Thanks Hectence for a Quiptic that fits the bill. Definitions are underlined in the clues. (Sorry for the delay.)
Across
8 I am about to eat a corn-ground pasta (8)
MACARONI : Reversal of(… about) [I AM] containing(to eat) anagram of(…-ground) A CORN.
9 Guide woman into old city (5)
USHER : SHE(pronoun for “woman”) contained in(into) UR(the biblical city).
10 Advisor’s first to get behind concept (4)
IDEA : AIDE(an advisor) with its 1st letter(…’s first) moved to the end(to get behind).
11 Meant to think over (10)
DELIBERATE : Double defn: 1st: Intentional.
12 Baking apple has core replaced with fine filling (6)
COOKER : Anagram of(… replaced) CORE containing(with … filling) OK(fine;good).
14 Came to a funeral feast and downed half (8)
AWAKENED : A + WAKE(a funeral feast) plus(and) the last 3 letters out of 6 of(… half) “downed “.
15 Sets about grabbing kiss that is most arousing! (7)
SEXIEST : Anagram of(… about) SETS containing(grabbing) [X(letter denoting a kiss) + IE(abbrev. for “id est”;that is).
17 Indie to run with copy (7)
EDITION : Anagram of(… run) INDIE TO.
20 Pool money before getting expensive wool (8)
CASHMERE : MERE(a pool;a lake) placed after(… before, in an across clue) CASH(money).
22 Cover for work in prison yard (6)
CANOPY : OP(abbrev. for “opus”, a literary or musical piece of work) contained in(in) [ CAN(slang for prison) + Y(abbrev. for “yard”, the unit of length) ].
23 Applied skills to bake ten quiches (10)
TECHNIQUES : Anagram of(bake) TEN QUICHES.
24 Path is part of guerrilla network (4)
LANE : Hidden in(part of) “guerrilla network “.
25 Turn round and almost see bird (5)
GOOSE : GO(a turn in a game of 2 or more players) + O(letter representing a circle;round) plus(and) the 1st 2 letters out of 3 of(almost) “see “.
26 Cheers seven-nil slaughter! (8)
ENLIVENS : Anagram of(… slaughter) SEVEN-NIL.
Down
1 Chap has to admit Damon’s hellish good looking (8)
HANDSOME : HE(pronoun for “chap”) containing(has to admit) anagram of(… hellish) DAMON’S.
2 American lawyer volunteers information (4)
DATA : DA(abbrev. for “district attorney”, a lawyer in America) + TA(abbrev. for “Territorial Army”, consisting of volunteers).
3 Steal back to the German frontier (6)
BORDER : Reversal of(… back) ROB(to steal) plus(to) DER(German for “the”).
4 Junk emails ultimately intend to deceive (7)
MISLEAD : Anagram of(Junk) EMAILS + the last letter of(ultimately) “intend “.
5 Storage here for prize committee (8)
CUPBOARD : CUP(a prize;a trophy in the form of, well, a cup) + BOARD(a committee).
6 Prince has not taken up dance (10)
CHARLESTON : CHARLES(the First Prince of England) plus(has) reversal of(… taken up, in a down clue) NOT.
7 Struggle with husband being taken into service (6)
WRITHE : W(abbrev. for “with”) + [ H(abbrev. for “husband”) contained in(being taken into) RITE(a service, often of a religious nature) ].
13 Man covering for head gets honour from the Queen (10)
KNIGHTHOOD : KNIGHT(a man;a piece in a chess game) + HOOD(a covering for one’s head).
16 Pay out endlessly to acquire rodents raised as sample (8)
SPECIMEN : “spend”(to pay out) minus its last letter(endlessly) containing(to acquire) reversal of(… raised, in a down clue) MICE(rodents).
18 Contestant not losing heart after abysmal pop single (8)
OPPONENT : “not ” minus its central letter(losing heart) placed below(after, in a down clue) [ anagram of(abysmal) POP + ONE(single) ].
19 Sh! Live Question Time broadcast has minute to go (2,5)
BE QUIET : BE(to live;to exist) + anagram of(… broadcast) [ QU(abbrev. for “question”) + “Time ” ] minus(has … to go) “m”(abbrev. for “minute”, the time period).
21 Prayer’s no good – energy’s required to get even (6)
AVENGE : AVE(short for the prayer “Ave Maria”, also called “Hail Mary”) + NG(abbrev. for “no good”) plus(…’s required) E(abbrev. for “energy”, in physics).
22 Give role to the French man (6)
CASTLE : CAST(to give a role to an actor) plus(to) LE(French for “the”).
Defn: … or a piece in a chess game.
24 Tax Mississippi bank, say (4)
LEVY : Homophone of(…, say) “levee”(an embankment alongside a river, common in the Mississippi (and the southern) area of the US.
Thanks Hectence and scchua
I needed to see this as I was completely unable to see how IDEA worked! Nice Quiptic.
Thanks Hectence and scchua.
A really enjoyable Quiptic. I also needed help to parse IDEA.
There is an O missing in GOOSE, perhaps ’round’ gives the second O?
Thanks to Hectence and scchua.
In 9, I think the pronoun is SHE rather than HER.
I liked the surface in the clue for BORDER. I needed help with IDEA too.
Thanks Cookie and SeanDimly, for 9 and 10 across. Blog corrected. (waiting for the 3rd strike).
Thanks for that – another one who struggled to parse ‘idea’ here.
3d is, of course, a down clue, would ‘Steal up to the German frontier’ have been more appropriate?
Thanks to Hectence and scchua. Truly a quiptic and a great way to unclog the brain on a Monday morning. Glad I am not the only one who could not parse ‘idea’.
TA should really be clued in a way that indicates that the TA is no longer the official name, but other than that very minor quibble this was a very good Quiptic. I particularly liked TECHNIQUES and HANDSOME.
Thanks to Hectence and scchua.
scchua
Is Charles “the First Prince of England”? I haven’t heard that term used before.
Thanks scchua & Hectence – I made rather heavy weather of this for some reason, but it’s all clear and straightforward in retrospective, with the possible exception of IDEA.
jennyk: Premier prince du sang (first prince of the blood) was apparently used in France, but I’ve never heard “first prince” in connection with the British royal family.
jennyk and Andrew. No, you wouldn’t find it anywhere; just my invention to distinguish him from the other princes, ala First Lady, etc.
At last they have found someone who understands the Quiptic concept. This was pretty much perfect I thought…except maybe for IDEA – which was an excellent clue (and made a nice change from the Crossword Fish!), but should perhaps have been saved for more exalted surroundings.
Well done Hectence, and thanks both.
Thanks, scchua, for blogging.
Fine Quiptic, although with others I couldn’t quite parse IDEA (but being lazy, I knew that there would be someone who would explain it … the blogger of course).
Limeni, I’m not sure about the ‘at last they have found’ comment: Hectence has been providing us with excellent Quiptics for a number of years now. The inspiration no doubt comes from her guinea pigs.
@12 Yes, we have an excellent team of setters.
The regulars : Pan, Hectence, Moley and Provis.
The occasionals : Nutmeg and Orlando.
Once in a blue moon : Beale
Have I missed anyone out ?.
Davy @13
Anto? Perhaps not!
Ahh, that was better than last week! I struggled with IDEA but got it from the crossers. Man = knight and man = castle also held me up … must stow these definitions away for future use.
I had two cheats: HANDSOME – the wordplay was too hellish for me; and GOOSE – whereupon I immediately kicked myself for not getting it.
Than you Hectence and scchua.