Tranquillity reigns this morning in the household, having dispatched the little ones on to EasyJet yesterday (including over half an hour queuing in 37 degrees of blistering sun waiting to get inside the overcrowded, cheapskate Billi terminal in Bordeaux). Consequently I was up before the larks and had this polished off in 24 minutes. At first read it looked difficult but once the long cross clues 11a and 21a fell in, the rest seemed to tick along nicely, ending with the well constructed 10a and the slow-to-see 7d.
| Across |
| 1 | PEPPER-POT - Cryptic definition. |
| 6 | STROP - PORT (left), S(on), all reversed; D rage. |
| 9 | LILLE - ILL = bad, inside LE = there, the; D French city. |
| 10 | CASHEW NUT - AS (when) HEW (cut) inside CNUT (old Danish king); D bit of food. KNUT or CNUT are alternative spellings of CANUTE. Be careful how you spell CNUT. |
| 11 | TWENTY-FOUR-SEVEN - TWENTY = score, FOURS = boundaries in cricket, EVEN = drawing; D all the time. |
| 13 | LACROSSE - (CAR LOSES)*; D game. This was easier than I realised, I'd started working with (CAR)* followed by a synonym for loses. |
| 14 | ARMADA - A, RMA (Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst), DA (lawyer): D a lot of craft. I've seen ARMADA clued several ways but I don't remember this neat one. |
| 16 | FLURRY - FURRY = like warm coat, wrapped round L; D a little snow. |
| 18 | PORPOISE - OR is cornered into P (quietly) POISE, which I think relates to 'collected' else how does poise arise? D sea creature. See headline above. |
| 21 | ON THE WATERFRONT - (TENTH-RATE FOR NOW)*, D film. 1954 movie, arguably Marlon Brando's best. |
| 23 | ENSCONCED - Hidden word, in ATH(ENS CONCED)ES, D in firm settlement. I could see Athens wasn't going to be part of an anagram or there for a cryptic reason so the search for a hidden word was a giveaway. |
| 25 | CUT UP - TU = workers organised, inside CUP = competition; D dice. |
| 26 | SCUFF - S(ingular), CUFF = blow, D damage caused by rubbing. |
| 27 | OKEY-DOKEY - O (old), KEY KEY (opening pair), DO (perform) splits; D word of approval. |
| Down |
| 1 | PILOT - PI = devoted, LOT = crew, D navigator. Another one where I searched for harder answers (CABOT?) before seeing the easy one. |
| 2 | POLLEN COUNT - POLL (vote) EN (in, French), COUNT (aristocrat); D measure to aid allergy sufferers, like me. Not that it helps any. |
| 3 | ELECTRO - ELECT = return, RO = OR (gold) revolutionary, D silver plated articles. Short for Electroplate, I suppose. |
| 4 | PACIFIST - I CAP = I beat, 'up' = PAC I , FIST = means to punch; D reluctant fighter. |
| 5 | TOSS-UP - TO, PUSS (kitty) reversed; D even chance. |
| 6 | SPENSER - PENS = writes, inside SER(B) = Balkan language releasing B(ook); D poet. |
| 7 | RUN - a double definition?; I can see RUN = last, as in a stage play, how does RUN = stand?Ah, as the wizard chap points out in first comment below, you can run / stand for Parliament. |
| 8 | POTENTATE - E in OT NT (parts of Bible) inside PATE (crown); D ruler. |
| 12 | VLADIVOSTOK - Anagram fodder is (TV AVOIDS L OK)* where L OK = large, fine; D Asian city. According to a friend who passed that way, not worth a passing visit. |
| 13 | LEFTOVERS - LOVERS are more than good friends, insert E (close to mE) and FT (daily paper); D they remain. My CoD for a smooth surface. |
| 15 | BONE IDLE - Cryptic definition, ha ha. |
| 17 | REEL OFF - (FEEL FOR)*, anagrind 'cast', D to recite. Another one where the route to the answer was easier than I at first thought. |
| 19 | PO-FACED - OF ACE (of one) inside PD (symbol for Palladium the element); D with solemn expression. No theatres involved. |
| 20 | GAUCHO - GAUCH(E) = most (of) awkward, O = round, D cowboy. |
| 22 | TIPSY - TIPS = bonuses, Y = ultimately unlikelY, D rather tight. |
| 24 | SOU - SOU(R) = tart, without the T; D a bit of old (money). |