Thanks Sleuth for an enjoyable crossword. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Sauciest hint when frolicking making one keen (12)
ENTHUSIASTIC : Anagram of(… when frolicking) SAUCIEST HINT.
8 Companion rejected mushy food – be less miserable! (5,2)
CHEER UP! : CH(post-nominal letters used by a member of the Order of Companions of Honour) + reversal of(rejected) PUREE(mushy food /cream of liquidised fruit or vegetables).
9 Traditional group of students in charge (7)
CLASSIC : CLASS(a group of students, in school, say) + IC(abbrev. for “in charge”).
11 Inspire love in ancient character touring most of ME country in retirement (7)
ENAMOUR : Reversal of(… in retirement) [ RUNE(a character/letter of an ancient Germanic alphabet) containing(touring) 1st 3 letters of(most of) “Oman”(a Middle Eastern country) ].
12 Risk missing opening in centre of Jarrow for country activist (7)
RAMBLER : “gamble”(to take a risk) minus its 1st letter(missing opening) contained in(in) middle 2 letters of(centre of) “Jarrow“.
Defn: A member of the activist organisation, The Ramblers’ Association in Great Britain, which represents the interests of, well, ramblers of the countryside.
13 New car brought round court figure (5)
NADAL : N(abbrev. for “new”) + reversal of(car brought round) LADA(make of car from the Russian company AvtoVAZ).
Defn: …, a personality on the tennis court, that is.
14 Russian ace possibly I overlooked in confidence (9)
ASSURANCE : Anagram of(… possibly) “Russian ace” minus(… overlooked) “I“.
16 Get under way, we’re told, with one posing as exemplary figure (4,5)
ROLE MODEL : Homophone of(…, we’re told) “roll”(get under way/start moving, as in “we’re all set, let’s roll”) plus(with) MODEL(one posing for a painting or photographs or film).
19 Inexperienced driver stops patrol to make complaint (5)
BLEAT : L(letter displayed by a learner/inexperienced driver) contained in(stops) BEAT(area that a police officer patrols on foot).
21 American vessel on lake beset by endless challenge and struggles (7)
TUSSLES : [ USS(abbrev. for “United States Ship”, a prefix to identify a vessel in the American Navy) plus(on) L(abbrev. for “Lake”) ] contained in(beset by) “test”(a challenge/a way of probing the soundness of someone or something) minus its last letter(endless …).
23 Farah among friends, skipper touring cricket club in country (7)
MOROCCO : MO(nickname among his friends for Mohamed Farah, the British distance runner) + ROO(short for “kangaroo”, a skipping or hopping Australian marsupial) containing(touring) CC(abbrev. for “cricket club”, such as the Marylebone CC).
24 Body of followers beginning to excite element in Parisian street (7)
RETINUE : [ 1st letter of(beginning to) “excite” + TIN(a chemical element) ] contained in(in) RUE(in Paris, a term equivalent to “street”).
25 Restaurant area in US state (7)
INDIANA : INDIAN(a restaurant serving, well, Indian food) + A(abbrev. for “area”).
26 Around end of summer, note a mutiny that’s destabilised euro, maybe (8,4)
MONETARY UNIT : Last letter of(end of) “summer” contained in(Around …) anagram of(… that’s destabilised) NOTE A MUTINY .
Defn: …/is an example.
Down
1 Corrupt leader concealing money in shade (7)
EMERALD : Anagram of(Corrupt) LEADER containing(concealing) M(abbrev. for “money”).
Defn: … of green.
2 Rum drunk in work produces disquiet (7)
TURMOIL : Anagram of(… drunk) RUM contained in(in) TOIL(to work hard).
3 Superior part of bridge, say, showing mastery (5,4)
UPPER HAND : UPPER(superior/over and above) + HAND(a round of play/part of the card game, of which bridge is an example/say).
4 Suffer some strain curiously (5)
INCUR : Hidden in(some) “strain curiously“.
5 One criticising, as it were, prison (7)
SLAMMER : One who slams/criticises severely could be called/as it were, a slam-mer.
Defn: Slang for ….
6 Doctor is funnily without limits getting hormone (7)
INSULIN : Anagram of(Doctor) [IS + “funnily” minus its 1st and last letters(without limits) ].
7 Sort out legal document over outsiders in error for a director’s colleague? (12)
SCREENWRITER : SCREEN(to pass through a sieve to sort out into different sizes) + WRIT(a legal document commanding some specific action) placed above(over, in a down clue) 1st and last letters of(outsiders in) “error“.
Defn: …, a film director, that is.
10 Role narcotic plays – characteristic of some prisons? (12)
CORRECTIONAL : Anagram of(… plays) ROLE NARCOTIC.
Answer: As in “correctional institutions or facilities”.
15 Smiley not adjusted to show seriousness (9)
SOLEMNITY : Anagram of(… adjusted) SMILEY NOT.
17 Group welcomes eastern sun over house in African country (7)
LESOTHO : LOT(a group of similar things) containing(welcomes) [ E(abbrev. for “east”) + S(abbrev. for “sun”) ] placed above(over, in a down clue) HO(abbrev. for “house”).
18 Writer with US actress? It’s a mixture (7)
MELANGE : ME(self-referential pronoun for the writer) plus(with) LANGE(Jessica, award-winning American actress).
A pictorial melange of beauty and the beast:
19 Book out principally on sculptor and composer (7)
BORODIN : B(abbrev. for “book”) + 1st letter of(… principally) “out” placed above(on, in a down clue) RODIN(Auguste, French sculptor of The Thinker fame).
Answer: Alexander, Russian composer.
20 Forgetting parking, liking transport (7)
ENCHANT : “P”(abbrev. for “parking”, as in the road sign) deleted from(Forgetting …) “penchant”(a liking for/an inclination towards).
Defn: …/bring under a spell/bewitch.
22 Spire in way oddly in Italian city (5)
SIENA : 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th letters of(… oddly) “Spire in way“.
I thought the clue for 23a was a bit weak. He is pretty well known as Mo Farah by everybody, not just his friends. Never heard his name given as Mohamed.
Nice to have Sleuth back again – he hasn’t been around much lately under any of his aliases
I agree with Hovis about Mo and his friends – but I bet his mum would still call him Mohamed
Thanks to Sleuth and scchua
Thanks to Sleuth and scchua. I took a long time spotting NADAL (I kept trying to turn “court” into the usual woo or ct) and did not parse MOROCCO (I did not link “skipper” with roo),, bit I much enjoyed the puzzle.
Thanks, Sleuth, and thanks, scchua for the explanations.
25ac – I got INDIANA from crossers, but is this a cryptic convention? Using “restaurant” to mean a national cuisine like “Indian”? Would “Thai” or “Cuban” be used this way? Just never ran across it before and it seems vague on the surface.
Thanks Sleuth and scchua
Jeff @ 4: in the UK it’s not uncommon to say something like “We’re going to have a meal at the Indian”. ‘Restaurant’ is inferred from the context.
Beaten hands down by NADAL after toying with ‘ct’ & ‘woo’ for ‘court’ as fellow blogger above. l completed the rest.
Fun puzzle, with a few I didn’t quite get (NADAL, RAMBLER). I remembered 19d BORODIN from Falcon’s 16,131 puzzle a week ago, with a different clue. Thank you, Sleuth and scchua.
Thanks Sleuth and scchua
Pretty straightforward solve apart from not being able to parse MOROCCO beyond MO Farah (even though Skippy is a common enough name, couldn’t associate a ‘skipper’ to a ROO) nor INDIANA (again not familiar to referring to a restaurant by the cuisine that is served at it). Didn’t have the problems with NADAL that some others had … well as soon as the N and L crossers were in.
There did seem to be lots of anagrams – both fully designated ones and composite ones that needed bits of words put together first.
Finished in the NE corner with SLAMMER and RAMBLER (didn’t know of the activist organisation though).