Times 28285 – His is a double!

12’50”

ACROSS

1 Transport lots of collected works (9)
OMNIBUSES – DD
6 Herb associated with Don in Essex town (5)
BASIL – if you add DON you get BASILDON, famous for its stationery
9 Reliable fellow‘s powerful tugboat? (5,2,8)
TOWER OF STRENGTH – well, a powerful tug might be called a ‘tow-er’ of strength
10 Ready to work briefly at one time with everyone (2,4)
ON CALL – ONC[e] ALL
11 Rodgers and Hart song: low, low number (4,4)
BLUE MOON – first published in 1934, this song is the unofficial anthem of Manchester City, whose hapless defending in what should have been the final minutes of their match against Madrid means that Liverpool may win the quadruple. For a lifelong Manchester United fan, I can’t tell you how painful that prospect is.
13 Potential difficulties from Moscow and far north somehow (3,2,5)
CAN OF WORMS – anagram* of MOSCOW FAR N
14 Extremely short, angular celebrity (4)
STAR – S[hor]T A[ngula]R
16 High liver from Central Tibet? Wrong (4)
IBEX – [t]IBE[t] X
17 Plant one of many used in café (6,4)
FRENCH BEAN – café is French for coffee, so you would find many beans (not just one) in a cup or pot, say
19 King and knight in order losing heads for model (8)
EXEMPLAR – [r]EX [t]EMPLAR
20 Car attendant (6)
ESCORT – DD; the first of two Fords in the puzzle and the first of three automotive clues
23 Trivial insolence; quaint variety (15)
INCONSEQUENTIAL – INSOLENCE QUAINT*
24 Course records gaining award (5)
EPSOM – EPS (extended play, for those under 40) OM (Order of Merit)
25 Station wagon, say, in race, overturned (6,3)
ESTATE CAR – STATE (say) in RACE reversed

DOWN

1 Surpass alfresco party (5)
OUTDO – OUT DO
2 Few sense concern about press meetings (4,11)
NEWS CONFERENCES – FEW SENSE CONCERN*
3 Two sentences for the avian community (8)
BIRDLIFE – BIRD and LIFE are both slang for jail terms
4 Very loud, but ultimately quiet (4)
SOFT – SO F [bu]T
5 Camp clearing (10)
SETTLEMENT – DD
6 Papal letters bishop cut up (6)
BREVES – B SEVER reversed; bullocks, as it were…
7 Ram, potentially, indicator of 50s Ford car (4,2,3,6)
SIGN OF THE ZODIAC – the Ford Zodiac (originally Zephyr Zodiac) was launched in 1953
8 Most of Rheingold arranged with new, alternative opera name (9)
LOHENGRIN – RHEINGOL[d] N*; Lohengrin is not part of the Ring Cycle, as Rheingold is – just another opera from Wagner. Me, I care little for the music or the man.
12 Reporting from 2 maybe sinking beers during short trip (10)
JOURNALESE – ALES in JOURNE[y]; with a cross-reference to 2d
13 Reportedly cold, long for one to supply wood (5,4)
CHILE PINE – sounds like ‘chilly’ (sort of) PINE (long – as for the fjords)
15 Brown’s old joke (8)
CHESTNUT – DD
18 Hoover, say, setting me back about £25 (6)
EPONYM – ME reversed around PONY (25 quid); the vacuum cleaner is named after Mr Hoover (not J Edgar)
21 He lays slates, 50 in a row (5)
TILER – L in TIER
22 Ashes of the French saint (4)
DUST – DU ST