Independent 11,303 / Filbert

C (=Conservative) + IT (=sex appeal, as in She’s got it) + PECS (=muscles); “could be returned” indicates reversal

DI (=policeman, i.e. Detective Inspector) + THE RING (=a long cycle, i.e. of operas by Wagner)

<touris>T (“close to” means last letter only) + RASH (=spots, on body)

<b>ED<s> (“stripped” means first and last letters are dropped) in SWISH (=fashionable)

[RAM (=sheep) + CA (=roughly, circa)] in TR (=Turkey, in IVR); a tramcar runs on rails, hence “rail transport”

Cryptically, a “euro vision” could be a “dream about money”!; the “numbers” of the definition refer to the songs sung at the Eurovision Song Contest

<ta>P (“no thanks (=ta)” means letters “ta” are dropped) + ALE (=beer)

<pr>AGUE (=place for Czechs, i.e. their national capital); “back four” means last four letters are used

BON (=good for France, i.e. the French word for good) + D (=Germany, IVR)

O<phi>R (“case” means first and last letters only) in PT (=point)

RATS (=traitors); “heading west” indicates reversal; to star is to appear as principal performer, i.e. act the hero

<gl>OV<es> (“second pair” means letters 3 and 4 in a 6-letter word) + ERE (=before, in poetry) + AT (=visiting a place)

Reversed (“going round”) and hidden (“holding”) in “tearjerkinG ART ON Show”

*(BELG<i>U<m>); “Mike (=M, in radio telecommunications) and I leave” means letters “m” and “i” are dropped from anagram, indicated by “drifting”

SHOCK (=hair) + WAVE (=roller, at sea)

FIG (=tree whose leaves conceal e.g. private parts) + *(THE) + R (=rook, in chess); “cuckoo (=mad)” is anagram indicator

<kitche>N (“back in” means last letter only) in [TUNE (=adjust, e.g. piano) + L (=large, in sixes)]

Apparently, data is stored in the groove of a disc; a team that is “in the groove” is “on form”, performing well

<s>IBERIA<n> (=from eastern Russia); “avoided by Poles” means letters “s (=south)” and “n (=north)” are dropped

Homophone (“dictator’s”) of “nay (=refusal)”; the “nag” of the definition is a horse

S<l>IGHTS (=insults; “that’s out of line (=L) means letter “l” is dropped) + E (=English) + ER (=monarch, i.e. Elizabeth Regina)

EX- (=former) + TRAJAM (Trajan=emperor, of Rome; “swapping tips for mummification” means letter “n” becomes letter “m”)

Homophone of “tee (=driving zone)”; in golf, a tee is where the golfer hits his drive each time, e.g. first tee, second tee

C (=cold) + *(OR HOT); “on manoeuvres” is anagram indicator

YENS (=desires) + <k>ID<s> (“whittled” means first and last letters are dropped); “to bring up” indicates vertical reversal; the reference is to the 2022 Disney film

COUNTER (=chip, in casino games) + PANE<l> (=bodywork; “after taking learner (=L)” means letter “l” is dropped)

PPE (=the course Cameron took, at Oxford) in *(SATIRE); “new” is anagram indicator; the “stuffed” of the definition refers to eating gluttonously

*(HEAD) + RENT (=the cost of living somewhere); “shaking” is anagram indicator

B (=British) + ROGUE (=mischievous); a brogue is a lilting Irish accent

*(BORIS) + F (=fellow, as in FRCM); “bothered” is anagram indicator; the French refer contemptuously to the British as les rosbifs

LOO (=can, toilet) + KIN (=family); a look-in is a short casual call, hence “visit”

POR (=Spanish for, i.e. a Spanish word for for) in ST (=street)

L (=fifty, in Roman numerals) + E.G. (=for one, for example)