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6a Terrible excursion around island with a decorator's assistant (5,8).
Looks like 'paint stripper', but I can't parse it (except for seeing the 'trip' which might have something to do with the 'excursion' in the clue).

50d Readily available patent number withdrawn (2,3)
On tap?

6 "pants" is a slang word for terrible, around I for island, then "tripper" (excursion???)

50 PAT NO backwards

I think perhaps excursion is trip and “a” is “per”.

Thanks.

Please can anyone help with 2d?

American chap called Earl buries old herbicide (5,6)

I have A - E - T / - R - N - E

Looks like AGENT ORANGE. American = A; chap = GENT; old = O. But how does the rest of it parse, and where does EARL come into it?

You are correct. Called is rang (as in phoned), and Earl is just E, surrounding the O for old

Thanks Quisling.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think this week had a higher-than-usual number of obscurities?

Yes, a number of obscurities but mostly possible to get from wordplay and it didn't feel like a general knowledge quiz. For me a fair enough puzzle on the easier end of the spectrum.

...and some humourous wee clues.

Hi MadWoman, having just taken ages to get one answer because you need to know that ‘wat’ is a Thai or Lao word for a temple I definitely agree that this had too many obscurities.