Across
Writing surface of French king encircled by bar (7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
DE (of in French), then K (king) contained [encircled] by S~TOP (bar). A very late arrival in the grid.
Riot eliminating last American barrow (7)
Humbled Conservative had a career? (9)
Fellow, running short, is after instant coffee (5)
A bit of cork in my French wine (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
A + C{ork} [bit of…] contained by [in] M~ON (my in French – same device as in 1ac)
Indication of future performer turning in late, finishing early (5,4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
ACTOR (performer) reversed [turning] contained by [in] TA~RD{y} (late) [finishing early]
Two London termini denied King's top award (8,5)
Occasional story about bishop — elemental stuff? (8,5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
PERIODIC (occasional), TA~LE (story} containing [about] B (bishop)
Bird shelter driving out one dissolute male (9)
Alternative difficulty when deposing leader (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
{b}OTHER (difficulty) [when deposing leader]. A nice easy one!
Opinion backing American Idol (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
AM (American) + GOD (idol) reversed [backing]
Try plain writing with a bit of charm? (9)
Full set of documents returned after church addition to letter (7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
CE (church), then ALL (full) + ID (set of documents) reversed [returned]. More French stuff, although the cedilla is also used in other languages.
SF series about to introduce grand prison (7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
DUN~E (SF series) + ON (about) containing [to introduce] G (grand). Never heard of it myself, but if you want to know more about the Dune SF franchise you can read all about it here.
Down
Last month for every politician to leave (6)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
DEC (last month), A (for every – per), MP (politician)
Set about bringing in a completed upholstery item (4,5)
What's helped to split it — an iceberg? (7)
Italian bread counter popular, too much under glass (9)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
PANE (glass), then IN (popular) + OTT (too much) reversed [counter]
Staff upset, chasing second person in French royal house (5)
Copying piece of news picked up with microphone around (7)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
MI~C (microphone) containing [around] ITEM (piece of news) reversed [picked up]
Synthetic source of confusion in constellation (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
C{onfusion} [source of…] contained by [in] LY~RA (constellation). NHO or have forgotten the stars.
Leading performer remains for classic song (8)
Jazz standard trendy with those people — love upcoming party (2,3,4)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
IN (trendy), THEM (those people), O (love) then DO (party) reversed [upcoming]. One tends to categorise this as ‘swing’ music, but an alternative name for that is ‘big band jazz’.
Individual upset about hotel employment after work place welcoming everybody (4,5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
OP (work), then O~NE (individual) reversed [upset] containing [about] H (hotel), then USE (employment)
Big story covering one bit of Earth at intervals (8)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
EP~IC (big story) containing [covering] I (one) + SOD (bit of earth)
Eccentric person reduced chances to join dance (7)
Be dismissive of rest of a branch of algebra (7)
Encourage operator to release last of numbers (4,2)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
{s}URGEON (operator) [to release last of numbers]
Moved slowly in a jam, losing lead position (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
{w}EDGED (in a jam) [losing lead position]
Expression of surprise about recording considered the most powerful (5)
I haven't cracked this one yet — but Times for the Times have:
A~HA (expression of surprise) containing [about] LP (recording)
Type letters or click words in the clue