The Age Cryptic by DA #20,564

I survived but it was a close battle. No themes or trickery at least apart from a couple of cross reference clues. I took it in parts with breaks and it took me until about 4pm. Things that I get frustrated about seem to have answers pop into my head when I get away from them for a bit. I was able to get portions of clues and found I could solve from the end of a clue and not the front or vice vera.

The pic:

1A - Pretty easy shift? So shift? (7)

"Pretty easy" is our definition and pick a "shift" to be your anagrind and mix "shift so" to get SOFTISH.

5A - On conversion left a gift - timeless Bible cover (3,4)

"Bible cover" is what we are looking for and "conversion LEFt A GIFt, timeless" with "conversion as our anagrind and the rest is fodder except "timeless" means to remove the Ts from the fodder and mix what's left to get FIG LEAF.

9A - Over Gaga's first release and Nickleback (5)

"Over" is our definition and "gAGA's first release" = AGA as we let go of the first letter and set it free like a bird. Then "Nickelback" is a one word instruction to take the chemical name for nickel =  NI and reverse it to make AGA(IN)

11A - Wave bright and noisy holding lines where a surfer's been (8,7)

"Where a surfer's been" is our definition and have to think of web surfers not ocean ones, "wave BRIGHT and NOISY" is anagrind and partial fodder which will be "holding lines" = ROWS to create B(ROWS)ING HISTORY. I got this from cross letters and then had to solve in reverse. (pic below)

13A - Booze Barn unpackaged wine supply? (6)

"Booze" is our definition and "bARn unpackaged" = AR as we strip the outer letters,  and the "wine supply" = RACK which is more where the wine supply is stored or is a wine collection called one's rack? To make ARRACK. New word for me.

14A - Art panels get instant audit on journey (8)

"Art panels" is our definition and I know "on journey" means to move a synonym for "journey" = TRIP to the front but how "get instant audit" makes TYCH for the word TRIPTYCH I don't know. I did know the word triptych so for that I'm quite chuffed and was able to get it with cross letters.

17A - Cycle shed shocked troop on the rocks (4-4)

I've got nothing. I put the cross letters into One Across to get the answer but I cannot marry the answer to a definition, not as I know it anyway. Answer is DIRT POOR. If "on the rocks" is our definition then it's a new twist for me. Idiom search does confirm it to mean bankruptcy. I think it's a way linking to the ship version of being marooned and losing your ship.

19A - A Kardashian served fairly trendy Korean dish (6)

First clue in but I'm not too proud about that. "Korean dish" is what we're looking for and "A Kardashian" = KIM and "fairly trendy" = CHIC but drop the last letter as "fairly" is a deletion signpost, leaving us with KIM(CHI)

22A - 3-down's insurance cover? (4,3,8)

Skip ahead to 3D to see the answer is INN and if we think of the smaller B&B kind of INN what kind of insurance cover would they need? HOME AND CONTENTS. That seems like a straightforward clue and not very cryptic so have I missed an angle here?

23A - Merges fine print you've even added (9)

"Merges" is the definition and if I wasn't a carpenter's daughter who watched way too much of Norm Abrams and the New Yankee Workshop then I'd never have gotten DOVETAILS. (Yeah my accent's a bit like that but it dips into Scottish sometimes too. It's a trip) The only element I can parse is the "yOuVe even" = OV Oh! I see now! "small print" are DETAILS and "added" must be a container signpost to make D(OV)ETAILS. Is that it?

24A - Frank account, possibly, recalled invasion on army base (5)

"Frank account" is the definition and "recalled invasion" = RAID reversed in the grid to DIAR with "armY base" = Y to make DIARY of Anne Frank. Very clever clue. I felt great solving this.

25A - Clientele coming to defend old carrier (7)

"Old carrier" is our definition and I had cross letters in place and got this from a guess before noticing this was a hidden word clue with our answer hidden in "clienTELE COMing" to make TELECOM. I never would have picked "defend" as a hidden word signpost.

26A - Chinese banker negative over grant, led off by zillionaire outsiders (7)

"Chinese banker" is our definition and yes I went down the rabbit hole of looking at names of banks. Not for long, though. I figured the end of the clue first with "ZillionairE outsiders" = ZE and thought does "negative" = YANG like yin and yang to make YANGTZE. Except Yang is the positive and Yin is the negative. I got the answer but I don't think I got it the right way. I can't parse the T either. Although I do see an anagram of Tangy!

1D - Titanic's right location for director and foremost celeb (9)

"Titanic's right" is the definition but really we need to think of any ship, not just the Titanic. "location for director" = BOARD as in a board of directors, and "foremost celeb" = STAR which will be moved before the BOARD to make STARBOARD. Nice misdirection, I was kicking myself when I got it.

2D - Can squared jackets exhibit taste? (7)

"Exhibit taste" is our definition and "can" = LAV where can is slang for the toilet/ LAVatory, "squared jackets" = FOUR as a square has four sides and that will "jacket" or split around LAV to make F(LAV)OUR. It took a while for me to get square = four, is this a common device in clues?

3D - Flopped in Scandinavian hotel? (3)

"Hotel" is our definition and I needed Mort's hint over at D.A. Trippers "for 3D read the first word as two words, then apply to a four-letter Scandinavian." to get me through. "Flopped" is one of DAs one-word instructions read as "F-lopped" from a "Scandinavian" = FINN, drop the F and we get INN as our answer.

4D - A trip to the cleaners for watering? (6)

This is a double definition and it seemed to give folks a lot of trouble. I got it straight off of as the Canadian slang "You got hosed! You hoser." for "a trip to the cleaners" and "for watering" = HOSING. Did Australia not get the McKenzie brothers? Americans can't be the only people who like laughing at Canadians. With Canadians, I meant with.

5D - 1-across US comedian at her installation (8)

1-across was SOFTISH and is our definition here. I found this one hard and parsed after solving from cross letters. "US comedian" = FEY as in Tina Fey then "AT HER installation" means to "install" the fodder into the word FEY to make FE(ATHER)Y.

6D - Make up rubbish against peer (11)

"Make up" is our definition and "rubbish AGAINST PEER" is anagrind and fodder to make GREASE PAINT.

7D - Science emergency limits bottling of pointless scent (7)

A "science" is what were are looking for and "EmergencY limits" = EY which will be "bottling up" or containing a "pointless scent" = COLOG(-ne) as we remove the compass points to make E(COLOG)Y.

8D - Baroque relish (5)

Double definition: FANCY.

12D - Extremely sexy officer in chat turned obsequious (11)

"Obsequious" is our definition and "extremely SexY = SY and I had it from there.  "Officer" = COP and "IN CHAT turned" is partial fodder and anagrind to make SY(COP)(HANTIC)

15D - Hysterical Cubs leader kicked swarming beehive, perhaps (9)

"Beehive perhaps" is the definition "HYSTERICAL + Cubs leader" gives us the fodder and "kicked" is the anagrind to make HAIRSTYLE. For an anagram clue, this was one of my last in the grid. I got the answer from cross letters and had been completely in the dark about what was going on. So devious. Does "swarming" have another use or is it just for surface?

16D - My word is broken by loutish carry-on (8)

"Loutish carry-on" is our definition and "MY WORD IS broken" is fodder and anagrind to make ROWDYISH.

18D - Taking away Dreamtime Park? (7)

"Taking away" is our definition and "dreamtime" = REM as in REM sleep, the sleep phase where dreaming occurs, and a "park" = OVAL, a very Aussie term, to create REMOVAL.

20D - Call netball foul (7)

Double definition: CONTACT. Call / netball foul.

21D - Getting warmer, approaching farm's pigs? (7)

"Getting warmer" is our definition and I got this from cross letters. "Approaching farm's pigs" means we are going TO A STY when mushed together makes TOASTY.

22D - Was disgusted by almond tips in batter (3,2)

"Was disgusted" is our definition and "AlmonD tips" = AD which goes "in" "batter" = HIT to make H(AD)IT!

24D - Teller's over brownish grey (3)

"Brownish grey" is our definition and "teller" is a homophone signpost meaning we want a word for "over" = DONE which sounds like DUN.

There we go. Finished for another week. Good guesses, backward parsing and a headdesk or two. Am I the only one who does this kind of "I think I know it!" backward anagram solving?

As always if you can help with the red clues or have better or alternate solutions then please share your experiences in the comments.

Looks like a lovely weekend and I'm going to go have some it, hope your weekend is wonderful, too.