Clues
Across
- 1 Sediment found in ale, maybe lacking head (4)
- 5, 3D Forthright father catches fire from rocker (5, 5)
- 7 Is party politics stifling for one such as tihs? (4)
- 8 Mark slipped on peel, carelessly cast out (5)
- 9 Count’s halted prematurely - that’s unbelievable! (4)
Down
- 1 Frequently melt, but not at first (5)
- 2 Distressed Roy found on Twitter no longer - “horny beast!” (4)
- 3 See 5A.
- 4 Broadcast boat race for brainbox? (5)
- 6 New star sign in the ascendant at Christmas (4)
Setter’s notes
I think this one’s a little easier and more approachable than most of my others, so it may be a good place to start. We’ll see!
Across
- 1 “Ale, maybe” = BOOZE, lacking its head — OOZE, “sediment”.
- 5 & 3 Down “Forthright” = FRANK + “father” = PA catching “fire” = ZAP — FRANK ZAPPA, the rocker.
- 7 Hidden in “parTY POlitics” — TYPO, one such as “tihs”.
- 8 “Mark” = X, inside an anagram (“carelessly”) of PEEL — EXPEL, “cast out”.
- 9 “Count” = TALLY, halted prematurely — TALL, as in a tall story.
Down
- 1 “Melt” = SOFTEN, minus its first letter — OFTEN, “frequently”.
- 2 An anagram (“distressed”) of ROY + Twitter, no longer: X — ORYX, a horny beast.
- 4 Sounds like (“broadcast”) “boat race” = SCULL — SKULL, a brainbox.
- 6 “New” = N + “star sign” = LEO, reversed (“in the ascendant”) — NOEL, “Christmas”.