No 14397, Saturday 1 Feb 2025, Avtaar

 ACROSS

1 Approach without struggle from the moment you are seeking to master "Avtaar's Special" (6) AHIMSA {AH{I'M S}A}
5 Leek is wholly covered by shoot (8) SCALLION {SC{ALL}ION}

9 Fresh discharge over lake, silting every now and then (5-3) SPLIT-NEW {SP{L}IT}{N{Every}oW} {SP{L}{sIlTiNg}EW see comments
10 Hoist implanted with a power tool soft earth that is used for cutting grain (6) REAPER {REA{P}{E}R} E from? See comments

11 Habit is loose and not secure (6,6) SECOND NATURE*
13 Go, chasing the origin of Excalibur sword (4) EPEE {PEE}<=>{Excalibur}

14 Complete tally of banks in Timbuktu almost botched (3,5) SUM TOTAL {TimbuktU ALMOST}*
17 Portion of meat, cut noodles and batter with filling of oil (8) PASTRAMI {PASTa}{RAM}{oIl}

18 Tongue, eyes, thumbs, nails (4) ESTH [T] Chambers gives Esth as Esthonian, Estonian
20 Territory in the Pacific Ocean - land with uncapped view, possibly? (3,9) NEW CALEDONIA

{OCEAN LAND vIEW}* Semi &Lit

23 Master, I cracked spans of atoms' arrangement in molecules (6) STERIC [T]
24 Uncharacteristic mistake - missing zero - by head for accounting - one hundred thousand's taken back (8) ATYPICAL {TYPo}<=>{Accounting}+{I}{LAC<}
25 Pen essays without preface about pairings of chromosomes (8) SYNAPSES {PEN eSSAYS}*
26 Moving story? (6) CINEMA [CD]

DOWN
2 Wish age gets reversed after leaving college (4) HOPE {EPOcH<}
3 Yacht's cable is then fixed above a case of marble (9) MAINSHEET {IS THEN A MarblE}*

4 A nurse is concocting aromatics, principally for a solution to treat bruises (6) ARNICA {A}{RN}{Is}{Concocting}{Aromatics}
5 Two lads in Soweto, getting high after taking time off with girls, finally indulge in excesses (3,4,4,4) SOW ONE'S WILD OATS {TWO LADS IN SOWEtO}*{girlS}
6 Initials and header missing in text by a friend (8) ACRONYMS {sMS}<=>{A CRONY}
7 Bent limb cut by soldier (5) LEANT  {LEg}{ANT}
8 Makes too much fuss about revised core values essentially missing basics of team spirit resolution (10) OVERREACTS Anno not clear {CORE VAluES Team Resolution}* See comments
12 Ask for sealing a break on the surface (10) APPARENTLY {APP{A RENT}LY}
15 Enterprise dealing with checking metric for valuing stock (9) OPERATION O{P/E RATIO}N
16 Catches herds crossing old ground (8) PADLOCKS {PACKS} over {OLD}*
19 Working together in any case, after Australia, America and Spain dropped bombs (2,4) IN SYNC {IN}{aNY CaSe}*
21 Agents taking over old town in the Papal court (5) CURIA {C{UR}IA}
22 Lady's expression of loathing disregarded by British writer (4) MAAM MAughAM

REFERENCE LIST

Special=S, Lake=L, Power=P, Zero=O, One=I, Hundred Thousand=Lac, College=C, Nurse=RN (Registered Nurse), Time=T, Australia, America=A, Spain=E