Thank you to Filbert for a not-a-Sunday-walk-in-the-park. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Name muscle-bound actor as Fairy Godmother (12)
BENEFACTRESS : N(abbrev. for “name”) contained in(…-bound) BEEF(muscle/strength) + ACTRESS(a female actor/performer).
8. Collect Charlie Sheen on Wall Street? (7)
CLUSTER : C(letter represented by “Charlie” in the phonetic alphabet) + LUSTER(sheen/lustre, as spelt on Wall Street, New York, USA).
Defn: …/to gather similar things into a close group.
9. University replacing last of cheap parking to make room (5,2)
BUDGE UP : U(abbrev. for “University”) replacing last letter(last of) “budget”(term denoting something cheap) + P(abbrev. for “parkng”).
Answer: What you’d say to someone to ask them to move to make space for you.
11. Capital, winning an event (5-4)
UPPER-CASE : UP(winning/in the lead in a competitive match) + PER(an, as in “kilometres per hour”) + CASE(an event/a happening, as in “in the event of my passing, …”).
12. Migrants coming through Sandwich or Deal (5)
HORDE : Hidden in(coming through) “Sandwich or Deal”.
13. Hot on piebald horse, wiping head (4)
INTO : “pinto”(a piebald horse, one with patches of two colours) minus its 1st letter(wiping head).
Defn: …/keen on.
14. Very tough mother opposed to ibuprofen finally admitted to A&E (10)
ADAMANTINE : [ DAM(mother/female parent of an animal) + ANTI(opposed to/against) + last letter of(… finally) “ibuprofen” ] contained in(admitted to) A,E(A&E).
Defn: Literary term for …/unable of being broken.
18. True love juggling with two donations – just the first of those? (10)
TURTLEDOVE : Anagram of(… juggling …) [TRUE LOVE plus(with) 1st letters, respectively, of(… – just the first of those) “two donations” ].
Defn: …/a sweetheart.
19. Secret alert, with ship in port unloading gold (4)
PSST : SS(abbrev. for “steamship”, used in the names of such ships) contained in(in) [ “port” minus(unloading) “or”(gold colour in heraldry) ].
Defn: Sound made to attract another person’s attention secretly.
21. Recognise Thatcherite Chancellor on the radio? Not at all (5)
NOHOW : Homophone of(… on the radio) [ “know”(recognise/identify) “Howe”(Geoffrey, former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher) ].
Defn: American slang for “not at all”/no way.
23. Space to work out my amusing anagrams (9)
GYMNASIUM : Anagram of(… anagrams) MY AMUSING.
24. Fast runner passed rival (7)
EMULATE : EMU(fast runner, in this case, fast-running Australian flightless bird) + LATE(passed away/had died).
Defn: …/match someone or something, usually by imitation.
25. Pacific Islander going east or west? (7)
NAURUAN : A palindrome(… going east or west).
Defn: A native of the south-western Pacific island of Nauru.
26. Charge fellow spreading faeces for pig (4,4,4)
FEED ONE’S FACE : FEE(a charge/cost for a service, say) + DON(a fellow/a university lecturer) + anagram of(spreading) FAECES.
Defn: …/to gorge oneself with food
Down
1. Peel tuber for cooking programme (4,5)
BLUE PETER : Anagram of(… for cooking) PEEL TUBER.
Answer: The BBC children’s TV programme.
2. Official witness to any Republican dodges (6)
NOTARY : Anagram of(… dodges) [TO ANY + R(abbrev. for a member of the Republican Party) ].
3. Cross journalist covering conflict sent on to another (9)
FORWARDED : [ FORD(to cross a river or stream at a shallow spot) + ED(abbrev. for “editor”, a journalist) ] containing(covering) WAR(an armed conflict) ]
4. Long line of cars? (5)
CABLE : Cryptic defn: The continuous moving line which is used to suspend and pull cable cars.
5. Dark hens fancy one with colourful legs (8)
REDSHANK : Anagram of(… fancy) DARK HENS.
6. Fleece as thin as tights, you’d say (5)
SHEAR : Homophone of(…, you’d say) “sheer”(very fine/thin, a characteristic of tights/tight fitting lower garment, from the very thin fabric from which they’re made, usually nylon).
Defn: To …/cut off the wool from sheep.
Just in case you want to try your hand at it:
7. Charming party held by great guy you hardly know (12)
ACQUAINTANCE : [ QUAINT(attractively unusual or old-fashioned/charming) + ANC(abbrev. for the African National Congress, a political party in South Africa) ] contained in(held by) ACE(great/excellent).
10. Gift wrapping season, November’s advance warning (12)
PRESENTIMENT : PRESENT(a gift) containing(wrapping) [ TIME(a particular period of time/a season) + N(letter represented by “November” in the phonetic alphabet) ].
Defn: …/premonition.
Nice surface.
15. Pieces’ pieces? (9)
MOVEMENTS : The self-contained sections/pieces into which longer musical works/pieces are divided.
16. Start filling Aussie’s truck, carrying melons to the north (9)
INSTITUTE : [ IN(inside/filling) UTE(an informal Australian/Aussie term for a pickup/truck) ] containing(carrying) reversal of(… to the north, in a down clue) TITS(slang for female breasts, as is “melons”).
17. Thump insensitive bigmouth (8)
BLOWHARD : BLOW(a thump/a hit with, say, a blunt instrument) + HARD(cold-hearted/insensitive).
Defn: …/one who talks loud and pompously, but with little impact.
20. Break – nearly all want one in Rome (6)
LACUNA : “lack”(want/a shortage) minus its last letter(nearly all …) + UNA(“one” in Italian, as spoken in Rome).
Defn: …/a gap.
22. Where shoes may have to be removed, socks protecting you? (5)
HOUSE : HOSE(socks … and stockings and tights) containing(protecting) U(shorthand for “you” in texting).
23. Pick up good tip (5)
GLEAN : G(abbrev. for “good”) + LEAN(to cause to be in a sloping position/tip).
Defn: …/to obtain information from various sources.