Quick cryptic No 593 by Hawthorn

Slightly risqué offering with dirty films, brothel keepers, and hints of dirty weekends at the seaside! I found this a little harder than normal, taking me five minutes over my target of ten minutes, but that may be because I am recovering from man flu! No difficult or unusual words, but a smattering of British general knowledge required to fully parse everything, which may cause some difficulties. A couple of smiles along the way, so thanks Hawthorn for a nice crossword.

Definitions are underlined, anagrams indicated by [square brackets] and deletions with {curly ones}

Across

1 Lost blood, with internal pain, having turned white (8)

BLEACHED – BLED is having lost blood with ACHE inside

5 Reversible raincoats and fleece (4)

SCAM – a double definition with MACS being the reversible raincoats and fleece as in cheat or SCAM

8 Disorderly mob get right into dirty film (5)

SCRUM – R{ight} inside SCUM – not the kind of dirty film you first thought of, although there has been little evidence recently of scrums being disorganised in the southern hemisphere!

9 Oil found on site after turning layer of earth (7)

TOPSOIL – OIL follows the site (SPOT) after it has been turned (reversed)

11 Sorrowful hater could be construed as such (11)

HEARTBROKEN – [HATER] with the letters mixed up could be described as HEART BROKEN

13 DIY nut is disorganised and messy (6)

UNTIDY – anagram (disorganised) of [DIY NUT]

14 One antelope finally enters enclosure in period of cold (3,3)

ICE AGE – one (I) {antelop}E (last letter indicated by finally) enters CAGE (enclosure)

17 Where ships are safe from rocks or heading for trouble (2,4,5)

IN DEEP WATER – straightforward double definition

20 Usual practice at home (7)

HABITAT – HABIT is usual practice, AT is at, and one’s home might be described as one’s habitat

21 Sinful woman married first man (5)

MADAM – M{arried} and ADAM to give the sinful woman, a MADAM being a common euphemism for a woman who runs a brothel

22 Go out with some friend at eight (4)

DATE – nicely hidden in {frien}D AT E{ight}

23 Erudite elder involved with law (4,4)

WELL READ – anagram (involved) of [ELDER] with [LAW]

Down

1 Countryside transport appears on hour (4)

BUSH – the transport is BUS on H{our}, and BUSH is what they call countryside in the aforementioned southern hemisphere

2 Worry as to her range of hearing (7)

EARSHOT – anagram, cleverly indicated by worry, of AS TO HER

3 Remark about Mass and religious instruction (11)

COMMANDMENT – the comment is COMMENT with M{ass} AND inserted (about)

4 Development of eastern nation (6)

ESTATE – E{astern} and STATE (nation) produce another word for development when conjoined

6 Hands round this from time to time (5)

CLOCK – an &lit clue. For those of you who may not have come across this device before, the term &lit is an abbreviation of “and literally so”. It refers to a special type of cryptic clue – one which consists of a cryptic indication of the solution but which contains no definition part. Instead, the clue as a whole functions as the definition

7 Mother to stay put and avoid work (8)

MALINGER – mother gives MA and to stay put is to LINGER, and the whole is a rather nice word for a rather nasty practice

10 Painkiller poor Cleopatra swallows in the morning (11)

PARACETAMOL – anagram (poor) of [CLEOPATRA] with [AM] (swallowed)

12 Shoved guards in back, getting chastised (8)

PUNISHED – nicely constructed this one. Shoved is PUSHED which guards (surrounds) IN which is reversed (back). Hats off to the setter!

15 A game involving contracts or contract (7)

ABRIDGE – A followed by BRIDGE (the game involving contracts as in contact bridge) produce the word that can mean to shorten, or contract. Nice!

16 She wraps revolting peasant in bandage (6)

SWATHE – SHE wraps (is around) WAT. WAT is Walter ‘WAT’ Tyler, one of the leaders of the 1381 Peasant’s Revolt in England

18 First time staying in seaside Butlins (5)

DEBUT – another hidden (staying in) {seasi}DE BUT{lins}. If you are British but too young to remember, or if you aren’t British you may not know that Butlins was a chain of holiday camps where families could vacation cheaply, and where Red Coats provided entertainment.

19 In centre of a motorway, I dithered at first (4)

AMID – first letters of A M{otorway} I D{ithered}