Independent 10,317 / Filbert

AB (=sailor, i.e. able-seaman) in *(LEAVING); “at sea”; & lit.

<l>UC<y> (“naked” means first and last letters are dropped) in MUS (SUM=total; “revolutionary” indicates reversal)

VAN (=little advantage, i.e. an abbreviation of “advantage” in tennis) + U (=for everyone, i.e. film classification) + AT + U (=university)

Cryptically, “flat ten” could be “below apartment 11”!; to “flatten” someone, e.g. in boxing, is to “floor” someone

O (=nothing) in LADS (=young men)

WARD (=minor, as in a ward of court) in *(ASSET); “transported” is anagram indicator; as China is in the orient, a journey “to China” would be an eastwards journey

The “lie (of the land)” is the situation; wordplay??

[PEN (=pigsty) + AND (=with) + SH (=mum, as in to keep mum)] in OUT; a clear case is an open-and-shut case

DOUBLE (=spitting image) + [L (=large, of sizes) in BUFF (=fan, as in a film buff)]; the “kid” of the definition is a hoax, deception

<a>M<b>R<o>S<e>; “regularly ignored” means alternate letters are dropped

Cryptically, “to spare (and not destroy) Tyre” would be to “let Middle Eastern city stand”; the “corporation” of the definition refers to a pot-belly

<j>UDDER (=shake); “jack (=J, in cards) leaves” means that letter “j” is dropped; a cow’s udder contains unpasteurised milk, of course!

[I (=one) in RAM (=sheep)] + *(TEN); “suspiciously” is anagram indicator

ON (=leg, i.e. a side in cricket) + <ornithologis>T (“finally” means last letter only) + RIAL (LAIR=nest, den; “returned” indicates reversal); to be “up” for murder is to be “on trial” for murder

FIELD (=competitors e.g. in an athletics event); “yen (=Y) for fresh start (=F, i.e. first letter)” means letter “f” is replaced by “y”

MA (=graduate, i.e. Master of Arts) + [READ (=study, as verb) in KEY (=entry requirement, cryptically)]

V (=volume) in NOEL (=Fielding, i.e. English comedian, 1973-); & lit., the reference being to US novelist Henry Fielding (1707-54)

VI (=six, in Roman numerals) + NT (=books, i.e. New Testament) + AGE (=date); a 2005 vintage port is one produced in 2005

*(SO WALLS GO); “around” is anagram indicator

US singer Frank Sinatra was referred to as “Ol’ Blue Eyes”, the title of his 1973 album, so could have been referred to as a blue-eyed boy in early life!

“Elf” is the German word for “eleven”, the number of players in a football team

[I (=one) in MAO (=chairman, in China)] + W (=with)

[A + TARR<y> (=stay, as verb; “short” means last-letter is dropped)] in [C (=cold, on top) + H (=hospital)]

SIN (=wrong, as noun) + <t>US<k> (“filling for” means all but first and last letters) + IT IS (=that’s)

*(TO BUSK TO EAT); “forced” is anagram indicator

[DAs (=US lawyers, i.e. District Attorneys) in LET (=rent out)] + RAY (=little light)

*(AFTER DUEL); “goes wrong” is anagram indicator

UN (=states working together, i.e. United Nations) + {K (=king, in cards) in [A + LIE (=fiction)]}

Hidden (“boxed”) and vertically reversed (“up”) in “vARIED AMounts”

ME (=Middle East) in END (=objective)

Double definition: a relay is an electronically-operated switch in an independent circuit AND to re-lay is to re-carpet

MOT (=annual fitness test, i.e. for vehicles); “given up” indicates vertical reversal; the reference is to the 1857 novel “Tom Brown’s Schooldays” by Thomas Hughes, about life at Rugby School