Times 24799 – Verbal Acrobatics

ACROSS
1 LEAVE Foliage = LEAVES minus S
4 DEATHLESS *(HE’S LASTED)
9 SORCERESS Ins of OR CERES (Roman name for the Greek Demeter, goddess of agriculture and corn) in S-S (in vessel)
10 SWILL Ins of W (last letter of window) in SILL (window)
11 FORAYS Ins of O (old) in FRAY (battle) & S (succeeded)
12 DIVISION DI (detective inspector) VISION (imagination)
14 COSMOPOLITAN *(IMPACT ON SOLO) for a cocktail containing vodka, an orange liqueur, lime juice and cranberry juice.
17 MALNOURISHED Ins of N (any number) OUR (of us) in MALI (African country) + SHED (discarded)
20 INUNDATE I (one) NUN (sister) DATE (romantic get-together)
21 CARPAL Car Pal is a tichy way of saying driving companion. The carpal tunnel is between the bones of the wrist and the tendons.
23 HITCH dd
24 ITALICISE IT (the thing) + Ins of IS in ALICE (Wonderland girl having change of size … what an original and charming def 🙂 and the def for the answer is equally enchanting .. to make lean, indeed! My COD
25 HARD-NOSED Ins of *(DON’S) in HARE (race) & D (Democrat)
26 NUTTY dd Out to lunch is US slang for slightly crazy

DOWN
1 rha deliberately omitted
2 AIRBRUSH Cha of AIR (the substance between planes and other aircrafts) BRUSH (minor collision) I pondered on between planes hard and long before the sen (Malaysian equivalent of the penny) dropped. Very crafty device to mislead
3 EVERY NOW AND THEN Ins of VE (Victory in Europe) in *(WaR ANTHONY EDEN). Very appropriate choice of anagram fodder as Robert Anthony Eden (1897 – 1977) was Foreign Secretary for three periods between 1935 and 1955, including during the Second World War before becoming Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957.
4 DYED Sounds like DIED (expired)
5 AUSPICIOUS A SUSPICIOUS (fishy) minus the first S
6 HOSPITALISATION *(TO ITALIAN SHOP IS) Very neat surface
7 ELICIT E (Ecstasy drug) LICIT (allowed by law)
8 SOLENT Cha of SO (extremely) LENT (fast as in the time from Ash Wednesday to Easter) The Solent is a strait separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England.
13 DOWNSTAIRS Cha of D (daughter) OWNS (admits) T (first letter of The) AIRS (condescending manner)
15 SHOPLIFT Ins of O (ring) PL (place) in SHIFT (small change)
16 ADULTERY Fabulous cd If pots are made in a pottery, then adults (grown-ups) must be made in an adultery 🙂 The def, frowned-on relations is also quite enigmatic
18 EIGHTH HEIGHT (vertical span) with first letter H moved to the end
19 CUSTER cd Custer’s Last Stand aka Battle of the Little Bighorn was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army in June 1876 in Montana. Of course, the rank of Custer was GENERAL, hence general knowledge
22 LAUD Rev of DUAL (double)

Key to abbreviations
dd = double definition
dud = duplicate definition
tichy = tongue-in-cheek type
cd = cryptic definition
rev = reversed or reversal
ins = insertion
cha = charade
ha = hidden answer
*(fodder) = anagram