Across
Great guy from East needs minute inside shops (7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Reversal (from East, in an across clue) of AI (A1, great) + ROPE (guy rope) around M (minute inside)
Punk's green hair pushed back (7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Reversal (pushed back) of NAIF (green, inexperienced) FUR
English invested in wine initially stored in vessels (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
E inside VIN + S (initially stored). Perhaps it would have been better to indicate that we’re to use the French word for wine?
Pamper uncle with a ruptured spleen (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
PET (pamper) + anagram (ruptured) of UNCLE A . ‘Spleen’ seems to me considerably stronger than petulance, but perhaps it’s close enough
Withdrawn journalist clutching pamphlet (10)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
SUB ED (sub-editor, journalist) around (clutching) TRACT
And others towards the end returned (2,2)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Reversal (returned) of LA TE (towards the end)
24 6 19 16 for 2? (3,5,3)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Double definition. Writing out the solutions referred to in the clue, we get REED FILM GREENE SCRIPTED for PHILBY?, which leads us to the 1949 film, written by Graham Greene, directed by Carol Reed, as well as to the real-life Cambridge spy ring of which Kim Philby was identified as the third man in 1963
Old PM with Larry say devouring old gull hearts regardless (4,4,3)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
MAY (Theresa, former UK prime minister) after (‘with’ – really?) CAT (Larry the cat is the feline who hangs around 10 Downing Street – he used to have a great Twitter account in the pre-Musk era) around (devouring) O (old) MEW (a rather archaic term for a gull – only familiar to me from Thomas Hardy’s poem “Beeny Cliff’) H (hearts, as in the suit). This strikes me as an extraordinarily contorted clue
Scandinavians not loud boozers (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
[f] INNS (Scandinavians without F for loud). I’m raising a rather severe eyebrow at this one – Finns aren’t classed as Scandinavians for reasons of geography, language, culture and ethnicity. ‘Nordic people’ would have done fine
Review ultra-harsh for final performance (4,6)
Drink to Scots having arrived unexpectedly (5,4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
TAE (Scots for ‘to’) around (having) BLEW IN (arrived unexpectedly)
Elland Road team tops league did you say? (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Soundalike (‘did you say?’) of ‘leads’. Leeds United’s home ground is Elland Road. Mrs Moh and I trepidatiously await the outcome of the current football season to see which of our teams (Leeds or West Ham) will be relegated. Quite possibly both.
Prepare without finishing study in China (7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
DRES [s] (prepare without finishing) + DEN (study)
Teetotaller in bank finally gets giggles (7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
TIER (bank) around TT + S (final letter of ‘gets’)
Down
Hard to follow The King's Speech (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
H (hard) after ELVIS (the King). It’s far from clear to me how ‘speech’ defines the solution. OK, I’ve just searched. AI tells me: ‘In JRR Tolkien’s mythology, “Elvish” can mean “speech” because the Elves’ very name for themselves – Quendi – literally translates to “the speakers”. This linguistic connection reflects their history as the first beings in Middle-earth to develop articulate language.’ Well, you do indeed learn something new every day.
Agent X after stuff on radio (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Soundalike (on radio) of ‘fill’ (stuff) + BY (x, or times)
Rotten Row recreated outside small place like Margate? (6,4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Anagram (recreated) of ROTTEN ROW around (outside) S
Snake one caught in savoury jelly (5)
Rook — different meat in northern town (9)
Skin flick (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Double definition
Is it pub-o'clock before you know it? (2,2,4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
INN (pub) + O + TIME (clock, though I can’t immediately think of a sentence in which these words could be interchangeable)
Irritating being short of Liberal dons (8)
Hairstyle associated with old school member? (4,6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
MULLET (the 80s hairstyle that, unaccountably, seems to have made a comeback in recent years) after (associated with) GREY (old -hm, I’m quite old but not grey…). ‘School’ in the sense of a bunch of fish
Male in each community coming out (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
Insertion of M (male) in EA (each) + NATION (community)
Like some speeches in part Sweeney's source yelled about? (8)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
S (first letter – source – of Sweeney) + CRIED around PT (part)
Flexible girl taking walk outside (8)
Emerald Isle's ultimate writer (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
GREEN (emerald) + E (last letter of ‘isle’) for the writer Graham Greene
Article One's written about singular subject (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
THE (definite article) + IS (one is, or one’s) around (about) S (singular). Alternatively it could be THE + reversal (about) of IS + S .
Flower Romeo dropped into Spanish wine (5)
Ancient arrow point bloodied all around (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Fifteensquared have:
RED (bloodied) around E (east, point of the compass)
Type letters or click words in the clue