Independent 12,119 / Crosophile

S (=small, in sizes) + HOVEL (=slummy pad, i.e. shabby accommodation) + <c>LER<k> (“content” means middle letters only are used); the “digs” of the definition refers not to accommodation, but to excavation!

S<een> (“initially” means first letter only) + TILT (pitch, of a ship); cf. walking on stilts

AMEN (=I agree, i.e. expression of assent) + DER (=the German, i.e. a German word for the)

C (=cold, as on tap) + LIMA (=capital city, of Peru) + T<h>E (“limits of” means first and last letters only)

Double definition: a flock is both “some sheep” and “(particles of) wool patterned onto cloth”

[O (=zero, pictorially) + G (=gravity)] in TETHER (=secure cord)

N<ovember> (“1^st of” means first letter only) in [UP (increase, raise, as verb) + AID (=assistance)]

*(CINEMA) + RA (=artist, i.e. Royal Academician)

*(COTERIES); “oddball” is anagram indicator

GR. (=grey) + OUSE (=example of (UK) river); to grouse is to moan and groan, hence “(to) carp”

SWAL (LAWS=regulations; “regressive” indicates reversal) + LOWS (=depressive); to swallow e.g. an untruthful is to fall for it

WI-F<i> (=internet access; “mostly” indicates last letter dropped) in ST (=street)

NATIVES (=indigenous peoples; “having time (=T) to move east” means letter “t” moves to later place in the word; in art, primitive means simple, unsophisticated

I (=one) + SOMERS<et> (=SW county; “having 25% off” means 2 of 8 letters are dropped)

Reversed (“goes over”) and hidden (“to some extent”) in “whEN ARCh”

*(DEALT VERY); “roughly” is anagram indicator;

S (=sun) + WAN (=pale and sickly)

*(A PLOVER); “flying”, as in “went flying” is anagram indicator

END (=end part) + *(IN CORE); “mutated” is anagram indicator

LA (=a city) + R (=Romeo, in NATO alphabet) + <heartbrea>K (“ending in” means last letter only); to lark is to play about, frolic

CO (=Colorado) in *(ACORNS); “chewed” is anagram indicator

Reversed (=going over) and hidden (=entirely inside) in “stEP INSide”; to snipe is to shoot at from a distance, hence “maybe a long shot”

IVAN (=Russian boy, i.e. male forename) + HOE (= “weedkiller”, i.e. garden implement for weeding); the reference is to the 1819 novel by Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott

*(A BEER + K (=Kelvin) in TIER (=row, level)

*(PERCUSSION); “playing” is anagram indicator

[ROW (=line) + ROO<k> (=castle, in chess; “that’s a bit short” means last letter is dropped)] in ART (=drawing)

<s>H<e>I<l>A (“regularly” means alternate letters only are used) + *(WITH A); “battered” is anagram indicator; the reference is to the 1855 epic poem The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

<v>OCA<l> (“essentially” means middle letters only are used) + *(RAIN); “dances” is anagram indicator

RE- (=concerning, regarding) in UNFED (=with no food)

E.G. (=for instance) in LIE (=fiction, untruth)

KIT (=equipment) + E (=electronic, as in e-commerce); a kite is a rumour given out to test public opinion

<w>ISPY (=insubstantial, flimsy; “not beginning with “W”” means letter “w” is dropped)