Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

24d. Express grief when man shortly captures old bird
BEMOAN

9d. High tars are an aid to recovery
SMELLING SALTS

4d. Bighead carpeted for security reasons
TACK

6d. Teeth? Roughly speak, 'cutters'
CHEWERS

Parses for the above please.

24 Ben, short for Benjamin, or Benedict, so 'man shortly' has (captures) Moa, an old bird, inside.

9 Smelling and High both can mean something that smells off, over-ripe and Salts, sailors.

4 D is just a 'the whole clue is the definition' - a tack has a big head and it's used to nail down carpets, to make sure they stay down, for security reasons.

6d.
Not sure what to make of this clue!
"Roughly" could be "c" the abbreviation for "circa",
speak could be "utter".
A hewer could be a cutter.
But, sorry, Whetstone, I can't nail the parse!

6 I think the wordplay is roughly C (as in circa) + cutters HEWERS

Thanks for the replies. CHEWERS not a very good clue I guess.

18a. This peer is Peter, taking ages!
TIME-CONSUMING

12a. Idiot outside the underworld who exposes all?
NUDIST

1a. Take colt into super gym
ACCEPT

25d. Bluff king has circle - surely not this one!
HALO

Parses for the above please.

12a DIS (underworld, as in Pluto) inside NUT (idiot)

1a C (colt) in ACE PT (super gym)

The ‘bluff king’ is HAL (Henry V) + circle O gives HALO. I think the remainder is suggesting that he should not warrant a halo as he was a bit of a scoundrel :-)

*Henry VIII not V that is