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Just noticed my 5 is an “n” down so;

Liberation from Trump/Pence? Indeed! (Not to go crazy…) (12)

Paul's comment at 4 makes me think I am missing a reference to something in chris's #2. Any help?

A mystery to me too. Maybe a British thing.

[I was attempting to sneak "bowling" through as an anagram indicator!]

Unbiased in-depth record study in hospital department (11)

[IN-D + EP + DEN in ENT]

The state of Jon and Vangelis’s music is offbeat, house and impenetrable (12)

Def: "State of Independence" by Jon and Vangelis
Indie-Pen-Dense

Thanks to all for playing; I thought just about every clue had clever wordplay, so as usual clues with smoother/more plausible surfaces were ranked higher.

Honorable mentions to chris 2, mprs 16, paul 3 and 21, and geeker 13 and 14. My list of finalists was mattrom 12, jono 17, ginge 18 and patrich 25.

12. With no support, wearing décolleté clothing, and drooping (11). Vivid if slightly off-putting imagery.

17. 19d persuaded bankers to launder for free (11). Works well as long as 19d is someone who can terrify a banker, perhaps Doug Piranha (bankers fear sarcasm).

18. Divorced, concentrating on killing time, hang in there (11). Very nice (would the surface work even better if the commas were question marks?).

25. Unbiased in-depth record study in hospital department (11). Intricate wordplay, smooth surface. No notes.

In the end, it was ginge 18's combo of "killing time" and "hang in there" that did it for me, so the honor of hosting next week goes to ginge for:

Divorced, concentrating on killing time, hang in there (11)

Congrats to ginge. Prize time:

Rare archival footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7o5kWrbJJE

Some Chi-town soul:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwiy03oYV_U

And with that I'm out of here for the next 2 weeks!

Congrats ginge, and thanks buddy - also for the mention.

The first clip went right over my head - was it supposed to be funny? There's a skit, from Monty Python, I think, of Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel that had a similar air to it....

Congratulations Ginge, your clue would have been my choice also. Thanks Buddy for the summing up and the shortlisting. I had Pablo Escobar in mind for the answer to 19 down, but I like the Doug Piranha suggestion… I had to remind myself of the quote…

“He used sarcasm. He knew all the tricks, dramatic irony, metaphor, pathos, puns, parody, litotes and... satire. He was vicious!”

Well done ginge, a worthy winner.

Thanks buddy see you in 2 weeks