Quick Cryptic No 173 by Dazzler

Interesting mix of quite a few fairly straightforward ones, and a couple of decidedly tricky affairs (at least, I thought 23ac and 18dn were real doozies...). A bit of cricket knowledge helps, and those of you who paid attention in Chemistry lessons will be better placed than I was to master the dastardly 23.

Thanks to Dazzler for a most enjoyable puzzle, with lots of different clue types and some very elegant surfaces.

If anyone is struggling to access the puzzle, here is the link:

http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20141105/303/

Across
1	BATON - Double definition. In cricket parlance, if you decide to bat on you "don't declare": at the same time, baton is a type of "stick".
4	PUBLISH - Print is the definition. Answer also from the wordplay PU ("turned up" - i.e. UP backwards) with first letters ("initially") of Books Left In Safe Hands
8	ANTIWAR - against fighting is the definition. The wordplay also providing the answer is a tad complex: ANT ("Soldier" - as in the soldier ant) with RAW I reversed ("retreating" giving the reversal: "inexperienced" giving the RAW: and "one" giving I)
9	SOFIA - Capital is the definition (Sofia being the capital city of Bulgaria). Answer also derived from I "invested in" (i.e. included in) SOFA ("item of furniture")
10	OUT TO LUNCH - Another double definition type of clue. The midday trip to the sandwich shop, and "out to lunch" being a term for somewhat barking ("nuts and crackers")
14	AROUND - More or less is the definition. Answer also from A ROUND (as in buying a round - purchasing several drinks)
15	IBERIA - European peninsular is the definition. Answer also from SIBERIA - with the S ("originally spirited" - first letter of spirited) being removed from "part of Russia"
17	BAD HAIR DAY - very trying time is the definition. Answer is also an anagram of B (abbreviation of "Bishop"- chess notation) and "diary had a" - with the anagram being signalled by "new". I suppose one of the upsides of life for our bald friends is that bad hair days are a thing of the past...
20	RINSE - What might add a bit of colour is the definition (the "blue rinse" favoured by ladies at Conservative clubs). This is also a nice example of the hidden clue type (signalled by "carried by") in "barber in Seville." -
22	GRIMACE - Disgusted expression is our definition. Answer also from GRIM ("stern") with ACE ("master" - i.e. top performer)
23	ELEMENT - Thought this very tricky, and it took me a while to work out what was going on here. "HE" and "I" are both symbols ("briefly") for ELEMENTS in the periodic table (Helium and Iodine respectively). "Lead" is also ("too") an element. So, a kind of double definition and overall cryptic definition to boot. Quite neat once you get it ( he says, smugly...)
24	SPECK - Dot is the definition. Answer also from S (abbreviation of "small") and PECK ("quick kiss")

Down
1	BRAG - Game of cards is the definition. Answer also from GARB backwards ("dress up")
2	TA-TA - Kind of double definition type clue. TA as in thanks / "cheers" twice ("and cheers") and also TA-TA meaning goodbye ("so long").
3	NEW GUINEA - Island is the definition. Answer is also an anagram (signalled by "confusion about") of A GENUINE with W ("western")
4	PIRATE - Bootleg is the definition (the verb "to bootleg" as in "to pirate"). Answer also from PI ("awfully good") with RATE ("price"). Pi crops up a lot in cryptics (I guess it's a useful device for setters needing to slip a P and an I into a solution). When I first came to this site (in the early days of my journey on the Times cryptic) I was consistently floored by this word, and railed against it. But, the senior pros confirmed it is indeed a legit word in its own right (short form of Pious) and still in use in some communities in the UK. So, advice to newcomers - get used to it!
5	BUS - People carrier is the definition. Answer also from BUST ("broken down") without the final T ("before reaching terminus") - with T being an abbreviation of terminus, I suppose (was not fully confident with the parsing of this one)
6	INFANTRY - part of army is the definition. Answer also from INFANT ("Child") with RarelY ("extremely rarely") i.e. first and last letters (extremes) of "rarely"
7	HEAR HEAR - Double definition. "Expression of approval" and sounds like ("say") HERE ("at this point") repeated
11	LIBRARIES - Neat double definition. LIBRA and ARIES ("signs") run together and dropping one of the A's ("Overlapping"), together with the more obvious "university buildings"
12	JAMBOREE - lavish party is the definition. Answer also built from JAM ("stuck") with BORE ("dull chap") and E ("last to leave" - i.e. last letter of leave)
13	CONDENSE - Shorten is the definition. The answer is also an anagram (signalled by "for a change") of ENDS ONCE. The setter threw me for a while here as I was convinced I was looking for an answer built around SN - ends of shorten - second to LOI
16	BRIGHT - Promising is the definition (as in "the outlook's bright..."). Answer also from BRIGHTON, with ON being a "cricket side" (the leg side) "taken from" Brighton ("coastal resort"). For non devotees of the greatest game ever invented, worth remembering that cricket "sides" often crop up in Crosswordland, being the "on" side and the "off" side. Nice neat clue and elegant surface, I thought
18	DAZE - Shock is the definition. Answer also a homophone (signalled by "on the radio"- i.e. we are in aural land here) of DAYS ("what you'll get two of at the weekend"). This was my LOI and took an inordinate amount of time for the penny to drop. Did not pick up the "on the radio" device as pointing to a 'sounds like' kind of clue, and took it far too literally - ransacking the memory for famous radio shows featuring duos etc. etc. Anyway, at least it provoked an enjoyable trip down memory lane encompassing Goon shows, Round the Horn, the Archers Omnibus and worse...
19	DECK - Straightforward double definition
21	EXE - river is the definition - the beautiful Exe in Devon. Answer also from EX ("former") and E (standard abbreviation for "English")