Clues
Across
- 1 Vintage cabinet? No room in Darth Maul’s, but… (5, 8)
- 8 One looking more tanned after swapping hemispheres (7)
- 9 Put off picky eater? Not I (5)
- 10 Examination they sat periodically (4)
- 11 Somewhere to sit or stand with a terrible bang (4, 3)
- 14 Perhaps 13 stirring runny blue muck (7, 6)
- 16 What’s carried about in conflict (7)
- 18 Something that sticks out in dust storms (4)
- 21 Improvise freely, laid back intro (2-3)
- 22 Most wretched setter on advanced retreat (7)
- 23 Form of stress-relief for astonishingly gifted ballerina (6, 7)
Down
- 1 Disruptive influence, as tuber disturbingly swallows egg (8)
- 2 Alas, our suffering causes excitement (7)
- 3 Poorly queen disappears with piece of cake (4)
- 4 Cursory anniversary for a couple? (7, 6)
- 5 Supplement put in bottom? Um… (8)
- 6 More than enough, for partner no longer putting up with deceit (5)
- 7 Miles away, little blue fellow waves (4)
- 12 Draw terribly in word game - substitute a vowel (8)
- 13 Dare to be different in marketing action movie (8)
- 15 Gamble small amount - it’s neither here nor there (7)
- 17 Had regrets around fifty, and drew the line (5)
- 19 Adversarial AI’s proof ultimately generates division (4)
- 20 He painted dioramas and lewd images primarily (4)
Setter’s notes
Apparently it’s almost three years since I last did a 13×13, which seems a little lax. I hope you enjoy this one.
Across
- 1 A vintage arcade cabinet — SPACE INVADERS. The wordplay is just a bit of whimsy: there’s no room in Darth Maul’s, but… there’s space in Vader’s.
- 8 “More tanned” = BROWNER, with the hemispheres N and S swapped — BROWSER.
- 9 “Picky eater” = DIETER, without I — DETER.
- 10 Alternate letters (“periodically”) of “ThEy SaT” — TEST.
- 11 “Stand” = BE + A + an anagram (“terrible”) of BANG — BEANBAG.
- 14 An anagram (“stirring”) of RUNNY BLUE MUCK — UNLUCKY NUMBER, which 13 perhaps is.
- 16 “About” = RE, inside “conflict” = FIGHT — FREIGHT.
- 18 An anagram (“storms”) of DUST — STUD.
- 21 An anagram (“freely”) of LAID + the intro to “back” = B — AD-LIB.
- 22 “Setter” = ME + “advanced” = A + “retreat” = NEST — MEANEST.
- 23 An anagram (“astonishingly”) of GIFTED + “ballerina” = SPINNER — FIDGET SPINNER.
Down
- 1 “Egg” = O, inside an anagram (“disturbingly”) of AS TUBER — SABOTEUR.
- 2 An anagram (“suffering”) of ALAS OUR — AROUSAL.
- 3 “Poorly” = QUEASY, with “queen” = QU disappearing — EASY, “piece of cake”.
- 4 A cryptic definition, with apologies: “cursory” and “anniversary” are a couple of rhymes for “nursery” — NURSERY RHYMES.
- 5 “Put in” = ADD + “bottom” = END + UM, as it is — ADDENDUM.
- 6 “Partner no longer” = EX + “deceit” = ART, put up (reversed) — EXTRA.
- 7 “Little blue fellow” = SMURF, with “miles” = M away — SURF, “waves”.
- 12 “Word game” = SCRABBLE, with I substituted for the vowel A — SCRIBBLE.
- 13 An anagram (“to be different”) of DARE TO, inside “marketing” = PR — PREDATOR.
- 15 “Gamble” = BET + “small” = WEE + “amount” = N — BETWEEN.
- 17 “Had regrets” = RUED, around “fifty” = L — RULED.
- 19 “Adversarial AI” = HAL + the last letter of “proof” = F — HALF.
- 20 First letters (“primarily”) of “Dioramas And Lewd Images” — DALI.