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Lovely crossword. I thought it was going to beyond me for a while, but with a bit of cold solving and then a couple of moments of inspiration about the outer edges, it all fell into place very quickly... except for one thing! I cannot parse 'Speculate porter leaves inn understrength'. I know the answer to the clue and the extra word and can see an obvious wordplay, but 24 hours of head scratching have drawn a blank.

Think of a famous very dark drink, susannahj …

Thanks Quisling, but I'd prefer a red wine if you're buying...

A glass of Ducru-Beaucaillou it is then. A few years ago I helped clear an old friend’s cupboard under the stairs. In it were a dozen assorted bottles of red. She insisted I take them. A Latour, a Lafite, two Le Pin, an Haut-Brion, all from late 60s vintages, most of them very well past their best. But there were two bottles of ‘61 Ducru, possibly the finest vintage since 1945. Sadly, there was a radiator in that cupboard, and they were all undrinkable. Pretty bottles, though …

What a waste! My own attempts to lay down a few bottles have all proved similarly disastrous. Sure, the bottles look fantastic - especially with a layer of dust to add more age to them - but the contents of the bottles were far too temperamental to survive even the slightest bit of heat. If you don't have a proper cellar, don't bother... (I wasn't shopping in quite the same price bracket as your friend, though).

I’ve never shopped in that bracket either, sadly. But I remember being told in Hong Kong not long ago that the Chinese had an insatiable appetite for Petrus. I was going to admire their discernment, till I was also told they add lemonade to it to improve the flavour 🙈. A good cellar is a retirement dream, but it would cost plenty to stock it …

Struggling with this, surprisingly few posts, compared with Listener, which I finished on Sunday.
The three I've stared at unsuccessfully for longest are 1a, 12a, 26d.
There's an extra word to be removed from each clue.
1 Sentimentalism avoids term of endearment (5)
12 Fall out endlessly getting upset in uncharacteristic entanglement (5)
26 Ran and ran without support brassiere twisting (7)

Can’t remember 26 atm, and don’t have puzzle to hand, but in 1, first word is extra, old-fashioned term of endearment. 12 penultimate word is extra, anagram of first two words foreshortened.

26 Ran (quickly. scuttled) is the definition. The other 'ran' refers to colours (in your washing machine maybe) with the usual Support (twisting being... upwards). The bra is superfluous (i think).

That’s spot on Malone, as usual! Thank you