Across
Sear fish (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Double definition. To brown food quickly over high heat; or a species of fish related to salmon.
Officer flustered until having eaten together (10)
Expert to start off in style with neon gas (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
ACE (slang for expert) + [s] TYLE (with the starting letter taken off) + NE (Ne = chemical symbol for neon). Gas used as a fuel for welding, among other applications.
Bit of trouble with sleeping policeman perhaps, one on the road (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
First letter (a bit) of T [rouble] + RAMP (sleeping policeman = slang for a speed bump to slow traffic).
‘Docking’ for monument (right-winger) supported by the law (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
STATU [e] (monument) with its last letter removed (docked) + TORY (right-winger).
Marshy plant spread quickly (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Double definition. A flowering grass that grows in marshy locations; or to move at speed.
Draw a big fire? That’s a no-no (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
INFER [no] (a big fire), with no NO at the end. As in “draw a conclusion” = infer.
Josh is a child (3)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Double definition. To tease someone; or slang for a child.
Stand and move gently with a little latitude (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
EASE (to move something gently) + first letter (a little) of L [atitude]. A stand on which artwork is supported.
Top-notch German antique (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
G (abbreviation for German) + OLD (antique).
Declines to acknowledge record on learner targets (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
DISC (record) + L (learner) + AIMS (targets).
Religious leader to witter on endlessly (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
RABBI [t] (slang for talk profusely without much substance), without its last letter (endlessly). I’m afraid I’ll have to put this one in the “chestnut” category, having seen the same word clued by dropping the T from RABBIT twice already this year.
Perhaps like a match that's foolhardy? (3-6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Double definition. Like the burning head of a lit match; or a slang description of someone who acts without thinking first.
They provide protection - for tennis players? (10)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Double definition. As in “protection rackets” = people extorting payment in return for “protection” from violence; or people who hit tennis balls with a racket.
Absolute torture regularly observed (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Alternate letters (regularly observed) of T [o] R [t] U [r] E .
Down
The most untreated and muddied waters (6)
Distract one who's down with a bit of tenderness (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
DIVER (one who goes down below the surface of water) + first letter (a bit) of T [enderness].
In which horses race endlessly, then short burst and it’s all over, having just one race (8)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
DERB [y] (a horse race) without its last letter (endlessly), then ERUP [t] (burst) without its last letter (short), all reversed (all over).
A pier that is black? (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Double definition. Structure projecting from land out into water; or black like jet (a form of coal, used as a gemstone).
Scotsman on a curtailed hunt for monkeys (8)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
MAC (nickname for a Scotsman) + A + QUES [t] (hunt) without its last letter (curtailed).
Maybe Cinderella at end of stage is mostly cold and deserted (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
STEP (stage = one part of a longer process) + CHIL [l] (catch a chill = catch a cold, as in the common cold virus) + D (abbreviation for deserted). Pantomime character oppressed by her stepmother and stepsisters.
Padre’s lain out a man (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
CHAP [lain] (padre) with the LAIN taken out. I’m not sure the grammar quite works, because I think the past tense of “lay out” is “has laid out”, and “has lain” is the past tense of “lie” (as in lie down); but there are probably counter-examples.
Closed book, autobiography swapping one’s beginning with one’s end (7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
MY ST [o] RY (autobiography), swapping the O for an E (beginning and end letters of O[n]E). Closed book = metaphor for something not understood at all.
They hang around underwear dept after I left, with bras oddly ignored (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
LINGER [i] E (underwear, or the department in a shop that sells it) without the I, then the even-numberd letters (oddly ignored) of [b] R [a] S .
Slack relative’s dispensed with (7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
REL (abbreviation for relative, as in “relative pronoun”) + AXED (got rid of = dispensed with).
Fellow heading off in retreat as defender on the field (4,4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
F (abbreviation for fellow) + [p] ULL BACK (retreat, as a verb) without its first letter (heading). A defending player in sports such as football and rugby.
Made sir ponder about receiving good education (8)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
THINK (ponder) reversed (about), containing (receiving) G (good), then ED (short for education). Someone who is knighted is made a knight (allowed to use the title “sir”) = colloquially, made a “sir”.
Provides food from packing cases right nearer the bottom (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
CRATES (packing cases), with the R (right) moved towards the end (nearer the bottom, in a down clue).
Current fashion runs over November (6)
Items spread about Independent’s rival (5)
Commercials broadcast for a cutting tool (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Homophone (broadcast = read out aloud) of ADS = advertisements = commercials. Adze = like an axe but with the cutting edge in a different position.
Type letters or click words in the clue