Financial Times 14,912 by ORENSE

From the intersecting clues, STAIRWELL is the only word that fits. Perhaps we’re missing something, but this doesn’t work as we are concerned. A stairwell is the vertical shaft in a building in which the staircase (one or more flights of stairs) is placed. What is mid-flight is a landing. We don’t see how the wordplay works, either, and whether it’s based around AIR plus STWELL or STEAL (pocket) plus WIRL. We cannot justify either.

Every other letter (regularly) of TRIP is TI. Insert those letters into ANC (acronym of African National Congress) and you have ANTIC.

I as an abbreviation for Italy inserted into TACT (diplomacy). We aren’t keen on the use of one-letter abbreviations.

Scramble (about) the letters of COMPLAINTS after deleting (rejecting) C (for COLD) and you get Platonism, the philosophy of Plato.

PROM (high school dance originating in North America) plus OTIONS (options or choices minus P for pressure).

Remove both ends from the words bugs and flit and you are left with UG and LI

CAME (arrived) plus RA for Royal Artillery plus S for south (bearing). We missed the S for south; thanks to Ish for pointing it out. As we’ve said elsewhere, we’re not too keen on single letter acronyms.

Take the outer letters (case) of defence, ie DE, add PRESS (a way of referring to newspapers generally) and you have DEPRESS

Deluded (misled), with N for name instead of (for) L for student

An anagram (complex) of protein

A cake may be iced.

BROOM (associated with sweeping) plus STICK (a wooden stake). Again, we were a bit dissatisfied with this. A broom is the implement used for sweeping, but we don’t see it as a verb. You don’t broom the carpet, for instance. And stick strikes us as something less substantial than stake, but that is probably us being picky.

PLAN (scheme) inserted into an anagram (off) of EASED

O, the first letter (source) of oranges plus RATE, another word for tariff

SA, a reversal (returning) of as, or since, plus LAD, a youth

Treatment is something done to a patient. We don’t really know our charades from our &lits, but it’s obvious what the clue is driving at.

The two words, or elements, making up upset, or disappointed, transposed.

We’ll venture to say this is a double definition and wait to be corrected.

An anagram (being repaired) of regret and road

E for European plus MP, a politician, plus TIES, or connections

R, the first letter (leader) of rebels inserted into LEANED or inclined

A plus G for good plos OG, a reversal (around) of go, or turn (as in, It’s his go.)

THIN (slim) plus G, the first letter of girl (girl’s first letter). THING is an informal way of referring to an obsession as in, She has a thing about cats.

A COMMIS chef is the lowest rank of chef in the culinary hierarchy – the one that actually cooks the food, in most instances. Add SAR a reversal (revolutionary) if most of the letters of rash, or reckless, and you have the answer.

The best clue in our opinion. SPOILS are the rewards of victory and PORT is the left side for someone on board a vessel or aircraft.

COD (fish) plus RIVERS (flow-ers). We’re confident this is a charade, despite the absence of Lionel Blair.

T, the starter, or first letter, of tonic plus a reordering of the letters of extra ice

DORM as a contraction of dormitory followed or chased by ANT, crosswordese for worker. Is “worker” ever used for a bee in a crossword?

A charade (we’re on a roll here) of PHONE, or call, and ME, how the compiler would refer to him or herself. A phoneme is a term uused in linguistics to denote the smallest contrastive linguistic unit which may bring about a change of meaning.

EX (former) plus PE (exercise) followed by L for learner or pupil

K for king plus NET, an adjective that has taken on the role of a noun (and sometimes a verb) to mean profit in financial circles (especially American), with L for left inserted.

Draw or pull reversed gives WARD. Ward is an interesting word. Our intial reaction was to say a ward is someone who is guarded, as in a ward of court, but ward can also be used as a verg, meaning to guard (hence, presumably, warder) or as a guard or shield within a lock.