Weekend Quick Cryptic 66 - Solution

My fellow TimesforTheTimes contributors Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce Quick Cryptic crosswords to fill the gap left by the Saturday Times not having one. The plan is for us to take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it's Phil's turn. 

You can find a link to the crossword here and the answers below. Feel free to leave any comments or questions here as you would do on TfTT. You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here.

Before looking at the answers, if you would like some additional help, click the label below.

Hints...

Some hints and tips:

• 23A refers to a Marilyn Monroe film.
• In 19D the crush is a passionate one.

And click on this label to get the solution.

Solution and explanation of the answers...

Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc,  {deletions} and [] other indicators.

Across

1 Looking suspicious, move yourself first (6)
SHIFTY – SHIFT (move) Y{ourself} [first].
5 Spared revolting meat paste (6)
SPREAD – (spared)* [revolting].
8 Was adamant Edward must follow trendy sibling (8)
INSISTED – IN (trendy) SIS (sister; sibling) TED (Edward).
9 Boss encountered in gumboots (4)
UMBO – Hidden [encountered] in gUMBOots.
10 It's a retro drink (4)
ASTI – IT’S A reversed, [retro] -> ASTI.
11 Brings together for prayers (8)
COLLECTS – Double definition.
12 Australian earth mover (6)
DIGGER – Double definition.
14 Surround Big Red with difficulty (6)
BEGIRD – (Big Red)* [with difficulty].
16 Selling corporal punishment (8)
FLOGGING – Double definition.
18 Snakes bite the head off insects (4)
ASPS – Remove first letter from[bite the head off] {w}ASPS (insects).
20 Person giving lift reversed into dead end at first (4)
RIDE – Reversed Into Dead End [at first].
21 Drove mad with big drug - it's too much (8)
OVERDOSE – (Drove)* [mad] OS (outsize; big) E (Ecstasy; drug).
23 Gentleman's preference? That's fair! (6)
BLONDE – Double definition, the first  a cryptic hint referring to Gentlemen prefer blondes, the 1953 film.
24 Accursed mad dog makes a comeback (6)
GODDAM – MAD DOG reversed [makes a comeback] -> GODDAM.
 
Down
2 Searches for old county in short (5)
HUNTS – Abbreviation for [in short] HUNTINGDONSHIRE (old county) is HUNTS.
3 Not passing negative character trait (7)
FAILING – Double definition.
4 The Abominable Snowman hasn't finished up to now (3)
YET – YET{i} [hasn’t finished].
5 Burden unpleasant woman with cycling accessory (9)
SADDLEBAG – SADDLE (burden) BAG (unpleasant woman).
6 Red French cosmetic (5)
ROUGE – ROUGE (red in French).
7 Referee chews rarebit (7)
ARBITER – [chews] (rarebit)*.
11 Charlie and I ran over mangled animal (9)
CARNIVORE – C (Charlie in NATO phonetic alphabet) (I ran over)* [mangled].
13 I intend to leave malice (3,4)
ILL WILL – I’LL (I intend) WILL (leave a legacy).
15 A drudge surprisingly reticent (7)
GUARDED – (a drudge)* [surprisingly].
17 Endless energy? Confusingly, it's eco-friendly (5)
GREEN – (energ{y})* [endless] confusingly].
19 Crush on a Turkish officer (5)
PASHA – PASH (crush) A.
22 Encourage Humpty Dumpty (3)
EGG – Double definition, the second a cryptic hint.