ACROSS
1 Unusual aroma, etc, as TV interviewee speaks? (2,6)
TO CAMERA – (AROMA ETC*)
6 A dance party collects starchy food for Aussie (6)
ADJIGO – A + JIG “collected” by DO. Some kinda Australian yam.
9 Chap’s after two staples of “learning to read” sentence — one with a comprehension problem (13)
ACATAMATHESIA – HE’S after A CAT and A MAT, plus I plus A
10 Clumsy American, good at logarithms, initially backward in addition (6)
GALOOT – G{ood} A{t} L{ogarithms} + reversed TOO
11 Pound perhaps to dress old monsieur, returning in French silk (8)
ARMOZEEN – reverse all of (poet) EZRA “dressing” O M, then add EN [in, in French]
13 As certain Cossacks kill, or blunder defending area in borders (10)
ZAPOROGIAN – ZAP OR O.G. [kill | or | blunder defending] + A “bordered” by IN
15 Garment for the female aforesaid improperly reveals back (4)
MIDI – hidden reversed in {aforesa}ID IM{properly}
16 Henry V’s contemptuous gesture, neglecting odd parts of kingdom (4)
FIGO – {o}F {k}I{n}G{d}O{m}
18 Wasting time, I must abandon “Lincolnology”? (10)
TABESCENCE – T + ABE SC{i}ENCE, clearly the academic study of Abraham Lincoln (minus I)
21 Nun I once bumped into an unfamiliar woman (8)
INCONNUE – (NUN I ONCE*) [“bumped”]
22 Tea mostly taken with right grub (6)
ASSART – ASSA{m} + RT
23 Trouble with PR is, there is no room for sport! (13)
SPHERISTERION – (PR IS THERE IS NO*)
25 Odd to put on uniform? The first thing asked maybe in Chinese city (6)
URUMQI – RUM “puts on” U + Q1 [= question one, “the first thing asked maybe”]. Possibly “the most inland major city in the world”.
26 Iodine brought in as broken arm is for cutting off? (8)
INISLING – I brought into IN SLING [“as broken arm is”]
DOWN
1 Longer spell of fine weather’s third month — ace for a Japanese city (7)
OKAYAMA – OKAY [longer spell(ing) if OK = fine] + {we}A{ther} + M + A
3 Rugby players, a reserve, with half back, repeatedly supporting team in second half (11)
AMABOKOBOKO – Okay: reserve is BOOK, but with (the second half) back(wards), it’s BOKO. A + BOKO repeatedly “supports” the second half of {te}AM; result: a South African rugby side you may prefer to recall as the Springboks.
4 Praise old singer cutting disc (5)
EXALT – EX ALT{o} [old | singer, minus O = disc]
5 Motoring organisation in another limitless trip: it’s got a huge bill (7)
ARACARI – RAC in AA [(one) motoring organisation in another] + {t}RI{p}. As you might expect from the definition it’s a variant on a toucan.
6 Perennial sufferings besetting island people (9)
ACHIMENES – ACHES “besetting” I MEN. Not a Trojan War hero but a South American plant.
7 Law finding politician out of bounds (3)
JUS – JU{mp}S [bounds, minus MP = politician]
8 Attack old astrologer turning up unshaven (7)
GOATEED – GO AT [attack] + reversed (Doctor John) DEE
12 Publicizes me sneakily dropping Charlie for one of the Germans (3,8)
ZUM BEISPIEL – (PUBLI{c}IZES ME*). z.B. is German for “e.g.”
14 Two managed firm, keeping books, elevating particular lines (9)
OCTONARII – reverse all of: II RAN CO. “keeping” O.T. Octonarii are lines of eight (metrical) feet, if hexameter and hendecasyllabics are too commonplace for your jaded palate.
17 Ironies rampant in one improving atmosphere through negativity? (7)
IONISER – (IRONIES*)
19 First meals casually halved, then one restricts wife’s US beer (7)
BREWSKI – BREK{kies} then I, “restricting” W’S
20 A hundred personnel at the double taking next to no time (7)
CHRONON – C H.R. + doubled ON [taking, as in “on drugs”]. 6.27×10−24 seconds, equal to about 2.3 Magoos on one of his good days.
22 Fifty per cent cut in publicity used by record label (1,4)
A DEMI – AD used by EMI
24 It’s a puzzle with anagram form for which tips needed (3)
HMM – {wit}H {anagra}M {for}M
Still, it is a good crossword V, as you say. I ‘spose.
As usual, it took me most of an hour to get through this one, with close attention to wordplay giving clear guidance to the unlikely answers. I mean, URUMQI, who knew?
OCTONARII turned out to be useful in a recent, particularly beastly Listener that took me four DAYS to complete, and it would have been nice if I’d remembered it sooner.
ZUM BEISPIEL is one of the odd bits of German that sticks in the mind, and (incredibly) was the nearest I got to a write in.
Edited at 2020-08-01 09:40 am (UTC)
All praise to the setter.
Many thanks for the blog.
Midas