Across

1. TWENTY. 2 + 0.
4. BASEBALL. BASE + BALL.
9. KNIVE. K + Ni + Fe (all metals).
10. AREA CODES. SEAA(COD)RE*.
11. ARISTOTLE. TOTALISER*.
12. NICHE. NIC(H)E.
17. SAN FRANCISCO. CAS(FRANC)INOS*.
20. DELHI. Invested can mean ‘put under siege’, and the Siege of Delhi was in 1857.
21. SHED A TEAR. SHE’D A TEAR.
23. EXQUISITE. Double def, exquisite also means ‘extreme’.
24. RATED. TRADE*.
25. EVERY ONE. Double def, reference to the Lewis Carroll poem “The Walrus and the Carpenter”.
26. PARSEE. PARSE + E.

Down

1. TAKE ARMS. Double def.
2. EDITIONS. INTOSIDE*. Not sure about ‘pushed’ as anagrind.
3. THEFT. Cryptic def.
5. AN EYE FOR AN EYE. Cryptic def.
6. ECCENTRIC. Double def.
7. ADDICT. A(DID*)CT.
8. LASHED. LA(SHE)D.
10. AFTER A FASHION. AFTER + A FASHION.
14. VIABILITY. VI + ABILITY.
15. ASBESTOS. Cryptic def.
16. PORRIDGE. Double def (prison time).
18. ADHERE. DAREHE*.
19. PLAQUE. Cryptic def.
22. AORTA. (se)A OR TA(nk).

Across

5. BEATLE. BE + TALE*.
6. MORRIS. MOR(R)IS. MORI is a polling agency, I suppose MORIs are therefore polls.
9. ACTION. ACT(I)ON.
10. LANDSEER. I suppose you’d be grateful for one.
11. OPEN-EYED. O + DE(YEN)EP<.
12. ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK.  Aggregate from comets = ROCK, Article about security = THE + C + LOCK. THECLOCK amid ROCK is the same as ROCK around THECLOCK.
18. VIDEO NASTY. V + IDE + ON A + STY.
22. PHOSGENE. PHO(EGS<)NE.
23. GALLEY. G + ALLEY. You get proof of a pudding by eating it… in a galley?
24. PARENT. P + AREN’T.
25. BRACES. Double def. 2=pair rather than referring to another clue.

Down

1. MARIANNE. MAR(IAN)NE. Apparently a character from the book!
2. ELINOR. NILE< + OR. Ditto.
3. JOHN PAUL. 2 Beatles, plus the name of two Catholic popes.
4. PRESTO. PRESTO(n).  Especially satisfying given the name of the football team.
5. BICEPS. “BUY CEPS”. Interestingly the muscle is called the ‘biceps’ in the singular because it has two parts.
7. SIENNA. ANNE + IS<. Not clear why ‘royal corpse’ is Anne aside from there obviously being a few historical royal Annes.
9. BLOCKBUSTER. “BOCK BLUSTER” spoonerised.
14. SENSE AND SENSIBILITY. BLESSEDNESSINANITY1*. A pleasing &lit.
16. BISHOP. BIS + HOP.
17. RECESS. RECESS(ION).
19. ENSURE. (c)ENSURE.
20. YOGURT. Y(GO<)URT. Used to be an americanism but now seems the common spelling in the UK.

Across

7. ROSEMARY. ROS(ME<)ARY.
9. ERMINE. “ER, MINE?”.  Traditional clothing for a judge.
10. DILL. (en)D + ILL.
11. HERB GARDEN. HER + B.G. + ARDEN.
12. GARLIC. GALLIC with L(eft) changed to R(ight).
14. CAMOMILE. CAM + 0 MILE.
15. ORNATE. NEARTO* &lit.
17. STATUS. STAT(U)S.
20. MARJORAM. MAR + JORAM. A joram is a large drink as well as a person in the bible, apparently.
22. FORAGE. FOR AGE.
23. GRAMMARIAN. G + RAM + MARIAN.
24. MINT. dd.
25. TUXEDO. OU(X)TED*

Down.

1. POSITANO. POSIT A NO. I confess I had to look at a map.
2. KEEL. LEEK<
3. PATHIC. APITCH*. Initially wondered about ‘haptic’.
4. BERGAMOT. BERG + A.M. + TO<.
5. IMPRIMATUR. IMP + R + 1 + MATUR(e).  R = ‘recipe’ in latin = take.
6. UNWELL. U.N. WELL.
8. YORICK. YOR(1 C)K.
13. LONG JUMPER. LONG + JUMPER.
16. TARRAGON. TAR + RAG ON.
18. SAGENESS. SAGE + NESS.
19. EMPIRE. ‘EMP + IRE.
21. AIRBUS. A(BRI(tish)<)US.
22. FENNEL. FE(N N)EL.
24. MOLY. “MOLEY”.

There’s often debate about what sort of knowledge is acceptable to assume on the part of the solver – I’m not sure how kosher it is to expect us to know about wartime cabinet members, but for me it was still a fun crossword with a bit of  research.

Across
1. HERBERT MORRISON. HERB + TERM* + ORRIS + ON.  ‘On’ as ‘added’ just about works.
2. LARAMIE. L(A RAM)IE.  Never heard of the place but apparently it’s in Wyoming.
9. SEPIA. SE(PI)A.
10. MAIN FORCE. Double def, I guess?
12. VISA. (ad)VISA(ble).
14. COUNTERFOIL. COUNT + E.R. + FOIL.
18. ERNEST BEVIN. E.R. + NEST + BEV + IN.
21. TRIP. Prelapsarian normally means ‘in Eden’, but literally means ‘Before the fall’.
22. NOT WHILE I’M ALIVE HE AIN’T. HOMEWHENALLINITIATIVE*. Famous quote, apparently! Took a look on google to confirm for me.
25. CHURCHILL. C(HUR)C + HILL.  Ben is re-used to mean Ben-Hur and ‘hill’. As well as being PM, Churchill wrote and painted (and founded my Alma Mater).
27. PENTARTH. PEN + ART + H(is). Town in Wales.
29. SCEPTRE. SPECTRE with P and C swapped.

Down

1. HIS OWN WORST ENEMY. HI + SOWN + ROW< + STEN + E(ast) + MY. Excellent!
2. REPORT. RE: PORT.
3. ELASTICISE. SALE < + CITIES*.
4. TIMON. NOM + IT<
5. LEITMOTIV. “LIGHT” + M.o.T. + IV. Hadn’t seen the -iv spelling before.
6. RIFT.  Not sure about this, there’s a saying ‘the rift in the lute’ but it seems weak.
9. EYEBALL. EYE + BALL.
13. BRAND IMAGE. BRAN + DIM(AG)E.  A dime is 2 nickels.  Not sure the def quite fits.
15. UNBOOKISH. U.N. + ? + SH.  Not sure about this, ‘his body’ is the UN, and most of the letters from BOOKI are in his name…
16. DEATH CAP. double def.
17. ANTIGUAN. ANTI + GU(A)N.
20. AMPERE. AM + PERE. Bilingual refers to the fact the answer switches language midway.
23. WALES. W(h)ALES. Not my fatherland, but it is some people’s (”Land of my fathers”, etc).
24. SCAR. Presumably a reference to Scarborough.

Across

1. IRATE. 1 + R. + A ‘TE’.
4. INDICATE. 1ACTEDIN*. Odd to have sequential clues starting with ‘1′.
8. SPEED MERCHANTS. double-def.
10. RAILROAD. RAIL + ROAD.
11. SHINTO. SH + INTO. ‘SH’ meaning intimate is odd, and I’m not sure calling Shinto a cult is that PC.
12. ENIGMATIC. GINITCAME*.
15. CLAMP. A couple of possible explanations here.  Piles of peat drying in the sun are called clamps, so Murphy here could just be meaning ‘in Ireland’.  On the other hand apparently a clamp can be a pile of potatoes, so Murphy would be the spud!
17. TASKS. S(ASK)T<
18. COME AFTER. double def.
19. ORDERS. double def.
21. EMPORIUM. MEMOIRUP*.
24. FORBIDDEN FRUIT. cryptic def.
25. LEEDS. LE(ED)S.

Down

1. INSURRECTION. Not sure what ‘from the ranks’ means, unless insurrection specifically means a military uprising of some sort.
2. APERITIFS. PARTIE(IF)S*.
3. ELDER. EL + RED<.
4. INELASTIC. ACTILINES*.
5. DUCK. ‘Get down!’.  Also took me a while to realise that you get down (feathers) from a duck.
6. CHA-CHA-CHA. Cha = tea.
7. TITAN. TIT + A + N(orth).
9. COPPERSMITHS. COPPER + SMITHS.  Smiths are ‘forgers’ because they use a forge.
13. MISERABLE. MISER + ABLE.
14. CAMEMBERT. CA(MEMBER)T.
16. ATTRIBUTE. double def.
20. DROVE. (lan)D ROVE(r).
22. OFFAL. OF + FAL.
23. EDGE. double def (sort of – both defs are the same sense really).

8. MAKE LOVE. M(AKEL(a))OVE.
9. PRISE. “PRIZE”.
10. FISH. (thie)FISH(opeless).
11. BANANA SKIN. BA(NANA)SKIN. Baskin Robbins is a chain of ice cream sellers.
12. STABLE. double def.
14. CHIPMUNK. CHIP + “MONK”.  Chip as ‘not the fish’ is terrible.
15. COLONIC IRRIGATION. COLONCAIROTIRINGI*. I like the use of ‘colon’.
17. AGONISE. AG(SINO<)E.
20. WATCH OUT. WAT(CHOU(x))T.
22. BUTT. double def.
25. FRIAR. FRI + AR(my).
26. EVENSONG. (st)EVENSON + G.

Down

1. RADIO TWO. AWORDTOI*.
2. YEAH. HA(E)Y<.
3. DOUBLE WHAMMY. DOU(r) + BLEW + HAMMY.
4. REDNECK. RED + NECK.
5. SPANKING. double def.
6. DIPSOMANIA. IMASOPINAD(aze)*.
7. BENIGN. BE(NIG<)N.
13. BRONCHITIS. BR(ON + C(aught))ITISH*
16. IDOLATRY. I + DO + LA + TRY.
18. SEMITONE. TIMES< + ONE.
19. STRIKER. Double def.
21. ADRIFT. AD RIFT.
22. WINGER. Double def.
24. BASS. Double def.

Across

1. SIDESHOW. S + IDES + HOW.  The Ides of a month fall on either the 13th or 15th.
5. THAMES.  (wi)THA MES(sage).  Weller is a character from the Pickwick Papers, presumably he’d have pronounced ‘visage’ as ‘wisage’?
9. VENALITY. NATIVELY*.
10. CROCUS. CROC + U.S.
11. RABBITER. RABBI + TER(ritory).
12. MERSEY. M(ERSE)Y.
14. SHACKLETON. SHACK + LET ON.
18. REASONABLE. AR(A SON)EBEL*.
22. YELLOW. YELL + OW. Didn’t know this was a river.
23. ROOMMATE. MEAMOTOR*.
24. ORANGE. ORANG + E. Guess it’s an orange flower?
25. FITZALAN. FIT + Z + A LAN(guage).
26. MEKONG. ME + KONG.
27. INUNDANT. I(NUN + DAN)T.

Down

1. SEVERN. SEVER + N.
2. DANUBE. DAN + U + BE.
3. SALVIA. SALIVA*.
4. ON THE CHEAP. (e)ON + THE + C + HEAP.
6. HORSEFLY. HO(REFS*)LY.
7. MUCOSITY. MU + COS(IT)Y.
8. SO SAYING. S.O.S. + A YING.
12. SCILLONIAN. ISALINCOLN*
15. ARMY WORM. MARRYWOM(an)*. Some sort of crop parasite.
16. TAILBACK. TAIL + BACK.
17. TOBOGGAN. TO + BOG + NAG<
19. AMAZON. Double def but ‘bookseller’ would be better.
20. DAHLIA. (AIL + HAD)<
21. KENNET. KENNET(h)

Across

1. WARM-UP.  WAR(MU)P.  Mu is a greek character, so used in the Cyclades.
5. ERRANTRY. E.R. + RAN + TRY.
9. MAGNETIC. MAG(NET)IC.
10. AFLOAT. A FL(0)AT.
11. PROBATIONARY. ANAIRPORTBYO(ctober)*.
13. MENU. ME ‘N’ U.
14. ANTIMONY. AN + TIMON + Y.
17. LITERATI. L + ITERATI(-on).
18. IBEX. I BE + X.
20. QUESTION MARK. QU(SOMETIN*)ARK. Interesting to have a trade name in the clue, and having the definition be the punctuation mark at the end of the clue is quite cheeky!
23. EVER SO. (renegad)E + VERSO.
24. A BIT MUCH. AIMBUT* + C.H.
25. DROP BACK. DROP + BACK.
26. EFFETE. E(lection) + F(inds) + FETE.

Down

2. ALAS. SALA(d)<.  Not sure if I’ve seen ‘de-tailed’ before.
3. MENOPAUSE. MEN + OP(A)US + (regrettabl)E.
4. PATTON. “PATTERN”.
5. EXCLAMATION MARK. M(X)ARCIANOANDME*.  Similar to 20ac of course.
6. REALISTS. RE(ALI)STS. Mohammed Ali.
7. NYLON. N + Y(L)ON.
8. REARRANGES. I think “Rear Ranges” is meant to sound like “Rear Lists”?
12. SEMIQUAVER. S(E + ME + QU(id))AVER.  ‘50p?’ as ‘half a quid’ is pushing things!
15. MEIN KAMPF. ME + INK + A + M.P. + F(ascist).  Works as an &lit.  The title of Hitlers autobiography, which translates as ‘My Struggle’.
16. MANITOBA. MA(NIT)OBA.  MAOBA is OBAMA with MA ‘promoted’.
19. CANINE. C + A NINE.
21. STRAP. PARTS<.
22. SCUT. (rabbit)S + CUT.

Across

8. ON THE HOP. double definition
9. SPEARS. S.(PEAR)S.
10. TEMPTS. TE(MP)ST*.
11. NUISANCE. NU(IS)ANCE.
12. STYE. STY + E.
13. DECREE NISI. DESIRENICE*. Decrees Nisi are used in divorces, but not exclusively enough for me to be comfortable with it being used as a synonym.  Nice surface, though.
15. REGALIA. ALGERIA*
16. ACETONE. AC(ETON)E.
18. HEAD KEEPER. d.d.
19. BUMS. d.d.
20. ETHEREAL. ALETHERIS*
22. MISERY. MISER(l)Y.
23. REASON. SANEOR*
24. NON-LEGAL. LONGLANE*.

Down

1. UNDER THE WEATHER. d.d.
2. CHAPTER AND VERSE. c.d. Before a bible reading (’lesson’) the chapter and verse are announced.
3. WHIST DRIVE. WHIST + DRIVE. I wasn’t previously aware that whist meant ’shush’.
4. SPINACH. NIPS< + A C.H.
5. ASTI. AS + IT<
6. REMAINS TO BE SEEN. d.d.
7. BRICKS AND MORTAR. d.d.
14. ESCARPMENT. CAMPERS* + (t)ENT.
17. OPULENT. OP. + U + LENT.
21. ETNA. ANTE<

Across

1. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL. AM(NEST)Y + INTERN + AT + IONA + L.
5. FINANCE. FI(N)ANCE.
10. AIRWORTHY.  HARRYITWO*.
11. REAL TENNIS. REAL + TEN + SIN<
12. POOH. HOOP<
14. SET THE ALARM. SETT + HEAL + ARM.
18. RANGEFINDER. RAN + GE(FI)NDER.
21. FEED. Double def, “Fee’d”.
22. FLESH WOUND. F(WELSH*)OUND.
25. LAW CENTRE. Spoonerised “SAUL ENTER”
26. OWLET. O + W/ + LET
27. SKY BLUE. “SKYE BLEW”.
28. RETIREE. RE: TIREE.

Down

1. AVIARY. A + VIA + RY.
2. NOT BAD. NO(T.B.A.)D.
3. STRATHSPEY. ST(RATHS + P.E.)Y.  ‘Among pigs’ seems weak for ’sty’.
4. YEARN. YEAR + N.
5. FURNISHED. F(URN)ISHED.
6. NOON? The def implies a palindrome but don’t know what ‘twice’ means.
8. ERYTHEMA. (qu)ERY THE MA(nner). A reddening of the skin.
13. NARROWBOAT. N(ARROW + BOA)T.
15. TRIPLE TIE. TRIP + L(E.T.)IE.
16. TRUFFLES. T+RUFFLES.
17. UNDER WAY. (g)U(ANDREW*)Y.
19. FULLER. Double def. To ‘full’ is to clean cloth.
20. ODETTE. O(l)D(m)E(n)T(o)T(h)E. Odette Sansom, 1912-1995
23. STEER. Double def.
24. REEL. Triple def I think?