Thank you to Filbert. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Greens in US enjoying great popularity now lead (8)
BUCKSHOT : BUCKS(like “greens”, US slang for its currency notes/dollars) + HOT(enjoying great popularity/in fashion).
Defn: …, US slang for bullets.
Answer: Large pieces of lead in shotgun shells.
I’m not sure what “now” in the clue refers to.
5. Piece made by sculptor completely out of dough (4)
BUST : Double defn: 1st: … showing a person’s head, shoulders and upper chest; and 2nd: …/bankrupt.
8. Spoils of war? (4)
MARS : Double defn: 1st: …/damages; and 2nd: The Roman god that personifies “war”.
9. Using persuasive language that might make you a lot richer (10)
RHETORICAL : Anagram of(that might make you) A LOT RICHER.
10. Half grudgingly admired golf club’s location (8)
ENVIRONS : 1st 3 letters of(Half) “envied”(grudgingly admired/yearned for something somebody else has but you don’t have or is better than yours) + IRON(golf club of a type, with a narrow metal head)‘S.
11. Racer finally demonstrating good skill (2-4)
GO-KART : Last letter of (finally) “demonstrating” + OK(or “okay”/fine/good) + ART(a learned ability/expertise/skill).
12. Producing no crops, to do with farm storage limits (6)
BARREN : RE(to refer to/to do with) contained in(… limits) BARN(a structure for storing items on a farm).
13. Small layer you hear, little songbird (8)
WHEATEAR : Homophone of(… you hear) [ “wee”(small) “tier”(a layer/level in, say, a structure or organisation) ].
15. Let out water through conical structure (8)
PERSPIRE : PER(by means of/through) + SPIRE(a tall pointed or conical structure on top of a building).
Defn: … through the skin.
18. “Retreat,” soldiers heading to the front communicated silently (6)
SIGNED : Reversal of(… heading to the front, in an across clue) [ DEN(a quiet private room/a retreat) + GIS(informal term for soldiers in the US Military) ].
20. Toff completely foul at Lord’s (2-4)
NO-BALL : NOB(a person of great wealth or high social standing/a toff) + ALL(completely/totally).
Defn: An illegal delivery in a game of cricket played in Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.
22. Always taking the soft option? (8)
TEETOTAL : Cryptic defn: When given a choice/option, always taking a soft drink and not an alcoholic one.
23. Throwing loops of rope on board, pack square boxes first for once (4,6)
DECK QUOITS : DECK(a pack of playing cards) + QUITS(refering to game scores, even/in a tie/square, as in “The teams were square after 90 minutes”.
Defn: A game played on the deck of a ship involving ….
24. Motor races affected by gales not starting (4)
INDY : “windy”(affected by gales/strong winds) minus its 1st letter(not starting).
Answer: Short for the IndyCar races in the US.
25. German teacher keeps money in pot, initially (4)
ANTE : Hidden in(… keeps) “German teacher”.
Defn: …, that is, the pool of bets staked by each player before the cards are dealt in a poker game.
26. Report of a Russian ghost ship stopped in the Channel? (2,6)
AT ANCHOR : Homophone of(Report of) “a tanker”(one of the fleet of under-the-radar petroleum carriers used to bypass sanctions against Russian oil, so-called the Russian ghost ships).
Defn: … on water.
A slight difference in pronunciation of “air tanker”(at anchor) than “a tanker”, I feel.
Down
1. No chicken sandwiches in Washington? What an idea! (9)
BRAINWAVE : BRAVE(daring/”no chicken”, in slang) containing(sandwiches) [ IN + WA(abbrev. for Washington State in the US) ].
2. Dismiss employee always putting their hand in the till (7)
CASHIER : Double defn: 1: An employee handling customer payments in a business establishment, hence by necessity … literally; and 2:
…/to discharge with dishonour from the military.
3. Old luvvie girl judges on all but the last of his plays (3,4,7)
SIR JOHN GIELGUD : Anagram of(… plays) [ “GIRL JUDGES ON” + 1st 2 letters of(all but the last of) “his” ].
Defn: Old/former actor/informally, a luvvie.
4. Did boss make too deep cuts? (7)
OVERSAW : OVER(too much eg. in depth/too deep) SAW(to make cuts with a cutting tool, in this case, a saw).
Defn: …/acted as a boss/supervised.
5. Cut chance of losing in wager (7)
BRISKET : RISK(a chance of losing/possibility of incurring a loss) contained in(in) BET(a wager/a gamble).
Defn: … of meat from the breast or lower chest of an animal, mainly a cow.
6. Steps taken by proletariat succeeded in revolution (5)
STAIR : Hidden in(taken by) reversal of(… in revolution) “proletariat succeeded”.
7. Representative upset being limited by sex, so neutral? (14)
CONGRESSPERSON : Reversal of(… upset) REP(abbrev. for “representative”) contained in(being limited by) [ CONGRESS(the sexual act) + SO + N(abbrev. for “neutral” ].
Defn: One in a formally organised group of representatives, eg. a legislative body.
14. Military leader‘s old mate aboard American Eagle? (9)
ALEXANDER : EX(an old/former mate/partner) contained in(aboard) [ A(abbrev. for “American”) + LANDER(a spacecraft built to land on, say, a moon; in this case the one named the Eagle which transported US astronauts to the moon’s surface – to quote Neil Armstrong: “The Eagle has landed.”)
Answer: … the Great, military leader of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and its Empire.
16. Deer charges around in charming animation (7)
SPARKLE : Reversal of(… around) [ ELK(a very large deer) + RAPS(criminal charges) ].
Defn: …/endearing liveliness.
17. Suffer humiliation, turning red at it (3,4)
EAT DIRT : Anagram of(turning) RED AT IT.
19. Fair beauty burdened by sentiment (7)
GOODISH : DISH(an attractive person/beauty) placed below(burdened by, in a down clue) GOO(excessive sentiment/overly emotional behaviour or language)
Defn: …/not bad.
21. Saving pence, Capone doctored the drink (5)
OCEAN : Anagram of(… doctored) [ “Capone” minus(Saving) “p”(abbrev. for “pence”, a unit of currency) ].
HOT suggests something that is currently in fashion – popular “now”.
Thanks Filbert and scchua
A cracking puzzle, what else, from Filbert.
I yorked at a couple: 11(ac), “OK” as “good”: I feel that “good” is a step up from “OK”, which is more akin to “it’ll do”.
15(ac), I am sure that some spires may be conical, but I don’t recall one: so perhaps, a “perhaps” in the clue sentence might be fairer?
Other thoughts,
Re, 23(ac), my take was, a la, “let’s call it QUITS”, i.e. ” we are square”. [ DECK QUOITS ]
Re, 26(ac), “AT ANCHOR” works perfectly simply for me…describes a ship which has stopped and dropped anchor.
Excellent setting throughout, testing but not trying.
Thanks to Fil and scchua
I think the whole of 7d is the definition (so an &lit here), the idea being that congressperson (as opposed to congressman or woman) is a neutral designation.