Weekend Quick Cryptic 120 - Solution

Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce our series of  Weekend Quick Cryptic crosswords. We take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it's Sawbill'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 and tips...

Some hints and tips:

• In 10A "child" could also have been clued as "minor" and is one under care.
• 17A and 5D are cryptic definitions.
• In 7D "orbit" is a facial feature.

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 Helped get gins, bizarrely, to give up alcohol? (4,3,6)
SIGN THE PLEDGE – (Helped get gins)* [bizarrely].
8 They plunder on sea trip? Possibly (7)
PIRATES –  (sea trip)* [possibly].
9 New honour left inside with earl, say? (5)
NOBLE – N (new) and L (left) inside OBE (honour).
10 Pull child back (4)
DRAW – WARD (child) reversed -> DRAW.
11 Protest by Left is hard to defeat completely (8)
DEMOLISH – DEMO (protest) L (left) IS H (hard).
13 Metal some at first dislike (6)
SODIUM – First letter of Some, ODIUM (dislike).
14 Enclosed as written (6)
PENNED – Double definition.
17 Passing mention (8)
OBITUARY – Cryptic definition
19 Take a look at battle on Western Front (4)
VIEW – VIE, first letter of Western.
21 Material only ordered after November (5)
NYLON – N (November in the phonetic alphabet) (only)* [ordered].
22 US State district briefly features in song (7)
ARIZONA – ZON{e} (district) without the last letter, [briefly], in ARIA (song).
24 Receiver and headset I still played with (9,4)
SATELLITE DISH – (headset I still)* [played with].
 
Down
1 Drain juice (3)
SAP – Double definition.
2 Royal Navy involved in protection of fish (7)
GURNARD – RN (Royal Navy) in GUARD (protection).
3 Gallery is rubbish at end of June (4)
TATE – TAT (rubbish) and last letter of JunE.
4 Festival's originally expensive and changes rates (6)
EASTER – First letter of Expensive, [changes] (rates)*.
5 Capital chap? (8)
LONDONER – Cryptic definition.
6 Occasionally missing drum beat in Emirate (5)
DUBAI – Alternate letters, [occasionally missing], of DrUm BeAt In.
7 I picked up dark image ... it's seen in orbit? (3,6)
EYE SHADOW – EYE sounds like I, SHADOW (dark image).
10 Somehow missed one US state capital (3,6)
DES MOINES – [Somehow] (missed one)*.
12 Over September, October and November could be an umlaut? (8)
AUTUMNAL – [could be] (an umlaut)*.
15 African capital where Ian got up before Rob and me (7)
NAIROBI – IAN [got up] -> NAI, ROB, I (me).
16 Designer in marina swimming (6)
ARMANI – (marina)*  [swimming].
18 Some water I collect around start of lunch (5)
INLET – I NET (collect) about first letter of Lunch.
20 Be diabolical climbing (4)
LIVE – EVIL (diabolical) [climbing] -> LIVE.
23 Tree was hard inside (3)
ASH – Hidden in wAS Hard.