake] + NOVEN[a]: a novena is not exactly nine days but a devotion consisting of a prayer repeated on nine successive days.
3 AFRICA: A + FRICA[ssée] [saucy dish]: definition ABROAD [20] – surely the greatest liberty of this type ever!!
4 EUCLID: reversal of CUE [prompter] + LID [cover]
5 BAREFOOT: A REF [a judge] in BOOT [advantage]
6 SUNBATHE: SUN [tabloid] + B[ask] + A THE [articles]
7 TRINITROTOLUENE: all right, I pressed the ‘cheat’ button on this one – a completely alien word for me and I didn’t have time to work out all the possible anagrams of E[nglish] TUNNEL RIOT RIOT!
12 STAGECRAFT: STAGE [where to land] + CRAFT [boat]: you would learn stagecraft at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
15 TAVERNER: double definition: I initially thought [and I should have known better: Araucaria takes sometimes outrageous liberties but he doesn’t usually make mistakes] that we had here a misspelling of the name of the great contemporary composer Sir John Tavener but the clue has ‘made’ and refers to this Tudor composer
16 ICEBOUND: ICE [diamonds] + BOUND [jump] – and it’s an anagram of NO CUE BID
19 FRIEND: FRI [piece of AFRICA {3dn}] – no comment! + END [last]
20 ABROAD: A BROAD [a woman, translated twice] [I really hate that word]
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