No 2822, Sunday 04 Jan 2015

A tough nut to crack today.I needed help on 25A and 6D.

ACROSS
1   Calm, knight and queen about to hang? The opposite (8) TRANQUIL {TRA{N}{QU}IL}
5   Geographical formation in centre of Germany - I very much doubt it contains sulphur (6) MASSIF {gerMany}{AS{S}IF}
9   Hothead showing sign of emotion on holiday (8) TEARAWAY {TEAR}{AWAY}
10 Rush job (6) CAREER [DD]
12 Bail broken? One makes an excuse (5) ALIBI {BAIL*}{1}
13 Pictured, English editor holding travel document (9) ENVISAGED {ENG}{VISA}{ED}
14 Fruit from Australian state, choice (8,4) VICTORIA PLUM {VICTORIA} {PLUM}

18 Both comrades injured, so out of action (4,2,6) HORS DE COMBAT*
21 Military command connected with revolution (5,4) ABOUT TURN {ABOUT} {TURN}
23 The best of Norse literature (5) ELITE [T]
24 Apprentice ultimately failing to pass (6) ELAPSE {a...cE}{LAPSE}
25 Save bishop in Irish county town, one spreading the Word (8) BARNABAS {BAR}{NA{B}AS}  I didn't have a clue on this one, till I saw the Fifteensquared blog ;-).
26 On the contrary, somewhat sooner? Quite (6) RATHER [MD]
27 Shallow type plugging leak (4-4) SKIN-DEEP {S{KIN-D}EEP}

DOWN
1   He painted giant straddling island (6) TITIAN {TIT{Is...d}AN}
2   Sleeveless cardigan lost in Moroccan port (6) AGADIR cARDIGAn*
3   Professional is guarded (9) QUALIFIED [DD]
4   A vehicle aunt damaged? No idea (1,6,1,4) I HAVEN'T A CLUE*
6   Former US president, Hoover, say, in to that extent (5) ADAMS {A{DAM}S}
7   Scandinavian boy and girl, first to identify evil manipulator (8) SVENGALI {SVEN}{GAL}{Id...y}
8   Gas let off by a politician (8) FIREDAMP {FIRED}{A}{MP}
11 Medieval morality play to uplift all of us (5,3,4) EVERY MAN JACK {EVERY MAN} {JACK}
15 Legendary king soon to entertain willing maiden (9) AGAMEMNON {A{GAME}{M}NON}
16 Bird in hot weather diving into English river (8) WHEATEAR {W{HEAT}EAR}

17 Disdainful, a bishop over tango dancing (8) ARROGANT {A}{RR}{TANGO*}
19 Active doctor found in African river (6) NIMBLE {NI{MB}LE}
20 Spoil canteen at university (4,2) MESS UP {MESS}{UP}
22 Sip drop of sherry in gallery (5) TASTE {TA{Sh...y}TE}