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Till the Afrikaner stands in for mother when cutting The Final Move (8)


CHECKMAT(e) (cutting The Final Move) - MA (mother) + OU (man in Afrikaans)

Not happy with #23 try this instead:

Pay the bill for one hundred thousand dressed in green in a shed (5,3)


C (one hundred) + ECKO (thousand dressed in green) inside HUT (in a shed)

Have a decko at the gecko, defying gravity in endless fall (5,3)

Investigate company involved with ketchup, mostly (5,3)

Tweak to 25:

Totally zonked after bunch of squares quit (5,3)

Cold sleeping bags! For heaven's sakes settle at a hotel (5,3)

Pay up or die! (5,3)

Tartan abroad? Investigate! (5,3)

Needed to leave the room? (5,3)

@ aristo: re your #17, having looked up American idioms I came up with "check out" as avoid by leaving quickly (1920s slang) = duck. Am I way off ?
Also, I'm taking "move before mating" to refer to the move before checkmating in chess which need not necessarily be a move resulting in check. Am I also reading this correctly ?
Cheers.