8) Get into action (4,1,4) 24) Ground suitable for cattle, not crops (9) 25) Section of building work etc (5) 26) External quality (11) 4) Inclination from the vertical (4) 5) Work by Xenophon (8) 7) Smash hit record (5-6) 9) Axe Leinster (anag) (11) 12) Similar in outlook (4-6) 15) Three-section lenses (9) 19) Metal fixing device (6)
Plus cryptic, had to dash to get cake out of oven before!
4d rake (rake= dissolute character, also found in garden)
7d Chart Buster (chart = plan, buster = ruin)
9d externalise (anag of realise next)
12d like minded (like = be fond of, mind = intellect, ed = editor)
15d trifocals (foc = free of charge, inside trials = court cases)
19d staple (p = parking, stale = dull surroundings)