This hit the spot for me. You? That said, the grid was a bit odd for a Quiptic, and I think one of the clues is faulty.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
5 Anarchists’ leader occupying position in royal residence
PALACE
An insertion of A for the first letter of ‘anarchists’ in PLACE.
6 Celebrated singer visits lake before start of Indian religious festival
DIVALI
A charade of DIVA, L and I for the first letter of ‘Indian’. One of those words that can be spelt in a number of ways; I think I’d usually write it DIWALI, or even DEEPVALI. Whatever, it’s a Hindu festival of light, celebrated in this country especially in Leicester.
9 Don’t remember to make time
FORGET
A charade of FORGE and T.
10 Leave oar tangled in plant
ALOE VERA
(LEAVE OAR)* with ‘tangled’ as the anagrind.
11 Told to find out about present
HERE
A homophone (‘told’) of HEAR.
12 Raised empty hand containing 8 points
HEIGHTENED
With the crossing letters, it had to be this; but the parsing took me a while. It’s EIGHT and ENE in HD, the outside letters of ‘hand’. ENE is ‘east, north, east’, three ‘points’ of the compass.
13 Unsocial pet may be a risky investment
SPECULATION
(UNSOCIAL PET)*
18 Carer stews exotic vegetable
WATERCRESS
(CARER STEWS)* I suppose I’d describe watercress as a herb rather than a vegetable, but perhaps that’s splitting hairs.
21 Read revolutionary’s challenge
DARE
A hat-trick of anagrams. (READ)*
22 Colonel taking gold to a function in US state
COLORADO
A charade of COL, OR for ‘gold’ and A DO.
23 With reimbursed cash, Elizabeth David originally decorated cover of book
TOOLED
A reversal of LOOT followed by the initial letters of Elizabeth David. A specialist definition of ‘tool’.
24 Editor is working with inventor
EDISON
A charade of ED, IS and ON.
25 Ill tempered Conservative showing signs of age?
CRUSTY
And another: of C and RUSTY.
Down
1 In bad shape, convict found in pile of waste
SLAGHEAP
Pan is inviting you to insert LAG in (SHAPE)*
2 Dash for whisky?
SCOTCH
A dd. ‘My hopes of solving the puzzle were scotched/dashed.’
3 The cop arranged to host at-home for old Chilean general
PINOCHET
An insertion of IN in (THE COP)* for the Iron Lady’s best mate (after Ronald Reagan, of course).
4 The French rave about tadpoles, say
LARVAE
A charade of LA and (RAVE)*. It’s nearly that time of year if you’ve got a garden pond.
5 With fake ring, marry at last
PHONEY
A charade of PHONE and Y for the last letter of ‘marry’. The ‘with’ makes the cryptic grammar a bit dodgy, perhaps?
7 State of former PM’s heart?
ISRAEL
ISRAEL forms the middle letters, or ‘heart’ of Benjamin DISRAELI.
8 Author of Ale denied being drunk
DANIEL DEFOE
(OF ALE DENIED)*
14 Chicken getting answer as well as parrot
COCKATOO
A charade of COCK, A and TOO.
15 Solo nerd translated medieval language
OLD NORSE
(SOLO NERD)* I would usually associate ‘medieval’ with the Middle Ages, whereas Old Norse is much earlier; but my SOED does extend the definition back to 500AD, so fair enough. OLD NORSE had an impact on Old English, and there are a number of modern words which are derived from it, including FRECKLE, HUSBAND, SKY and THEY/THEIR. So know you know.
16 Father with part to play in prisoner’s conditional release
PAROLE
A charade of PA and ROLE.
17 Voracious animals turning up in empty granary
GREEDY
Since it’s a down clue, it’s a reversal of DEER in the outside letters of ‘granary’.
19 Amorous chap embraces occupational therapist
EROTIC
An insertion of OT in ERIC. I personally wouldn’t say that EROTIC is a synonym of ‘amorous’, but I’m not going into my sexual history online, thank you very much.
20 Philosopher getting hold of Swift’s third ironic composition
SATIRE
I think the setter is suggesting that we make an insertion of I for the third letter of ‘Swift’ in SATRE. However, the problem is that the French philosopher, and indeed much else, is called Jean-Paul SARTRE. ‘L’enfer, c’est les autres‘ or ‘Hell is other people’ is one of his many quotes. But his surname wasn’t SATRE.
Many thanks to Pan for this Monday’s Quiptic.
I was also unhappy with 20d, and wondered whether there was another philosopher called ‘Satre’ who was unknown to me. At 14d, there is also a. issue whether a cockatoo can be regarded as a ‘true parrot’.
Who’d be a crossword compiler, or editor?
Apologies ‘a.’ should read ‘an’.
I must confess that I didn’t notice the mis-spelling of SARTRE, but the “with” in 5d threw me, making this my LOI.
I thought this puzzle was on the slightly tricky side for a Quiptic, and I agree that 20dn just seems wrong although I didn’t notice it at the time. I’d only ever seen 6ac as “Diwali” but the wordplay was clear enough. TOOLED was my LOI from the wordplay with fingers crossed because I didn’t know the required definition.
A very enjoyable and quick solve today, apart from having to work to get 5d – the misspelling of Sartre passed me by.
Thanks to Pan and Pierre.
There were a couple of superfluous withs i thought and Satre? Well it is the Guardian I guess. The extra with in 5d held me up at the end. Grid shape suggests Nina but can’t see one. Thanks Pierre old chap.