I quite liked 2d for being the quirkiest clue of the day and also 3d for a fun cryptic device resulting in a nice surface. Having done this on paper I don’t have an exact time, but I know I didn’t have to pause long at any point: a “steady, pleasant solve”. Thanks setter!
ACROSS
1 Arrangements for action aborted, or left out (5,2,6)
ORDER OF BATTLE – (ABORTED OR LEFT*) [“out”]
9 Maybe kilos wife’s shed, showing figure (5)
EIGHT – {w}EIGHT. WEIGHT is “maybe kilos”, shedding W for wife.
10 Moving a line at the end of proposal on the internet? (9)
EMOTIONAL – A L [a | line] at the end of E-MOTION. MOTION is a proposal, and you can jocularly internet anything by putting an E- in front of it.
11 One dealing with gender-fluid performer (10)
TRANSACTOR – TRANS [gender-fluid] + ACTOR [performer]. Is “trans” necessarily “gender-fluid”? You might be trans and very firmly committed to your gender. Probably best not to start arguing about these things on the internet though…
12 Asian bands love ending with encore (4)
OBIS – O [love] ending with BIS [encore]. A familiar word in crosswords, like its friend the ibis, an obi is a Japanese kimono sash.
14 Ruler in east, one out of Shanghai (7)
EMPRESS – E [east] + {i}MPRESS [shanghai, losing I for “one”]
16 Language‘s current rules about welcoming greeting (7)
SWAHILI – I LAWS [current | rules], reversed and then “welcoming” HI [greeting]
17 Old writing, wanting a new start (7)
OPENING – O [old] + PEN{n}ING [writing, wanting “a new” = one of its Ns]
19 Pupil once misleads about spearhead of ground forces (7)
OBLIGES – OB [= old boy, pupil once] + LIES [misleads] about G{round}
20 Losing heart, book holiday period (4)
NOEL – NO{v}EL [book, losing “heart” = its central character]
21 Leader with due respect to me (10)
PACESETTER – PACE SETTER [with due respect to | me]. PACE, from the Latin, is a word that I’ve never quite known how to pronounce. I tend to gravitate to saying it so it sounds quite similar to an r-less “padre” – what about you?
24 Radical message, not the first on film (9)
EXTREMIST – {t}EXT [message, “not the first”] + RE MIST [on | film]
25 Once again, make fast retreat — run off (5)
RETIE – RETI{r}E – a word for retreat, losing one R for “run”.
26 Pan for some food maybe being the wrong size (13)
DISPROPORTION – DIS PRO PORTION [pan | for | some food maybe]
DOWN
1 Say how to buy drug patent with two drugs — the wrong way (4-3-7)
OVER THE COUNTER – OVERT [patent] with H + E [two drugs] + COUNTER [the wrong way]
2 Belief one may be a source of litter? (5)
DOGMA – convert the word laterally into DOG MOTHER and you will have the proud source of a litter of pups.
3 Sozzled, rise twice to spit (10)
ROTISSERIE – (RISE RISE TO*) [“sozzled”]
4 Rob’s put on small garments (7)
FLEECES – FLEECE [rob] is put on S [small]
5 Way of working in thrill, almost erotic (7)
AMOROUS – M.O. [way of working] in AROUS{e} [thrill, “almost”]
6 Grasp tip of throw rug (4)
TWIG – T{hrow} + WIG [rug]. Was hoping this to be something to do with syrup again, but that was probably a one-off.
7 Giving title to book and nine long works (9)
ENNOBLING – (B + NINE LONG*) [“works”]
8 Doctor stops neuralgic spasms (7,7)
PLASTIC SURGEON – (STOPS NEURALGIC*) [“spasms”]
13 Does one hold up one who is late? (4-6)
PALL-BEARER – cryptic definition, “late” meaning “deceased” in this case.
15 Introduced now dominant figure on paper (9)
PRESENTED – PRESENT [now] + ED [dominant figure on paper]
18 Tradesman more likely to avoid work after golf (7)
GLAZIER – LAZIER [more likely to avoid work] after G [golf]
19 Henry leaves Frank a record for dance (3-4)
ONE-STEP – {h}ONEST [H for Henry leaves a word meaning “frank”] + EP [record]. When you see dance in a clue and a 3-4 enumeration, it’s very often ONE or TWO-STEP…
22 Show disapproval over note in noted passage (5)
TUTTI – TUT [show disapproval] over TI [note]
23 Place to eat in Times Square (4)
MESS – hidden in {ti}MES S{quare}
I am on tenterhooks awaiting Horryd’s verdict on the unparalleled G&L.