Across
Empty box protecting organ (5,3)
Cricket side close to revolt (6)
Top-notch crust of rhubarb tart (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
ACE (top-notch), R{hubar}B [crust of…]
Courts Romeo in a Butlin's resort (9)
Occasionally strange things drunk at male event (4,5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
Anagram [drunk] of {s}T{r}A{n}G{e} [occasionally] + THINGS
Keynote article by the author (5)
Game point Tom? (6)
Tragic hero serves up ideology, being somewhat reflective (7)
Pep with expression of triumph when reversing hybrid (7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
TANG (pep), then OLÉ (expression of triumph) [reversing]. I’m not entirely convinced by ‘pep / tang’. Chambers Crossword Dictionary has ‘tang / pep’ but not the other way round, which seems a bit odd. A tangelo is a cross between a tangerine and a grapefruit.
Fool dropping the first bit of puzzle (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
{f}LUMMOX (puzzle) [dropping the first bit]. I found this hard to come up with.
Bond is topless superhuman (5)
West Indian brother (9)
Narrow-minded friend transfixed by a mixed choir (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
PAL (friend) contains [transfixed by] A + anagram [mixed] of CHOIR
Sage, second one to take lead in race (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
RISHI (sage) becomes IRISH when the second I (one) takes the lead. A Hindu word with a meaning that most of us have probably learned only recently.
Year in Moroccan home close to Marrakech city (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
Y (year) contained by [in] RIAD (Moroccan home), {Marrakec}H [close to…]. SOED this time: riad – in Morocco, a large traditional house built around a central courtyard, often converted into a hotel. I didn’t know the home so I biffed the answer with assistance from checkers.
Daddy Cool, not so free from stress (8)
Down
It becomes girl in large town to be elegant (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
C{it}Y (large town) becomes C(LASS)Y (elegant) when ‘it’ becomes LASS (girl)
Tesla possibly included in Joy's promotion (9)
Vital chemical ran out? (11,4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
Anagram [out] of RAN = RNA (vital chemical – Ribonucleic Acid). I spotted what was going on here which gave me ACID, but I didn’t know what RNA stood for, so even with all the checkers in place I had to resort to aids. Not the fairest of clues for the non-scientist, I feel.
Finished drunk and on edge (7)
Hums rendition of Wasted Time (6,9)
The beginning of Evil Dead bringing cheer (5)
Detectives essentially split up (8)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
DI‘S (detectives – Inspectors), PER SE (essentially)
Restaurant has tail of lobster in gravy (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
{lobste}R [tail] contained by [in] BISTO (gravy). Aah, Bisto! Gravy powder since 1908 and still going strong as granules. The name is said to derive from ‘Browns, Seasons and Thickens in One’ although that doesn’t quite work as an acronym, does it?
Ban for writer (9)
Southern holidaymaker is one who's likely to peel (8)
Invest in road building (6)
Plate of honey eaten by tellytubby (7)
Creeps in Red Square? Just the leader (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
IN, CHE (red), S{quare} [just the leader]
Irritable chest in city (5)
Type letters or click words in the clue