Lorraine: Straight forward Everyman this week, as always very enjoyable.
Nick: We got married on Wednesday 17th (just gone), so a couple of pictures – hope you all don’t mind! Lorraine is in the poppies, me in the hooped top 🙂

Legend to solution comments:
* = anagram.
< = word reversed.
| Across | |||
| 1. | Rum Serbian, volatile Nautilus crewman? (10) | ||
| SUBMARINER | (RUM SERBIAN)* | ||
| 6. | Mark’s sudden attack of fear out East (4) | ||
| SCAR | SCAR(e) | ||
| 9. | Writer from Inverness (5) | ||
| VERNE | hidden: inVERNEss | ||
| 10. | Sordid material and Ecstasy secured by bloke for next to nothing (4-5) | ||
| DIRT-CHEAP | DIRT+(E in CHAP) | ||
| 12. | Climber extremely embarrassed by athlete? (7,6) | ||
| SCARLET RUNNER | cd | ||
| 14. | Not yet arrived, extra owed (7) | ||
| OVERDUE | dd | ||
| 15. | Most friendly commander needing short afternoon nap (7) | ||
| COSIEST | CO+SIEST(a) | ||
| 17. | Officer, not specific as to detail (7) | ||
| GENERAL | dd | ||
| 19. | Guardian almost rude returning cycle (7) | ||
| CURATOR | CUR(t)+(ROTA<) | ||
| 20. | Lean and solemn, foreign statesman (6,7) | ||
| NELSON MANDELA | (LEAN AND SOLEMN)* | ||
| 23. | Paddy had a meal, neither very hot nor very cold (9) | ||
| TEMPERATE | TEMPER+ATE | ||
| 24. | Soot, ghastly at back of fireplace (5) | ||
| GRIME | GRIM+E | ||
| 25. | Implement put back in sack (4) | ||
| LOOT | TOOL< | ||
| 26. | Worn-out, like an old shoe? (4-2-4) | ||
| DOWN-AT-HEEL | cd | ||
| Down | |||
| 1. | Free bar (4) | ||
| SAVE | dd | ||
| 2. | He conducted in Swiss capital, good man, a German (9) | ||
| BERNSTEIN | BERN+ST+EIN | ||
| 3. | Poet and bandleader meeting parish priest (9,4) | ||
| ALEXANDER POPE | ALEXANDER(‘s rag-time band)+POPE | ||
| 4. | Please have a drink (7) | ||
| INDULGE | dd | ||
| 5. | Unstable boy holding sailor up (7) | ||
| ERRATIC | (TAR<) in ERIC | ||
| 7. | Fresh chapter on English film director (5) | ||
| CLEAN | C+LEAN | ||
| 8. | Putting things right in private school once head’s dismissed? (10) | ||
| REPARATORY | (p)REPARATORY | ||
| 11. | Boxer in vessel with crew (13) | ||
| CRUISERWEIGHT | CRUISER+W+EIGHT | ||
| 13. | Pleasant about debt ultimately inherited (10) | ||
| CONGENITAL | T in CONGENIAL | ||
| 16. | Return for trial diet? Amazingly, more put on! (9) | ||
| EXTRADITE | (DIET)* after EXTRA | ||
| 18. | Head of plant is absent from plant with back pain (7) | ||
| LUMBAGO | (p)LUMBAGO | ||
| 19. | A case of cutlery, and where it may be used (7) | ||
| CANTEEN | dd | ||
| 21. | Dance with member, Oscar (5) | ||
| LIMBO | LIMB+O | ||
| 22. | Spring in English city lacking sun (4) | ||
| WELL | WELL(s) | ||
Congratulations to you both! You had a nice day.
As Everyman goes, I thought this tougher than the previous week. I thought 1d was a bit of a stretch of sefinition of ‘Free’
Thanks for explaining 3d – I got the right answer but couldn’t understand the wordplay until I read the blog.
Warmest congratulations to both of you for your wedding on St Patrick’s Day. I’m pleased that everything went well.
I have just seen the pictures that Nick posted!. Glad to be of help in explaining the solutions to the clues. Nearly finished this weeks already, most enjoyable.
Thanks Lorraine,
I know this is supposed to be an easy puzzle but 19a, 16d and 22d were certainly well disguised and took me a while to get.
22d especially is a brilliant clue. Bravo Everyman.
Re 3dn, I didn’t originally understand pope = parish priest, although via Chambers I discover that a pope is a parish priest in the Greek Orthodox Church.
Congratulations to you both,
And Thanks for the blog.