Independent 9,541 / Phi

BOON (=favour, as noun) + DOCKS (=coastal locations); boondocks are remote or wild country in US slang

CR (=crown) in SAP (=trench, in warfare; cf. sappers)

*(AT CHARGES); “upset” is anagram indicator

L (=50, in Roman numerals) + OVER (=part of Test, i.e. in cricket); e.g. a cat lover enjoys (the company of) cats

IN FACT (=actually); “having name (=N) for Catholic (=C)” means letter “n” replaces letters “c”

*(LO<v>E MUSIC); “with volume (=V) cut” means letter “v” is dropped; the London Coliseum is a theatre and opera house in St. Martin’s Lane

Double definition; Ratty is a character in Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows

*(BUT + SCORPI<o>); “mostly” means last letter is dropped from anagram, indicated by “possibly”; the reference is to the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn

DIPLOMA (=qualification) + C<ountr>Y (“boundaries” means first and last letters only)

JUN (=month, as abbreviated on calendar) + TA (=cheers, i.e. slang for thank you)

OB (=former schoolboy, i.e. entry at 5; old boy) + LIVI<d> (=angry; “almost” means last letter dropped) + ON (=about)

ASLAN (=literary lion, in C S Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia) + T (=tense, in grammar)

AM (=American) in TPA (APT=tending to; “back” indicates vertical reversal)

[ERR (=slip) + IT (=the very thing) + O (=over)] in TRY (=test, as verb)

Hidden (“material from”) in “seweR IN SEwer”

K (=thousand, as in kg, km, etc) in [MONEY (=financial, as in money matters) + NUT (=expert)]

IS + GAB (=gossip); “circulating” indicates reversal; e.g. Bags I sit in the front seat!

OUT OF (=unable to supply, as in We’re out of cucumbers today) + STEP (PETS=favourite items; “slipping up” indicates vertical reversal)

DEC. (=end of year, i.e. December on calendar) + ENC. (=enclosed) + Y (=yard, as a measure)

H (=husband) in CAP (=better, as verb)

SCHOOL (=fish, collectively) + homophone (“we hear”) of “buoy” (=floating marker, at sea)

OLDIE (=veteran) in SR (=senior)

REV. (=minister, i.e. reverend) + UE (EU=Evangelical Union; “revolution in” indicates vertical reversal)

PA (=Pennsylvania) + *(AMERICA); “ruined” is anagram indicator; paramecia are small animals, including slipper animalcules, apparently

R (=run, in cricket) + ADIOS (=farewell) + TA (=thank you) + <despai>R (“ending in” means last letter only)

*(BOATS TO ME); “must be wrecked” is anagram indicator; semi- & lit.

PANT (=to gasp, for breath) + <s>ALOON (=bar; “heading off” means first letter dropped); Pantaloon is the character of a foolish old man in Italian comedy

O (=old) + B (=book) + V (=volume) + I (=1) + AT + <rang>E (“end of” means last letter only)

JUST (=nothing but) + ICE (=formality)

LE MON<de> (=French paper); “of Parisian (=de, i.e. the French word for of)” dismissed” means letters “de” are dropped

TRUST (=expectation); “after unknown (=Y, in algebra) takes over university (=U)” means letter “y” replaces letter “u”

GRIN<d> (=hard work); “worn down” means last letter is dropped