Times 26,687: That’s When I Reach For My Winchester

This was a truly wonderful puzzle that I ripped through with great enjoyment in seven and a half minutes dead, only to find my experience soured by having ended 4dn with HH instead of the requisite TH. This is what spending the day making packed lunches for kids, dropping them off, picking them up, brushing hair, cooking pasta, mopping floors and emptying fridges of expired produce all day long does to a fellow’s brain! But I still feel pretty good from the unwonted surfeit of virtue.

First one in was classical civilisation clue 6ac, the last, inevitably, another of those pesky 4-letterers, 23dn. 15ac gave me the biggest chuckle as I filled it in but in the parsing I found myself full of admiration for the construction of 12ac, though it may depend on your tolerance for “pants” as an anagrind… 16dn is another understated yet immaculate clue. Top notch setting in evidence throughout and I offer maximum congratulations to the party responsible.

Going to post this straightaway today as tomorrow morning may be busy with me still on house-husband duty. But Mrs V gets back from her week in Morocco tomorrow night, at which point normal service may hopefully be restored… Oh, and have another reminder of the Times-Xwd-Times meetup after work on April 12th in the usual watering hole. I have recently also noticed that there should be a mid-May Sloggers & Betters get-together in the same place after the annual setters’ dinner… But what’s wrong with getting some practice in before the main event? Hope to see some of you at one or both!

Across

1 Reason to fight roughly, with suspicion libel involved (5,5)
CASUS BELLI – CA [roughly] wiht SUS [suspicion] + (LIBEL*) [“involved”]
6 Moguls’ capital invested in bargains from the east (4)
AGRA – hidden reversed [“invested” … “from the east”] in {b}ARGA{ins}
9 Try to prevent dance craze gripping university (10)
DISCOURAGE – DISCO RAGE [dance | craze] “gripping” U [university]
10 Nothing stops just fight (4)
BOUT – O [nothing] “stops” BUT [just]
12 Accordingly dressed in pants in case it’s warm (12)
ENTHUSIASTIC – THUS [accordingly] “dressed in” (IN CASE IT*) [“pants”]
15 Choice between wood and bird is problem for rambler in US? (9)
LOGORRHEA – LOG [wood] OR RHEA [bird]? A rambler in speech, not the great outdoors.
17 I’m not impressed, getting over River Don (5)
TUTOR – TUT [I’m not impressed], getting O R [over | river]
18 Go astray, admitting touching femme fatale (5)
SIREN – SIN [go astray], “admitting” RE [touching]
19 See-through clothing for dancers worn by extremely prudish clergymen? (9)
SHEPHERDS – SHEER [see-through] + D{ancer}S, “worn by” P{rudis}H
20 Notion about future tense restricting new sentence (12)
PRESENTIMENT – PRESENT [tense] “restricting” N TIME [new | sentence]
24 Back away from national flag (4)
IRIS – IRIS{h} [national, with its “back” gone “away”]
25 Cops occupying room for very low rate (6,4)
SNAILS PACE – NAILS [cops] “occupying” SPACE [room]
26 Cheers about error from defence giving cover for Caesar (4)
TOGA – TA [cheers] about O.G. [error from defence]. We’ve seen a lot of O.G.s in the Times puzzles lately haven’t we? (Literally not figuratively.)
27 Old boy’s drunk malt whiskey, putting away litres (10)
WYKEHAMIST – (MA{l}T WHISKEY*) [“drunk”]

Down

1 Firm notice about closing bars (4)
CODA – CO [firm] + AD reversed [notice “about”]
2 Insolence from two Nazi groups (4)
SASS – SA + SS [Sturmabteilung + Schutzstaffel]
3 Maybe Shylock, with fury, going after society’s privileged youth (6,6)
SLOANE RANGER – LOANER [maybe Shylock] with ANGER, going after S [society]
4 Top symbol of home ground (5)
EARTH – {h}EARTH [symbol of home, “topped”]
5 Cricket side misses the deadline to make rules (9)
LEGISLATE – LEG [cricket side] IS LATE [misses the deadline]
7 Grand entertainers and party person providing chilling entertainment? (5,5)
GHOST STORY – G HOSTS TORY [grand | entertainers | party person]
8 Adversary of Chartist in wanting reform (10)
ANTICHRIST – (CHARTIST IN*) [“wanting reform”]
11 No trouble covering stone and pottery with a mass of water (4,5,3)
EAST CHINA SEA – EASE [no trouble] covering ST [stone] and CHINA [pottery], with A
13 Fancy a beer, getting in round when trouble starts (10)
FLASHPOINT – FLASH [fancy] + PINT [a beer] “getting in” O [round]
14 A good composer filled with wine abroad is distressing (10)
AGGRIEVING – A G GRIEG [a | good | composer] filled with VIN [wine abroad]
16 Rolling in cash, yet exhibiting doubt (9)
HESITANCY – (IN CASH YET*) [“rolling”]
21 One cutting hair in a state (5)
MAINE – I [one] “cutting” MANE [hair]
22 Perhaps she’s governed India? (4)
RANI – RAN I [governed | India], semi-&lit
23 Socially progressive article in French paper (4)
LEFT – LE FT [article in French | paper]