Across
Staff nearly able to charge Michelle Mone perhaps - an amoral businesswoman (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
RO [d] (staff) without the last letter (nearly) + FIT (able), inserted into (to charge = filling) PEER (for example Baroness Michelle Mone). Someone who seizes an opportunity to make money without worrying too much about the ethics: amoral if not actually immoral. Extended definition, I think: during the Covid pandemic, Ms Mone claimed that she wasn’t responsible for some very lucrative contracts (from the Conservative government she was then part of) awarded to her husband’s company for supplying PPE, which the government later said wasn’t good enough to use.
Fantastic swimmer (5)
Jewish leader one declining to reflect? (5)
Director delivers plays for parachutists (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Anagram (. . . plays) of D (abbreviation for director) + DELIVERS . Nickname for the display team from the Parachute Regiment in the British Army.
My son hired out body armour (7)
Break actually overwhelms rector (7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
IN FACT (actually), containing (overwhelming) R (abbreviation for rector). Infract, as a verb = to break a law or an agreement. Perhaps more common in the noun form “infraction”.
Article by American lying about crowds perhaps (5)
Naughtinesses cryptically resulting in plea for help (3)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
We need to split the first word into NAUGHT IN ESSES: it’s O (zero = naught) in SS (two letter S = esses). International distress signal, dot-dot-dot dash-dash-dash dot-dot-dot. Originally defined just as a sequence of dots and dashes, but it corresponds to the letters SOS in Morse code so it’s acquired that name.
Senior metalworker wanting wife (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
[w] ELDER (metalworker) without the W (abbreviation for wife).
Extremely safe saw is made quieter (7)
Spooner's favourite cuddly toy that is used for experiments (7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Spoonerism of BEST (favourite) TED (short for teddy bear = cuddly toy). An environment set up to test new technology, or the software equivalent for testing computer programs.
Later on I'm performing circus act (9)
Give and take (5)
Prison officer bragged after start of sentence (5)
Running back is claiming tennis champion is silent (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
ON (running, as in “is the heating on?”) reversed (back), then IS containing (claiming) SELES (Monica Seles, former world no.1 and multiple Grand Slam tennis champion).
Down
Extra short box (4)
Barmy old crook in part of Italy (8)
Extremely mean falsehoods stopping Mr T moving south (10)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
LIES (falsehoods) inserted into MISTER (usually abbreviated to Mr), with the T moving to the end (downwards in a down clue = south). Miserly = mean = unwilling to spend money.
You and I run revealing fungal problem (6)
Insert ad to shift items for part exchange? (8)
Cockney tramp heard musical instrument (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Pronunciation (heard) of HOBO (tramp) as a Cockney would say it (dropping the initial H sound).
Component of sandstone church (but not the northern quarter) (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
[ba] SILICA (originally an ancient Roman public building, but the term has come to be used for church buildings of a similar shape), without the first two of the eight letters (top quarter, in a down clue = northern quarter). Silicon dioxide, a major component of sandstone.
One third of American state is cut off unfortunately (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
ALAS [ka] (American state), with the last two letters of six (one third) cut off.
Philosopher quietly leaves University grounds (5)
Unrestricted racer Terry feels odd (10)
Sex up left-winger getting exhausted (5)
Settled matter in court at last after side upset team members (8)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Last letter of [cour] T , after an anagram (upset) of SIDE and then MEN (team members, as in a football team “down to ten men” after a sending-off). Solid matter that has settled at the bottom of a liquid.
Young socialite before playing field went naked in Hungarian city (8)
Surprising delivery from saint bearing a cross returned (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
S (abbreviation for saint), surrounded by (bearing) A ROOD (a cross), all reversed (returned). I might have expected “bearing” to mean “containing”, but perhaps “covered with” works too. A ball bowled by an off-spin bowler in cricket (a delivery) that spins in the opposite direction to what is expected. Invented by the Pakistani men’s cricket team; the name is Hindi-Urdu for “the other one”.
Sluggish hill descent coming up (6)
Girl left behind in America (4)
Drag queen's bottom seen in Eccles? (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
TOW (drag = pull) + last letter (bottom, in a down clue) of [quee] N . Definition by example: Eccles is a town in Greater Manchester, norh-west England.
Record short dance (4)
Type letters or click words in the clue