ACROSS
1. Noticing – observing. COD straight off the bat for this cryptic definition of ‘exasperated comment from one who wanted plain (un-iced) cake’.
5. Grit – resolution. Greek (GR), Italian (IT).
8. Prior – double definition.
9. Pitcher – double definition.
11. Presentable – decent looking. Gift (PRESENT), a (A), (B)e(L)t(E)r. The possibilities of an anagram for much more of this clue took some time to discard before seeing the parsing.
13. Afresh – once more. Anagram (stupidly) of FAtHERS – without (wasting) time (T).
14. Resort – somewhere to stay on holiday. Again (RE) arrange (SORT).
17. Custom in South America: eat some Scotch egg (7,4)
Sausage meat – some Scotch egg – the outer layer around the egg. Custom (USAGE) inside South America (SA) and eat (EAT). So where does the ‘M’ come from? Ah! South is (S) and America is (AM) – knew we’d get there in the end.
20. Crimean – inhabitant of Ukraine. Offence (CRIME) by (next to) an (AN).
21. Tooth – canine maybe. (H)urries after sound of whistle (TOOT).
22. Eden – prime minister once. To continue the dental theme – visiting (inside) th(E DEN)tist.
23. Secretly – under cover. Cunning (SLY) touring around outside an anagram (parts of) CRETE.
DOWN
1. Nope – definitely not. Great surface. Turned on (NO – on backwards), physical exercise (PE).
2. Tripper – holiday maker. A tripper is going to fall over.
3. Carpet snake – reptile. DNK the large nonvenomous Australian snake, Morelia variegata, having a carpetlike pattern on its back.
It was clear that it was an anagram (here and there) of A TANK CREEPS but took some time to get.
4. Nephew – family member. Another good surface. One going topless – take the first letter off one (NE), wow (PHEW).
6. Rehab – treatment. Concerning (RE), heroin (H), abuse without ‘use’ = (AB)use.
7. Torments – worries. Or (OR) and (M)isgivings inside temporary accommodation (TENTS).
10. To the letter – exactly. How one would address an envelope to a landlord (LETTER) when their name was unknown.
12. Massacre – defeat. Large number (MASS) on top of a piece of land (ACRE).
15. Outpost – distant settlement. Open air (OUT – outside), job (POST).
16. Seance – meeting. Unusual definition – the people getting together constitute a meeting – whether or not they encounter any spirits. Irish fellow (SEAN), church (CE).
18. Unite – join together. A French (UN), couple (ITE)m not married (delete the ‘m’). I didn’t get the pair=item for a while.
19. Whey – dairy product. Question (WHY) about English (E).
A somewhat, ahem, political QC, not that I mind.
Edited at 2017-04-25 12:19 am (UTC)
Had to go back and parse 6d & 17a.
Some very nice clues (noticing, rehab) and COD to 4d nephew.
Completed in 16 minutes.
Sue
My last two were 17a and 13a. I got Sausage Meat without bothering unduly about the M. I needed another 3 minutes or so to get 13a -my COD.
16 minutes in total. David
Id say the M comes from South America = SAM which is unusual usage even for the main puzzle. Held up in the same way as others and took about 15m once I had Sausage Meat. Personally I hate Scotch eggs, but nothing to do with racism. Is Crimea part of Ukraine now? Good puzzle and thanks blogger
Thanks to Flamanade for a fun 28 minutes and to chrisw91 for explaining the answers. I was led astray by 18d as I was convinced it must be unwed.
Have to admit I also thought the definition of 16dn SEANCE was odd…not sure of the strict interpretation, but this didn’t come immediately to mind when thinking of meeting.
FOI 9ac, LOI 17ac but COD for me was 23ac
DR31
Must. Not. Biff.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
Tom