Your scheduled blogger is travelling today so I am back sooner than expected.
I found this to be a typical Dante so there is little to be said that hasn’t been said before. I will leave others to comment on the number/accuracy of the double/cryptic definitions etc should they so desire.
Across
1 Conservative / quits (6)
SQUARE – double def.
4 Father Thomas evokes pity (6)
PATHOS – PA (father) THOS (Thomas)
8 Here and now (7)
PRESENT – double def.
9 The French prohibition on Middle East republic (7)
LEBANON – LE (the French) BAN (prohibition) ON
11 Acts concerning donations (10)
REPRESENTS – RE (concerning) PRESENTS (donations)
12 Pained expression when purse is initially lost (4)
OUCH – [p]OUCH (when purse is initially lost)
13 Shady place for one on the fiddle (5)
BOWER – double def.
14 Such an atmosphere is thin, fear dire consequences (8)
RAREFIED – an anagram (consequences) of FEAR DIRE
16 Mince-pie man (8)
SHEPHERD – cryptic def. referring to the fact that a shepherd’s pie is made using minced lamb
18 Meat and chips, we hear (5)
STEAK – a homophone (we hear) of ‘stake’ (chips)
20 Russian leader is one at the front (4)
IVAN – I (one) VAN (leader)
21 Possibly cite issuer of bonds, for example (10)
SECURITIES – an anagram (possibly) of CITE ISSUER
23 City company gains a record number of points (7)
COLOGNE – CO (company) LOG (record) NE (number of {compass} points)
24 Dishing out beatings (7)
HIDINGS – an anagram (out) of DISHING
25 It bores me in the back (6)
REAMER – ME in REAR (the back)
26 Turn up at ten on the dot, at first (6)
ATTEND – AT TEN D[ot] (dot, at first)
Down
1 Start court proceedings (5)
SERVE – cryptic def. referring to tennis etc
2 Sunbaked sailors slacken off (7)
UNSCREW – an anagram (baked) of SUN plus CREW (sailors)
3 Exhibition of jewellery rightly leads to conviction (5,4)
RINGS TRUE – RINGS (jewellery) TRUE (rightly)
5 Declares a piece of poetry endless (5)
AVERS – A VERS[e] (a piece of poetry endless)
6 Take preventative action when one’s principal is on holiday (4,3)
HEAD OFF – HEAD (principal) OFF (is on holiday)
7 Detect, and impede, a random inspection (4,5)
SPOT CHECK – SPOT (detect) CHECK (impede)
10 Begin / to make an acquaintance (9)
INTRODUCE – double def.
13 Conduct / performance (9)
BEHAVIOUR – double def.
15 Reserve to practise during break (9)
RESTRAINT – TRAIN (to practise) in (during) REST (break)
17 Criticise girl for releasing the evils of the world? (7)
PANDORA – PAN (criticise) DORA (girl) with an extended definition
19 Ten fuddled with drink weave around (7)
ENTWINE – an anagram (fuddled) of TEN plus WINE (drink)
21 Wrongdoing before church, then and after (5)
SINCE – SIN (wrongdoing) CE (church)
22 Piped over the border (5)
EDGED – cryptic def. referring to adding piping to the edges of something (nothing whatsoever to do with the wail of bagpipes in Scotland, despite what you may have thought at first)
Thanks Dante and Gaufrid
Nothing tricky in this today … all over very quickly. REAMER was the last in and the only one that needed to be checked in references.
Thanks Geoff and Dante.
I temporarily caught myself in limbo, having hastily (and wrongly) unscrambled ‘Dishing’ out in 24ac as ‘Shindig’ before being forced to come back later and look at the clue closer. But for that lapse, it was quite smooth all the way.
13ac and 16ac were new to me in that usage.
Cheers
TL