Across
Authorisation of combat leading to diatribe (7)
Creature with many feet and abnormal growth on display, at first (7)
Conclude popular official has been recalled (5)
Instruments found in dead body turned over by doctor (9)
Terrible rage about insignificant smoking aid? (3,7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Anagram (terrible) of RAGE , around SLIGHT (insignificant).
Singer sampled by Eminem achieved nothing (4)
Careful! Pakistan gin is abysmal (11)
Deem rallies inappropriate in Ireland (7,4)
Praise of Monet, perhaps, unbounded (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
[c] LAUD [e] (perhaps the painter Claude Monet) without the end letters (unbounded).
John is meeting child stars (5,5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
CAN (john = slang for a toilet) + IS + MINOR (someone too young to be considered an adult = a child). The smaller of two constellations known as the greater and lesser dogs, associated with the larger constellation of Orion the Hunter.
Naked content by old film studios is attractive (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
[h] APP [y] (content, as in “I’m happy with that”) + EALING (old film studios: started in 1902 and still going).
Nookie, say, occasionally ear-splitting (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Alternate letters (occasionally) of N [o] O [k] I [e] S [a] Y .
Why sane jockeys stop me pouring drink (3,4)
Satellite takes year to make risky manoeuvre (3,2,2)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
TRITON (the largest satellite of Neptune), containing (taking) Y (abbreviation for year). I think “try it on” generally refers to attempting something dubious (like trying to get something you’re not really entitled to) rather than actually risky, but it’s close enough. Maybe someone can find an example to support our setter’s usage.
Down
Complaint from women on dating app (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
W (abbreviation for women) + HINGE (mobile phone dating app).
Decline is rubbish (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Double definition. As a verb = to say you don’t want something that’s being offered to you; or as a noun = discarded waste.
Time on the radio tackling Duke is making spectacular show (3,7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
AIRPLAY (time on the radio), containing (tackling) D (abbreviation for duke) + IS . For once “on the radio” isn’t a homophone indicator. A public display involving aircraft in flight.
Small person tense with desire (5)
Letter to Sakellaropoulou's supporting commoner's figure of speech (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
PSI’S (belonging to the Greek letter psi, which is a letter known to the outgoing president of Greece Katerina Sakellaropoulou) after (below, in a down clue = supporting) PROLE (short for proletarian, especially in George Orwell’s 1984 = a commoner rather than an aristocrat). No, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you she was President and had to look up the name, but Eccles is following the standard convention that an obviously Greek name in the wordplay probably means we’re looking at a Greek letter. A figure of rhetorical speech that involves anticipating an objection and countering it before anyone gets the chance to make it. No, I didn’t know that either, but it sounded a convincing enough word to look up . . .
Plumber regularly discarded oil (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
One letter in every three (regularly) discarded from [p] LU [m] BE [r]. Well, there’s no reason why “regularly” should always mean every other letter, is there? Short for lubricant or lubrication.
Tentatively schedule antibiotic I left out (in different places) (6,2)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
PEN [i] CIL [l] IN (an antibiotic), with the first I taken out, and (in a different place) an L (abbreviation for left) also taken out. To put something into a diary with the understanding that it might get taken out again if plans change.
Avoid going across island to get prize? (8)
Give cash to adopt hairstyle: single dollar bill? (5,5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
PAY (give cash), containing (to adopt . . .) PERM (short for permanent wave = hairstyle) + ONE (single). Definition by example: one or more banknotes.
Scotsmen supporting Independent American statesman? (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
IAN (the usual Scottish man’s name in crosswords) twice (therefore Scotsmen plural), after (below, in a down clue = supporting) IND (Ind. = abbreviation for independent). According to Wikipedia, residents of the US state of Indiana are called Hoosiers, though the origin of the term is disputed, but before 2017 “Indianian” was the official term. I would have guessed “Indianan” which seems more logical, but what do I know?
Scientific apparatus made from grates under ring (4,4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
JARS (as a verb = grates = seems incongruous and/or unsettling) after (under, in a down clue) BELL (as in “give me a bell” = “give me a ring” = call me on the telephone). Bell-shaped glass covers used in scientific experiments.
Again provide super cast with work, steadily (8)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Anagram (cast, as a verb = thrown) of SUPER , then PLY (as in “ply one’s trade” = work steadily).
Bless a number at home time (6)
Have to cover shaft in coloured wax (6)
Helping others to hide gold block, perhaps (5)
Curse hate without limits (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
[l] OATH [e] (hate, as a verb) without the end letters (limits). Curse = oath = a swear word.
Type letters or click words in the clue