Across
Reactionary new school lacking aspiration (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
N hARROW; NARROW can mean narrow-minded and reactionaries might be called narrow-minded, especially by liberals…who never are, of course
Is one clever to welcome Conservative, it being civilised? (8)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
C (Conservative – more reactionaries?) in AM I (is one?) ABLE (clever); ‘Civilised’ in the ‘Come on, darling, let’s be civilised about this. We must think of the children, you know’ sense.
Badly mistreat an old puffer? (5,5)
Husband that's horrible — this chap? (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
H UGH!
Warrior suffers, wrongly held (8)
Look after dilapidated vehicle going round sharp bend, perhaps (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
U in CRATE (dilapidated vehicle)
Old poems from the east, almost all augmented (4)
Tough guy going round concealing dread (8)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
ANGST (in Existentialist philosophy, this is the dread caused by the awareness that your future is not determined but must be freely chosen) in REG reversed. Personally, I’d be far more dreadful if I thought my future wasn’t freely chosen. Which, I suppose, means I’d never make much of an Existentialist. Hands up who thought the definition was ‘tough guy’ and couldn’t parse it?
What might offer illumination when in fix? (8)
Noble old king, 50, beating a retreat (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
aha! a cycling clue without the word ‘cycling’, and all the better for that. We have [King] LEAR with the L (50) going to the final position
Make a fuss about judge dropping an E (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
C (about) E in RATE; I’m not convinced about this, if I have the parsing correct, as ‘dropping’ would be an instruction to drop an E in the word RATE – and we lack an ‘in’. As pointed out by Myrtilus, if you drop an ecstasy tablet (E), you swallow it.
Around island, I cannot shake inertia (8)
A clever remark backfiring a bit? (4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
A followed by a reversal of MOT (as in ‘bon mot’)
Rescue men I deport in error (10)
A rebel soldier lost in scholarly setting (8)
Annoyed shopper starts to express dismay (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
NARK (one who snitches on another – very common these days, as people dig up things you tweeted 20 years ago in an attempt to destroy your career) Express Dismay
Down
Greek agents about to acquire Times (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
TT (times) in CIA reversed
Restore ecstasy enjoyed by Hindu queen and consort (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
E in RANI MATE
Building material inventor left half abandoned (6)
Book overseas trip (1,7,2,5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
a bit weak, this one, methinks
Free of sin, as some popes were (8)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
13 popes have called themselves innocent – unlucky for some…
Hate violent crime associated with men (5)
A long way from lethargy, I suspect (5,4)
Mark of a poor reviewer, they say (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
a non-rhotic bad reviewer might be called a ‘dire critic’
Doctor protects a bystander (9)
Message in TV broadcast having little weight (8)
Inquisitor in call for truce on island (6)
Abused Cockney ready to explode (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
hARMED; as in stage Cockney, ‘E ‘armed me, guv – honest ‘e did!
Joke about weight taken the wrong way — toxic stuff! (5)
Type letters or click words in the clue