Over 45 minutes to solve, but I don't think that reflects the difficulty of the puzzle. The four perimeter answers went in pretty quickly and I thought it was going to be another Saturday doddle, but 6D and 15A had me stumped for ages. With 6D I thought of CROW for bird and MAVE(n) for "expert almost" at different times but didn't put them together! However, when I was a bachelor I was never a fan of ready meals and either ate out or cooked for myself (OK, there was the odd takeaway, but I never owned a microwave). So the definition didn't click. As for 15A, great clue - I wanted to put in the right answer straight away, but couldn't see the wordplay. Only figured it out much later.
| Across |
| 1 | WALTER DE LA MARE - (alarmed, we)* around ALTER (change). |
| 9 | IGUANODON - I + GUANO (waste) + D (old money) + ON. |
| 10 | CATCH - triple definition I think, slthough I'm wondering whether the second word should be contact. |
| 10 | EIGHT - FIGHT (struggle), with the first letter moving one place back down the alphabet. |
| 12 | CYCLOPEAN - CYCLON(e) (storm virtually) around PEA (tiny seed). |
| 13 | HARDSHIP - (granda)D inside HARSH (grim) + IP (internet protocol). |
| 15 | MANTLE - NT (not, only the lining (outside letters)) inside MALE (bloke). |
| 17 | CLARET - CLARE (college) + (studen)T. |
| 19 | TIRELESS - you can't drive without tyres, which are spelt differently over the pond. |
| 22 | LIBERTINE - LIB (party) + (entire)*. |
| 23 | QUITO - QUIT (depart) + O(mani). Capital of Ecuador. |
| 24 | TORSO - OR SO (approximately), after (elephan)T. |
| 25 | SCORECARD - SC (short for scilicet, namely), + (a record)*. |
| 26 | PADDINGTON BEAR - ADDING (putting on) + TON (weight) + B(ite), all inside PEAR (fruit). |
| Down |
| 1 | WHITE CHOCOLATE - WHIT (a bit) + LATE (delayed), around ECHO (nymph) + CO(mpany). |
| 2 | LOUNGER - U(pholsterer) inside LONGER (stretched). |
| 3 | ERNST - hidden in "modERN STyle". |
| 4 | DIDACTIC - first letters of I(nitiatives) C(reating), after DID (accomplished) + ACT (performance). |
| 5 | LUNACY - UN (little French number) inside LACY (sexy?). |
| 6 | MICROWAVE - MAVE(n) (expert almost) around I (single), CROW (bird). |
| 7 | RETREAT - RE-TREAT. |
| 8 | CHINLESS WONDER - (denser clownish)* |
| 14 | SWEAR WORD - SWORD (possible killer) around WEAR (put on). |
| 16 | LIFEBOAT - (albeit of)* |
| 18 | ALBERTA - ALERT (careful) around B(ritish) + A. |
| 20 | EPILATE - I(odine) inside E(astern) PLATE (china). |
| 21 | GIBSON - BIG (great) reversed + SON (kid). Guy Gibson, who led the Dambusters mission. |
| 23 | QUEEN - double definition: a female cat, or a chess piece (man). |