Independent 10,407 / Knut

*(CHARACTER STOLE); “dodgy” is anagram indicator; a Chelsea tractor is a large, expensive vehicle driven in urban areas

Reversed (“back”) and hidden (“in”) in “quebeC I BORE AN Amniocentensis”

E (=English) + VERB; “reflexive” here indicates reversal

LEAR (=father of <o>REGAN<o>, entry at 7, with “exposed” meaning that first and last letters are dropped) + N (=new); to master a language, for example, is to learn it well

Hidden (“admits”) in “secreT OP BAN AN Abomination”

*(THORNE’S A); “doctor (as verb)” is anagram indicator; the reference is to the Sheraton style of furniture, as in That chair is a Sheraton

<s>IGNORE (=Italian chap); “drop south (=S)” means letter “s” is dropped

INST. (=this month, i.e. inst.) + EP (=record, i.e. Extended-Play); the reference is to instep kicking to shoot at goal in football

W<hit>E (“tips of” means first and last letters only) + REWOLF (FLOWER; “about” indicates reversal)

KISSING (=paying respects to) + ER (=The Queen); the reference is to the former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (1923-)

Homophone (“hearing”) of “nay (=no)”; cryptically, the noise from the nag (=horse)’s head is a neigh!

EVIAN (=water, i.e. from springs at Évian in France); “send back” indicates reversal

A (=American) + FOR (=in favour of) + *(IDEAS); “new” is anagram indicator

BILLIE JEAN (=hit by Jackson, i.e. the US pop star Michael Jackson, in 1983) + KIN (=family) + G<roup> (“first” means first letter only); the reference is to US tennis champion Billie Jean King (1943-), hence the reference to the smash shot in tennis

*(SHACKLE CINDERS); “novel” is anagram indicator; the reference is to the Victorian English writer Charles Dickens (1812-70), one of whose novels is Oliver Twist (serialised in 1837-39)

EDAM (=a cheesy individual in a waxed jacket, cryptically) + <j>AME<s> (“shelled” means first and last letters are dropped); edamame, from Japanese, is any of various types of soy bean that are harvested when green

*(ASKING HER); “out” is anagram indicator

AMBIT (=scope) + ION (No.1; “climbing” indicates vertical reversal)

EPICER<ie>; “that is (=i.e.) missing” means that letters “ie” are dropped from vertical reversal, indicated by up-and-coming

CO (=firm, i.e. company) + BRA (=support); Cobra, or Civil Contingencies Committee, is convened to deal with matters of national emergency

[REG (GER=German; “turning over” indicates a reversal) + A + N (=new)] in OO (=spectacles, i.e. pictorially)

Cryptic definition: the “setter” of the definition is not a crossword compiler, but a breed of dog!

GREEN (sustainable, of e.g. energy) + BEAN (=head, informally)

*(OF SEAMER); “bounder” is anagram indicator

HIM (=that bloke) in [SAS (=elite soldiers, i.e. Special Air Service) + I (=island)]; sashimi is a Japanese dish of thinly-sliced raw fish, hence “raw serving”

O (=old) + RIGA (=Baltic capital, of Riga) + M (=mass) + I (=independent)

AG (=silver, i.e. chemical formula) + homophone (“reported”) of “raid (=robbery)”

I (=current, in physics) + DEAL (=agreement)