Time: 7 minutes. It was nice to finish in well under 10 minutes for once, as those occasions don’t come quite so often these days. I hope others found it easy too but I think there’s one answer that may not be familiar to some and perhaps I was lucky to have met it before in the title of a TV drama series made 50 years ago.
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]. “Aural wordplay” is in quotation marks. I now use a tilde sign ~ to indicate an insertion point in containment clues. I usually omit all reference to juxtaposition indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.
 Across |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Careless LAPD breaking frame (8) |
| SLAPDASH – LAPD contained by [breaking] S~ASH (window frame) | |
| 5 | Idiot following British singer (4) |
| BASS – B (British), ASS (idiot) | |
| 9 | A sailor coming back for reference book (5) |
| ATLAS – A, SALT (sailor) reversed [coming back] | |
| 10 | Look at first person reportedly joining dance (7) |
| EYEBALL – Aural wordplay [reportedly] EYE / “I” (first person), BALL (dance) | |
| 11 | Rules and regulations in Malawi (3) |
| LAW – Hidden [in] {Ma}LAW{i} | |
| 12 | Attentive old maid welcoming bishop (9) |
| OBSERVANT – O (old) ~ SERVANT (maid) containing [welcoming] B (bishop) | |
| 13 | Set out twice and fly (6) |
| TSETSE – Anagram [out] of SET SET [twice]. A nasty insect that sucks blood and spreads disease. | |
| 15 | Husband gatecrashing rubbish party (6) |
| THRASH – H (husband) contained by [gatecrashing] T~RASH (rubbish) | |
| 17 | Doctor a mannerly chap not quite succeeding (6,3) |
| NEARLY MAN – Anagram [doctor] A MANNERLY. Someone who narrowly fails to achieve the success or position expected of them in their particular field. As mentioned in the intro, I knew this from a 1970s TV series called The Nearly Man. | |
| 19 | Bad actor is a bit of a pig (3) |
| HAM – Two meanings, one of them our setter’s signature | |
| 20 | Bachelor stuck it out? Damn (7) |
| BLASTED – B (bachelor), LASTED (stuck it out) | |
| 21 | Increasingly sick assassin losing head (5) |
| ILLER – {k}ILLER (assassin) [losing head] | |
| 22 | Outspoken old king’s lecherous look (4) |
| LEER – Aural wordplay [outspoken] LEER / “Lear” (old king) | |
| 23 | African state’s PM admitting nothing (8) |
| CAMEROON – CAMERO~N (PM) containing [admitting] 0 (nothing). | |
| Down |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Young actress beginning to entertain the French (7) |
| STARLET – STAR~T (beginning) containing [to entertain] LE (‘the’ in French) | |
| 2 | Let almost everyone down (5) |
| ALLOW – AL{l} (everyone) [almost], LOW (down) | |
| 3 | Sad citadels soon destroyed (12) |
| DISCONSOLATE – Anagram [destroyed] of CITADELS SOON | |
| 4 | Those helping you to see detailed plans? (5) |
| SPECS – Two meanings | |
| 6 | Tale of the middle classes going to and fro (3,4) |
| AGA SAGA – No wordplay as such but ‘going to and fro’ indicates that the answer is a palindrome. A novel or drama depicting the lives and concerns of the English middle classes with reference to the popularity of Aga cookers in such circles. | |
| 7 | Break up in Croatian city (5) |
| SPLIT – Two meanings | |
| 8 | Chinese anger upset Google? (6,6) |
| SEARCH ENGINE – Anagram [upset] of CHINESE ANGER | |
| 14 | English chap had to come out (7) |
| EMANATE – E (English), MAN (chap), ATE (had) | |
| 16 | Old poet, punk at heart, a big hit in the States (4,3) |
| HOME RUN – HOMER (old poet), {p}UN{k} [at heart] | |
| 17 | Prize giver undoubtedly neglected periodically (5) |
| NOBEL – {u}N{d}O{u}B{t}E{d}L{y} [neglected periodically] | |
| 18 | Immediately providing cover for broadcasters and press (5) |
| MEDIA – Hidden in [providing cover for] {im}MEDIA{tely} | |
| 19 | Nightmare over for celebrity magazine (5) |
| HELLO – HELL (nightmare), O (over) | |
8:35
NEARLY MAN showed up in a cryptic some time ago (NHO at the time), and surprisingly I remembered it. AGA SAGA is another one I learned here.