In the main a nicely-pitched Quiptic from Moley, but I do have one or two quibbles.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Handsome young man said: “No problem!”
ADONIS
(SAID NO)*
5 Bet on run after deer
ANTELOPE
This is ANTE for ‘bet’ and LOPE for ‘run’. It’s a bit of a clumsy surface, but I think that if you take ‘after’ as ‘after this comes …’ it just about works.
9 Magic of mist, say — swirling quite timelessly
MYSTIQUE
A homophone of MIST followed by (QUI[T]E)*
10 Scientist gets away in a basket
BOFFIN
An insertion of OFF in BIN. ‘I’m off/I’m away.’
11 Greeting heard from one after a drink or two
HIGH
It’s a homophone of HI, but I’m not enamoured of the definition.
12 Corrupt sexist term for fanatics
EXTREMISTS
(SEXIST TERM)*
13 Neurotic put ham on bread in cooler, initially
PHOBIC
The first letters of the middle six words of the clue.
14 Told swindlers about cat family
CHEETAHS
A homophone of CHEATERS, with ‘told’ as the homophone indicator. I can’t really see what ‘about’ is doing.
16 Company’s office promises energy for nothing
PREMISES
Moley is asking you to change the O in ‘promises’ to an E for ‘energy’.
19 Occupant is fashionable partner
INMATE
A charade of IN and MATE.
20 Get rid of former student who can read
OBLITERATE
A charade of OB for old boy or ‘former student’ and LITERATE.
22 Wife interrupted enthusiast, a young thing
FAWN
An insertion of W in FAN.
23 Sporting dog for yours truly!
SETTER
Well, Moley is the SETTER today. It’s a bit overused, but it’s a Quiptic, so perhaps some solvers will be seeing this for the first time.
24 Guiding light for alumni working on railway
LUMINARY
A charade of (ALUMNI)* and RY for ‘railway’.
25 My angst’s affected athletes
GYMNASTS
(MY ANGSTS)*
26 Walked out with half the street writing verse
STRODE
A charade of STR[EET] and ODE, but I can’t see what ‘writing’ is doing in there apart from making sense of the surface.
Down
2 Much too high a price to pay in exchange for “Gilt Hero” by Brady
DAYLIGHT ROBBERY
(GILT HERO BY BRADY)*
3 Nick’s back on time with honour
NOTCH
A charade of ON reversed, T and CH for ‘Companion of Honour’.
4 Queen’s secretary briefly confused by progressions
SEQUENCES
(QUEENS SEC)*
5 A month’s endless credit is sterile
ASEPTIC
A charade of A, SEP and TIC[K]
6 Piece of furniture fit to model first
TABLE
A charade of T for the ‘model’ T Ford and ABLE.
7 Pink‘s not right, its kinky
LEFTIST
‘Pink’ (or often ‘Pinko’) is a derogatory term for a left-winger. So this is a charade of LEFT and (ITS). I’m sure Moley knows the difference between ITS and IT’S, so we’ll put this howler down to an editorial oversight.
8 “Go out and have a ball“: message from new poet (handwritten)
PAINT THE TOWN RED
(POET HANDWRITTEN)*
15 Hide when per diem is lost
EPIDERMIS
(PER DIEM IS)* The epidermis is the outer layer of skin, so it’s ‘hide’ in that sense.
17 Notes I’m compiling about damp
MOISTEN
I didn’t much like this. It’s (NOTES I’M)* but I’m not keen on ‘compiling’ as the anagrind, because it’s the wrong part of speech; I can’t make ‘compiling about’ work either; and MOISTEN is not a synonym for ‘damp’. ‘Dampen’ is.
18 Fixers for basic commodities
STAPLES
A dd.
21 Deserves organ — new style, originally
EARNS
A charade of EAR and NS for the first letters of ‘new style’.
22 Better penalty, right?
FINER
A charade of FINE and R.
Many thanks to Moley for this morning’s Quiptic.
Thanks Pierre and Moley
I agree with nearly all you say, Pierre. MOISTEN in particular doesn’t work for me, as the definition would need to be “dampen”.
I think the grammar works OK for ANTELOPE; my problem with this one is that antelopes aren’t deer – different families. See these Wiki articles:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovidae
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer
I found this a bit more challenging than normal for a Quiptic. Looking back I see a couple of the harder clues had superfluous words thrown into the surfaces – eg ‘about’ in CHEETAHS – which I was trying to make sense of as wordplay. I share your quibble, Moley, with MOISTEN. Clue of the day for me was PREMISES – so simple and elegant. Thanks to setter and blogger.
Quite an odd grid this; 13 and 19 have only two crossers. Rum.
re 17d, quoting from Collins Thesaurus of the English Language
damp verb 1. moisten, wet, soak, dampen, lick, moisturize, humidify She damped a hand towel and laid it across her head.
This is equivalent to She moistened a hand towel and laid it across her head, thus
Go and damp/moisten a hand towel and lay it across your head.
Cookie @4
Chambers gives “moist” as an adjective, with just a rider vt. (Shakesp.) to moisten. I therefore still don’t think that it’s a fair clue without an indication of the archaic sense required.
muffin @5, I don’t understand your argument, “moist” being used as a verb is not the problem, I was pointing out that MOISTEN is a synonym for “damp”.
You’re quite right, Cookie – I neglected to look back at the puzzle to see what the point was after I read your post!
Thank you Moley and Pierre.
Just the right level for the Quiptic spot. I, too, liked PREMISES!