Financial Times 14,325 by Gozo

Its Geography lesson again this morning, Gozo continues to educate and entertain us.  Thank you Gozo.

Though I found this quick to solve there are still a couple of answers I can’t explain (7 and 10 down).  Any help appreciated.

Across

1 Writings during time back on the Isle of Man (6)
RAMSEY
MS (manuscript, writings) in YEAR (time) reversed – town on Isle of Man

4 Painting by cooker top in Tasmania (6)
HOBART
ART (painting) by HOB (cooker top) – the capital of Tasmania

8 Relations’ drink in County Cork (7)
KINSALE
KIN’S (relations’) ALE (drink) – a fishing village in County Cork

9 Beheaded creature’s death in Spitalfelds and Whitechapel, say (4,3)
EAST END
bEAST (creature, beheaded) END (death) – area of London

11 Cat by public school in Suffolk port (10)
FELIXSTOWE
FELIX (cat, 1920s cartoon character)  by STOWE (private school in Buckinghamshire) – container port in Suffolk

12 Hangers-on disclose French département (4)
GERS
found in (disclosed by) hanGERS-on  – department in south-west France

13 Flower having faded petal (5)
PLATE
PETAL* anagram=faded – river (something that flows) in South America

14 Two little boys in French province (8)
NORMANDY
NORM and ANDY (two boys names, little=shortened) – department in northern France

16 Palace spaniel that few during WW2 (8)
BLENHEIM
triple definition – stately home in Oxfordshire, breed of spaniel and WWII bomber aircraft

18 Distant sound in the country (5)
CHILE
sounds like “chilly” (distant, unfriendly)

20 Italian provincial capital is the least important, somewhat (4)
ASTI
part of (somewhat) leAST Important – capital of the province of Asti and the Monferrato region

21 Drunken leader embracing lady around village in Derbyshire (6,4)
DARLEY DALE
anagram (drunken) of LEADER and LADY – a Derbyshire village near Matlock

23 Talkative bird swallows whale on Mediterranean isle (7)
MINORCA
MINA (talkative bird) contains (swallows) ORC (whale) – one of the Baleric Islands

24 Unstable wet mass at Cornish resort (2,5)
ST MAWES
(WET MASS)* anagram=unstable – small town and popular holiday destination in Cornwall

25 City in France – one in Nepal, maybe (6)
EPINAL
I (one) in NEPAL* anagram=maybe – capital of the Voges department in France

26 Secondary thoroughfares for Norfolk waters (6)
BROADS
B ROADS (secondary thoroughfares) – the Norfolk Broads is an area of lakes and rivers in Norfolk

Down

1 River with carp. Not wide river (5)
RHINE
R (river) with wHINE (carp) missing W=wide – River in Germany

2 Sicilian port confused cyclically (7)
MESSINA
IN A MESS (confused) with the words rotated one step (cyclically) – ancient city and port in on Sicily

3 Topless beauties – nothing better – in Shropshire (9)
ELLESMERE
bELLES (beauties, topless) MERE (nothing better) – town in Shropshire

5 Cosh carried regularly at US airport (5)
OHARE
cOsH cArRiEd (every other letter, regularly) – main airport of Chicago

6 Giant turning up gold on WI island (7)
ANTIGUA
GIANT* turning=anagram AU (gold, chem symbol) reversed (up) – island in the West Indies

7 Medway town or public school that’s not taken up card game (9)
TONBRIDGE
NOT reversed (taken up) and BRIDGE (card game) – public school and town in Kent on the river Medway.  I can’t figure this out.  ETON is an obvious public school, but why missing E?  UPTON is another possibility, missing UP (not taken), but I can’t find any references to this being a well known public school (Google shows there are dozens of schools called Upton Something-or-other).

10 Everyone agreed changing places with an artist in Eire peninsula (9)
CONNEMARA
NEM CON (everyone agreed, Latin)  with the words changing places then A (an) RA (Royal Academician, artist) – coastal region in Eire why?  I am not sure that Connemara is a peninsula, it is certainly a coastal region.  Can anyone sort this out?

13 Penalties converted in the eastern Mediterranean (9)
PALESTINE
PENALTIES* converted=anagram

15 Master of Thornfield Hall disturbs the scorer in Medway town (9)
ROCHESTER
(THE SCORER)* anagram=disturbs – town in Kent on the Medway and Thornfield Hall is the fictional home of Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre

17 Top-class bird moving tail in African capital (7)
NAIROBI
AI (top class) ROBIN (bird) with N (tail of robin) moving to the front – capital of Kenya

19 State of popular goddess (7)
INDIANA
IN (popular) DIANA (Greek goddess) – state of the USA

21 US prosecutor accepting a small volume in Bangladesh (5)
DACCA
DA (US prosecutor) containing (accepting) CC (small volume) – capital of Bangladesh

22 Top actors swapping notes in Yorkshire (5)
LEEDS
LEADS (top actors) with E and A (two notes of the scale) swapping places

*anagram