Times 25824 - Bill Haley, won’t you please come home!

41 minutes for this delightful and lively puzzle. When I first saw the grid with no three- or four-letter words I was expecting a toughie but 1ac went in on first reading and most of it flowed very nicely from then on in. Indeed so much so that I thought I was on course for sub-30, but four somewhat unfamiliar words in the SE corner delayed me towards the end. I had a feeling there's some sort of theme going on here but, if so, I'm unable to nail it, however the first four unchecked letters in row 2 fit rather well with 6 and 1dn.

Across
1	ALCOCK AND BROWN - COCK (raise) inside A LAND (a country), BROWN (toast). The British aviators who made the first non-stop transatlantic flight in 1919.
9	OLD BAILEY - OLD (previous), BAIL (conditional freedom), YE (you) reversed. In case anyone doesn't know, this is the colloquial name for the Central Criminal Court, hence the reference to returning 'here' after being on bail in the surface reading and definition.
10	COYPU - COY (evasive), UP reversed
11	NEIGH - Sounds like "nay", with echoes of Francis Howerd
12	GANGPLANK - GANG (group), PLAN (scheme), banK. It can take one onshore too!
13	THEODORA - ODOR (Californian fragrance - indicating US spelling) inside THE and A (articles)
15	CADDIS - DI (detective - inspector) inside CADS (no gentlemen). A moth-like fly whose name is only known to me through crosswords.
17	EVER SO - E (English) VERSO (page). 'Recto', the right-hand page of an open book, came up in the Quickie I blogged on 1st June and I mentioned for the benefit of newbies that its opposite number 'verso' is also worth knowing.
19	PUT TO BED - PUTTO (pretty boy - as depicted by Italian Renaissance painters amongst others), BED (qualified teacher - Bachelor of Education)
22	LEASEHOLD - Anagram of HOLES inside LEAD (front)
23	MOSUL - S (small) inside MOULd (evidence of decay). A very helpful clue indicating the part of the world in which the city is to be found. I only know of it from reports on the various conflicts in Iraq.
24	CLUBS - L (large) inside CUBS (youngsters)
25	CHASSEING - ScenE inside CHASING (engraving). An unlikely looking word when its acute accent is omitted. It brings back childhood memories of Victor Sylvester and 'Come Dancing' on TV. How sedate and civilised it all was. I refuse to watch its brash modern equivalent.
26	WELLINGTON BOOT - WELLING (rising up), NOT reversed, BOOT (advantage) which according to my dictionaries survives in common usage as a verb but its noun equivalent is considered archaic and obsolete.
Down
1	AROUND THE CLOCK - AROUND (circling), THE CLOCK (grandfather)
2	CODEINE - Anagram of DIE ONCE
3	CLASH - L (large) inside CASH (funds). 'Not go' is the definition in the sense of colour co-ordination, for example.
4	ALLEGORY - ALLEy (passage), GORY (bloody)
5	DRYING - R (rook) inside DYING (failing) with reference to forgetting one's lines on stage etc
6	ROCK PLANT - ROCK (music), PLANT (factory). If this were the Guardian no doubt it would have been cross-referenced to 1dn.
7	WAYLAID - Anagram of LAWYer [without hesitation], A, ID (set of papers)
8	TURKISH DELIGHT - RUT (frenzy - as in the mating habits of deer etc) reversed, KISH (kiss - said drunkenly), DE-LIGHT (plunge into the dark)
14	DISPERSAL - Anagram of L (line) + IS SPREAD
16	QUADRANT - QUAD (court) RANT (passionate speech). 'Suppressed' seemed to indicate enclosure but here it means something like sitting on top of, or holding down.
18	ERASURE - ERA (period), SURE (fixed)
20	BUSHIDO - SUB (boat) reversed, HID 0 (revealed all). It's a feudal code of Samurai.
21	TOUCAN - Anagram of OUT, CAN (tin). Where's my pint of Guinness?
23	MESON - SO (such) inside MEN (people). A particle physics thingy beyond my ken but will no doubt please Jim by its inclusion. I'd be more interested in its alternative meaning of a Mexican pub.