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Sorry for going on a bit but got 2/25 at last :- close ranks ?

Yes, Alvin - the wordplay is Lose inside Cranks...

Thanks for the logic behind that one, so often the answer comes after the cry for help has been posted

Can anyone give me a hint for a way into 18ac/1d please? It's completely baffling me!

Balls possibly in line of fire from such an unthinking response (8,8)

Also, re 13a: Dicky, on going arse over tip, gets tender.
Assuming dicky is off, then I'm guessing offer, but then how does 'going arse over tip' equate to the 'er'??

On = re reversed (arse over tip)

Ah, thanks Geting. As usual, I was overthinking it!

There are three that I am not sure about, so any clue or help would be appeciated;

16d. Like a strict TT, stony, son-of-a-bitch, eastern Republican (4.5).
I have C?L?S???R.
COLD SOBER occurs to me as a possible answer, as in stone cold sober. as son of a bitch can be abbreviated to SOB, but I don't entirely follow this clue.

26a. Screwed on entering appropriate place? (5)
I have ??N?D. If the appropriate place is BED, ON entering becomes BONED if my answer to 16d is correct, a slang expression I am not familiar with but I believe it can mean Screwed in the sense of broken, or ruined. Am I right?

Hally, you have just perfectly explained 26a for me! I had 'boned' as the only possible answer, but couldn't parse it. However, I understand boned to be a slang expression for the sex act, as is screwed! What do others think??

The parsing of 16d is straightforward enough (COLD = stoney, SOB = son-of-a-bitch, as you said, and ER = eastern Republican. However, I don't feel that Cold Sober is a term that anyone uses without preceding it with Stone, so it's all a bit confusing!

Lynnyloo

You have the right letters but the wrong answer. You need an anagram