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24ac. Composer of Ruritania...? (5)

Looks like Elgar but can’t work out why.

Ruritania was a fictitious land created by Anthony Hope. (Land of Hope......)

Correct on both counts, Claudie.

Just two left (well three really).

!D Poor workman's tender (6) - C???O? - This could be CALLOW (tender) but I have no idea how to parse the rest of it.

8A & 9A Stumps on tracks (7-5) - ??I?T?E S?O?S - I think the second word might be SHOES and if 1D is CALLOW then the first letter of 8A is L.

1d. Cowboy

Thanks annobrain.

So 8A & 9A must be WHISTLE STOPS, but I don't see the parsing.

In US, on the stumps means travelling around and giving speeches during a campaign for election to a political office, making whistle-stop tours by train at small towns, giving brief speech often from open platform at back of train hence on tracks.

Thanks norrier, now it makes sense.