Across
Erotic novel in which old queen with a welcoming cleavage liberates Americans (12)
Left before old weakling gets to do something with little effect (9)
Lout loves dried grass on the counter (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
OO (zero = love in tennis scoring, so two of them = loves) + HAY (dried grass), all reversed (on the counter). Slang for a coarse and uncultured person, from the name of a race of human-like brutes in Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift.
Lose pants in northern new town (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Anagram (pants) of LOSE , in N (abbreviation for northern) + N (abbreviation for new). Town in Lancashire, developed as a mill town during the Industrial Revolution.
Factors in heartless creature having rival regularly ejected (8)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
CRI [t] TER (slang variant of “creature”, especially in US) without the middle letter (heart), then [r] I [v] A [l] with alternate letters removed (regularly ejected).
Unusual leafy surroundings for female woodpecker (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Anagram (unusual) of LEAFY , containing (surroundings for . . .) F (abbreviation for female). Dialect word for a woodpecker; the children’s TV series Bagpuss featured a woodpecker named Professor Yaffle.
Old-fashioned heir dies (8)
Eccles gets surprising answer in section of department store (8)
Distract Tom Daley perhaps with knitted heart (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
DIVER (perhaps Tom Daley, who’s won many titles in 10-metre platform diving) + middle letter (heart) of [kni] T [ted]. The surface suggests Daley’s hobby of knitting, which he was seen doing while watching other participants in the last Olympics.
Composer butchers works (8)
Descendent of male fly found in A&E (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
GNAT (flying insect) in A + E . Related through descent from a common male ancestor. There must be someone who needs such a word, but I don’t think I’ve ever had occasion to use it.
Poem about concert hall (5)
Smile smugly about Troy who distributed forgery? (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
SMIRK (smile smugly), around T (abbreviation for troy = the system of weights used for precious metals) + anagram (distributed) of WHO . The work of a blacksmith = forging metal.
Boring sort of loan? (12)
Down
Cobblers lacking companions to stop by (7)
Perform strongly mostly making peg (5)
Perhaps Wimbledon grassy patch cut based on usage (9)
Bring up this when last? (4)
Safe to sleep around to obtain eternal youth? (8)
Alsatian and bears trouble country (5)
Hypocrite playing harp is extremely effeminate (8)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Anagram (playing) of HARP IS , then the end letters (extremes) of E [ffeminat] E . Traditional Jewish religious teachers; in the Gospels, Jesus often criticised them for hypocrisy.
Major supports party line (6)
A hen flew around current producer (8)
Gets rid of stolen catapult (9)
Maybe Brownies left after dropping ecstasy in part of Shetland (8)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
FAIRIES (small creatures in folklore, of which Brownies are an example) + L (abbreviation for left), with the E (abbreviation for the drug Ecstasy) moved to the end (dropped, in a down clue). The southernmost island in the Shetland archipelago of Scotland, known for traditional patterned knitwear.
Capital is lower after a couple of seconds (6)
Fan of TV show from 2001 hiding in box? (7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
K (abbreviation for kilo = 1000, used in scientific units and in quoting large sums of money) twice (so 2000) + I (Roman numeral for 1); all hiding in TREE (of which a box tree is an example; Eccles has helpfully included the question mark to indicate a definition by example). Slang for a fan of the TV show Star Trek . The answer was easy enough to guess from the crossers, but it took me ages to see the parsing.
Country is gracious when government is thrown out (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
BENI [g] N (gracious, as in a benign smile), discarding the G (abbreviation for government). Country in West Africa.
Love affair of leading couple ignored by public demand (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
[cl] AMOUR (public demand), ignoring the leading couple of letters. French-derived word for a love affair, especially a secret one.
Wait behind cleaner short of time (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
BIDE [t] (bathroom fitting for washing one’s bottom = a cleaner for the behind), without the T (abbreviation for time). Old word for “wait” or “stay”, as in “bide your time” = wait for a good opportunity.
Type letters or click words in the clue