Solving time: 20 mins

* = anagram > = reversal

ACROSS

1 RHAPSODIC o in (harp disc)*

6 (e)QUIP

11 T (OU L) ON

14 BALL A DEER

15 TEMP O

16 A ESOP pose>

21 S (COR) ER

24 PRE-RAPHAELITISM {har(d) paper}* elitism

25 TIN(n)Y Not one new = remove one n

26 PAS DE DEUX (a d - document initially sexed up)*

DOWN

1 REF IT

2 AS EX U AL(l)

3 SEAL OF APPROVAL

4 D (IS) C Washington DC

5 C (Y CLO-C(k)) ROSS

8 P (AN) ET TONE

9 TARGET PRACTICE pr act in (cigarette)*

13 READERSHIP (dearer)* (phis)*

14 B (breeder initially) LACK  S POT

17 SOYBEAN (by a nose)*

19 BAR L(IN)E Berlioz is French so article = le

22 REM IX (Roman numeral for nine)

23 ME (atle) SS

Well, my Internet connection seems fine this morning, so hopefully that means they’ve fixed it properly this time! Anyway, as a few people have already commented, this was an absolute beast of a puzzle. It took me just under an hour, but that was with Bradford’s and Chambers out, and in one case Google (18d). I wasn’t helped by the fact that the instruction about across entries being anagrams of their opposite numbers was missing from my printout version (although it’s there now).

Across
8 C,ASH,MERE - nice straightforward wordplay, good humorous definition. Put me off my guard!
9 TINS,EL - more like Araucaria. “online” = “on line”, line being EL (short for ELevated railway).
10 SKI,N - Calling a ski “footwear” is a bit naughty, but accurate I suppose. To skin is to swindle.
11 SEA C(”Sikh”),APT,A,IN - “I skip” means “I am the skipper”.
14 ASP,(IR),ANT - didn’t like this one - an asp doesn’t sting!
15 WE,AT HER - Guardian = WE is quite common, very tricky definition though. One of the last ones I put in, even though I had guessed by then that it would be an anagram of 17.
17 W(R,EAT)H.E. - another one I wasn’t keen on, because of the r-rust = R-EAT bit. This is a construction that only Araucaria and Azed use, and to me it seems lazy - and, once you’ve seen it a few times, a bit of a giveaway.
20 PAR(rap rev.),TISAN(e)
22 CAST,RO - man of faith because Fidel means faith, I guess. I can’t figure out how RO = “on one side” though.
23 ANAPAESTIC - “cit. sea Pan a” reversed. Two short syllables followed by a long syllable.
25 SI(LEN)T - I wonder if this clue has a typo in it. “Dumb boy in post”. I think it should be “Dumb boy in pose”, because I can’t see how post = sit.
26 MARCH,ESE

Down
1 B(ACK)ACH,E - ack = old letter, being an old signallers’ name for A.
2 W,HEN - as in the phrase “Say when” while pouring someone a drink.
3 CENSU(re),S
5 STRAPPER - “rep parts” reversed. Chambers says “A person who works with straps, esp a groom.”
6 UNI,TAR,1,ANS
13 OUT,STEPPE,D - I put in OVERTOPPED at first, which seriously held me up with 15ac.
16 ENS,HEATH
18 HAR(K)NESS - thanks to Google, I know what an Ena Harkness rose is now. “In harness” means “working”, hence “not yet retired”.
19 A,NATO,MY!
21 AEN(Ena*),EID - Eid being a Muslim festival.
22 CICERO(ne) - Cicero was a Roman orator, but he would have been able to speak Greek as well.
24 SO,HO - I guessed there must be a Greek Street in Soho.

I found this is a bit trickier than the last couple of Beelzebub puzzles and I even had to use Bradford’s on a couple of occasions. There are a couple of clues - 15A and 16D - where I’m not convinced I’ve got the right answer, or I don’t understand the wordplay.

Reasonably easy puzzle but with a sting in the tail for me. I got 4A quickly so was able to fill in the answers to the thematic clues with not much thought. The rest was quite straightfoward with the exception of 31A and 27A, which together took me almost as long as the rest of the puzzle. Very irksome.

I quickly finished the left half of the grid. It then took me a couple of days before I got a good start on the right side. Once I did, I finished it quickly too. Even now there is one clue that I do not completely understand.

Across

1. PIAZZA - A (article) in PIZZA (take-away)
4. PROTRUDE - ROT (nonsense) in PRUDE (goody-goody)
10. APPEASE - A + PPEASE (homonym)
11. LANDING - double definition
12. MINT - double definition. I had to look up mint to confirm that it can mean sweet.
13. CONTINGENT - G (group’s leader) in CONTINENT (Europe perhaps)
15. CRANNY - ANN (girl) in CRY (be sad)
16. CONFINE - CON (party, short for conservative) + FINE (ok)
20. PETUNIA - I (single) + NUT (fruit) backwards in PEA (seed)
21. DRAWER - double definition
24. COLD TURKEY - cryptic definition. St. Stephen’s day is the day after Christmas (in some calendars at least) hence the day to eat leftovers from the Christmas bird, traditionally a turkey in Britain. Wikipedia came in handy here!
26. CARD - double definition.
28. TOPPING - cryptic definition
29. BREAKER - R (right) in BEAKER (vessel)
30. CAROLINE - anagram of CLAIRE NO
31. BHUTAN - HUT (shed) in BAN (block)

Down

1. PHARMACY - HARM (pain) in PACY (moving quickly)
2. APPENDAGE - PP (two pages) in anagram of AGENDA
3. ZEAL - hidden word
5. RELATION - ? + ELATION (utter bliss)
6. TUNING FORK - (I do not fully understand this one)
7. UNITE - UNIT (kitchen fitment) + E (key)
8. EIGHTY - [w]EIGHTY (heavy)
9. TENON - TEN (number) + ON (attached)
14. INDUSTRIAL - INDUS (river) + TRIAL (test). This is a lovely clue given that there is a well known River Test.
17. NEWMARKET - NEW (current) + MARKET (demand). Newmarket is, I believe, a little known card game — fortunately one that I had heard of.
18. NITROGEN - anagram of RINGTONE
19. GRIDIRON - RID (free) in GIRO (payment) + N (variable). There may be something about N that I don’t know but “variable” seems a rather weak indicator for it. “Variable” more usually indicates X or Y in my experience. This was the most difficult clue for me.
22. ACETIC - ACE (one) + TIC (shake)
23. DERBY - double definition
25. LEPER - P (quiet) in LEER (smirk)
27. MESH - S (back of toilets) in HEM (bit of skirt) backwards