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Good afternoon, Elle!
Your weather has the edge on mine today!
Great walking weather, right enough!
I had a bit of a dander around the building sites again today.
I was admiring the highly skilled operators on the diggers etc.
Good puzzle today!
1a, and 18d are new words to me.
Now, yesterday I was in my Bradford's when something caught my eye.
Under "refusal", Anne B has ""eighty-six", which baffled me.
(It happens often!)
So, I went a-hunting to see how this arose.
Very interesting!

Hi, Rusty!
At least you got out to have a walk.
It was great out here, this afternoon!
But the weather is now deteriorating fast, and consequently going dark early.
I wonder will it rain?
Yes, a good puzzle...twice on the trot...that was good for me!
"Bunt" was new for me, too...but easy to get from the parsing, wasn't it?
I also did not know that "scratch" means "devil", in 12a.
There are two clues that I cannot yet do...but I shall give them some more consideration, before I ask for help.
Now.....I have found out about "eighty-six"!
But in researching it, I came across a lot of other words/ expressions that are designated by numbers!
A very peculiar occurrence, don't you think?

Hello, Elle!
It has turned into a lovely afternoon here.
I knew "Scratch", the Devil seems to have a lot of names!
It's probably fairly natural that numbers find their way into the language.
One phrase I saw earlier "jump on the bandwagon", we are all familiar with, but I realised that I have no idea what a "bandwagon" is/was!
So I am going a-searching!

Good evening, Rusty!
I think a "bandwagon" is just as it sounds?
A wagon, brightly coloured, for carrying the band in a parade?
Surprisingly , Brewers (my edition, anyway) does not have any info about "jump on the bandwagon".
I know, of course, what the expression means, but was wondering how it originated?
I have managed to do one of my three remaining clues......
I was stuck for ages on 7d., thinking that LSD referred to the drug!
It does of course mean pounds , shillings and pence - librae, solidi, denarii.
I can't believe how long that took me!
Just two clues left now, but they are interlocking....23d and 26a.......

Good evening, Elle!
Yes, I have never came across a bandwagon, perhaps American?
Now, a wee help for you at 26.
"Mark" is a punctuation mark, 5 letters.
It is a fine clear evening here.
I am not good at stars, but there is a bluish star twinkling in the East!

Hi, Rusty!
Now, 26a.....
I have ??L?N?S?N?
So "colon" is mark, then "i" , plus "sing" for "celebration?
"colonising" = " the controversial work of Cecil maybe"
Cecil Rhodes , presumably?
That leaves me with ?A?C for 23d.......
I think "m arc(h) is "walk endlessly "......
So I have looked up the definition of "marc"... and found that it means " the refuse of grapes or other fruit that have been pressed for winemaking".
So 23d is now solved!
Thank you!
I don't know anything much about stars...
Could it be the dog star?
I think that is a bluish white?

Hello, Elle!
Well done, indeed!
Your parsing tallies with mine.
Could well be Rhodes, Elle.
I have a vague knowledge of him, I think through James Michener.
I am at a loss as to why the setter gave his first name rather than his surname, though?
YouTube suggests the star could be Sirius.
Is that your dog star?
It is very bright!

Hi, Rusty!
Well, I wouldn't have got either clue, if you hadn't very kindly helped me!
I don't know much about Rhodes , other than his being involved in diamonds, and a politician in South Africa.
Wasn't he a prime minister there?
And he created the Rhodes scholarships at Oxford University.
Yes, Sirius is the "proper" name for the Dog star.
It is in the Canis Major constellation, hence "Dog star".
I meant to say that we had a very innocuous homophone today, didn't we?
"high " sounds like " hi" in "highlander"! (3a)

Hello, Elle!
I think I know as much as you about Rhodes!
I know he was involved with De Beers, the diamond company.
And that is all I know!
I have heard of the Rhodes scholarships, though.
"Highlander" was pretty easy, though "hi" is not a word I use, it is common enough to get.
You seem to know your stars, Elle!
i just found one of my favourite songs from the fifties on YouTube.
A fairly unusual topic for a song.... boxing.
It's "The Kid's Last Fight" by Frankie Laine.
Used to hear it on Radio Luxembourg.
Those were the days!

Good morning, Rusty!
A lovely day...and a good walk!
I hope your weather is as nice?
I remember Frankie Laine, although I do not know "The Kid's Last Fight".
I think I remember him singing "I Believe"...altho I remember The Bachelors more for that one.
Your commenting that "Those Were the Days!" put me in mind of Mary Hopkin!
Any plans for today?