Sunday Times 4824

ACROSS
1 Topless soldiers showing muscle (4) (s)QUAD(riceps)
4 Apt to supply answer? A blessing in disguise (10) ASSIGNABLE - SIGN (a blessing) inside A(nswer) + SABLE (think Hamlet, maybe)
9 Ignore gathering storm, and l will see gloom (14) DISCOURAGEMENT - RAGE (storm) + ME inside DISCOUNT
10 One stands in for man or father (10) PROGENITOR - dd, I guess
11 Please run through what you earn (4) P(R)AY
12 Among patients ahead (6) ON,WARD
14 Hot needle applied to sponge (6-2) H,ANGER-ON - where ANGER is a verb meaning 'needle'
15 Drop baby into bowl (8) DI(MINI)SH
17 One sending bill (6) POSTER - dd
18 Weak cup of tea unfinished (4) CHIN(a) - China tea, I guess, but don't get the 'weak' bit - some people are said to have a 'weak chin'
19 Bitter as wine that's carried round (10) ASTRINGENT - RING (round) inside AS + TENT (wine)
21 Walk to the bar, OK? (14) CONSTITUTIONAL - well, it's a term for a walk for health reasons, and could mean 'OK' - as in lawful - I suspect it might be a triple definition
23 Park surrounded by water (4,6) DROP ANCHOR - cd
24 Pot, or go to pot (4) SINK - dd
DOWN
2 Torn, but not as to the bottom (5) (as)UNDER
3 Name doctor one is dating (11) DESIGNATION - (one is dating)*
4 Decorated cherished houses close to town (7) ADOR(N)ED
5 Colour in drawing? (7,3,5) STRETCH THE TRUTH - cd
6 Keen to call short cosmonaut (7) GAGA,RIN(g) - as in 'I'm gaga about Lady Gaga' - Yuri Gargarin was the first man in space
7 One boards morning train (3) A(I)M - 'train' as in a rifle
8 Old singer has to go off, heading for Easter Island (9) LANZA,ROT,E - Mario LANZA, tenor
11 PR people drop into shows (5-6) PRESS AGENTS - SAG inside PRESENTS
13 Being beside oneself (9) NEIGHBOUR - cd
16 Romance? lt’s “other things” in Latin name (7) IT,ALIA,N - Italian is a 'Romance' language - et al. is short for et alia - 'and other things/people' in Latin
17 One’s sorry about old actor (7) P,O,ITIER
20 Polyvinyl, one stocking material (5) NYLON - incl.
22 Exhaust - it’s quiet (3) SAP - Sex Appeal + P(iano)

KEY
to abbreviations/terms/symbols which may have been used
(raga man)* = anagram of 'anagram'
cd = cryptic definition
dd = double definition
incl. = inclusive (hidden word)
def. = definition (synonym, literal)
rev. = reversed
anagind = anagram indicator
homophind = homophone indicator
surface - the apparent meaning of the clue, disguising what's really going on
&lit. - a clue in which the whole clue is the 'definition'
COD = clue of the day (imo); FOI, LOI, first/last one written in

---

Garry Gillard | New: Armistice Day, 2018 | Now: 11 November, 2018