If someone can help with the only partially-parsed 14a, I would be grateful. (On edit – someone (anonymous) did – now corrected.)
Across
1 Group of outsiders in strange cult (4)
SECT – An interesting device to get us started. Outsiders (opening and closing letters) in S{trang}E C{ul}T
3 Nearby worker making case for radio presenter, brilliant (8)
ADJACENT – The worker is the ubiquitous ANT, which surrounds (makes the case for) the DJ (radio presenter) and ACE (brilliant)
9 Spill from a keg ale upset (7)
LEAKAGE – Anagram of [A KEG ALE]
10 Book journey for one getting hitched (5)
BRIDE – B{ook} and RIDE is the journey
11 Large specimen unopened (5)
AMPLE – My last one in (LOI) for no good reason. A specimen could be a {s}AMPLE with unopened indicating to drop the first letter – nice surface.
12 Case requires silence about preliminary heat (6)
SHEATH – HEAT is the preliminary race, and finds itself inside SH (silence about)
14 Inclination about right remedy including very progressive educational indicator (8,6)
LEARNING CURVE – LEANING is the inclination, which is about R{ight} to provide the first word. I’m less sure about the parsing for the second word, where a curve could just be a progressive line. Perhaps someone else has something better. The CURVE comes from ‘remedy’ CURE including V{ery}. The answer though is fairly obvious given the checkers.
17 Male at racecourse finding source of luck? (6)
MASCOT – M{ale} with ASCOT (racecourse sometimes, although not last Saturday, when the meeting was cancelled due to frozen conditions)
19 Sophisticated, put money aside to cover University (6)
SUAVE – To put money aside is to SAVE, around U{niversity}. My Chambers describes SUAVE as being a characteristic of a person, especially a man, who is polite, sophisticated and smoothly affable, especially superficially so. This implies that in order to be SUAVE, it would be better that you be male and that you don’t really mean it. I think it strange to see two such conditions applied to such a simple word.
22 Cancel validity of a new name initially used lawfully (5)
ANNUL – A (a) N{ew} N{ame} followed by the first letters of (initially) U{sed} L{awfully}
23 Clothes objection for Spooner that suggests drinking habit? (4,3)
BEER GUT – The Reverend William Archibald Spooner famously transposed the initial sounds of spoken words, and spoonerisms were born, to add to the lexicon of cryptic crossword devices. This is an example. A clothing objection might be a GEAR BUT, which after spoonerising becomes BEER GUT. There are plenty of amusing examples of real spoonerisms, including: at a wedding, ‘It is kisstomary to cuss the bride’, or ‘A toast to our queer old dean’ rather than ‘dear old Queen’. Worth a Google to see other examples (other internet search engines are available).
24 New ringtone is a gas (8)
NITROGEN – straightforward anagram (indicated by ‘new’) of [RINGTONE]
25 Encourage pop singer to record last of all (4)
PROD – Last letters (last of all) of {po}P {singe}R {t}O {recor}D.
Down
1 Really fit, about 55, being possible to work out (8)
SOLVABLE – Really fit gives SO ABLE, which is ‘about’ LV (55 in Roman numerals)
2 Immobilize reticent type, parking (5)
CLAMP – the reticent type is a CLAM, followed by P{arking}
4 Furniture item shown by neat girls’ beds, fancy (8,5)
DRESSING TABLE – My first one in (FOI), a nicely clued anagram, indicated this time by ‘fancy’, with [NEAT GIRLS’ BEDS] as the anagrist. I usually take a look at the long answers first, and to find a relatively easy anagram is a bonus, and gives me a good start.
5 Move slowly shifting blame (5)
AMBLE – Another anagram indicated by ‘shifting’ of [BLAME]
6 One turning out as English winner (7)
EVICTOR – E{nglish} and VICTOR (winner) gives he that ‘turns out’ the evictee
7 This ends regularly with scores level (4)
TIED – Alternate letters (regularly) of T{h}I{s} E{n}D{s}
8 In Africa vernacular term for underground area (6)
CAVERN – Hidden answer clue indicated by ‘in’, the answer being in plain sight in {afri}CA VERN{acular}
13 Leading player bestriding the French court is chosen
SELECTED – A SEED is a leading player, and this ‘bestrides’ LE (the in French) and C{our}T
15 Hostile to saga not starting on fashionable street (7)
AGAINST – {s}AGA (not starting) with IN (fashionable) and ST{reet}
16 Actors welcoming King, Eastern, providing jewel container (6)
CASKET – The actors are the CAST, which welcomes (surrounds) K{ing} and E{astern}
18 Musical instrument in simple room, old (5)
CELLO – Simple room is a CELL, with O{ld}
20 Fisherman, left out – annoyance results (5)
ANGER – Take the L (L{eft} out) of ANG{l}ER
21 Answer in half minute: pipe (4)
MAIN – Half minute gives MIN{ute}, which has A{nswer} in it.
Anyway, the upshot is that this may not have been the most challenging Quicky we’ve had recently.
Thanks Hurley and Rotter.
I don’t treasure the diminutive albino William Archibald Spooner as does our Mr. Rotter and I suspect that the good reverend was something of a dullard – some of those quotes are attr.
COD 24ac NITROGEN WOD SUAVE
horryd – Shanghai
Lots of interruptions but I finished in under 30 mins.
Lots of interesting clues. I liked 2d clamp and 5d amble.
All the parsing was ok except 1a I thought it was a double def until I read the blog.
Last few were 11a (ample), 24a (nitrogen), 2d (clamp) and 21d (main). Clam for reticent type was good, I was initially clinging to shy.
Nitrogen took an inordinate amount of time considering I had _IT_O_E_ with GRNN as the rest of the anagram fodder!