3991 Flower Arranging by Dipper

This week we took the annual trip down Dipper’s garden path. We were told that Dipper had used cut flowers in some cases, making alternative arrangements elsewhere. In other words, Across clues had wordplay leading to the answer minus the name of a flower, the reduced form being entered in the grid. Answers to Down clues had to be jumbled. In the Across clues, a couple of the lesser-known flowers proved to be a little tricky, but overall, this was a puzzle which was not too demanding.

Cut flowers are indicated by square brackets.

ACROSS
1 Compère introducing desperate character before turning on old hoofer (12, two words)
M[ORRIS] DANCER MC (Compère) containing DAN (desperate character) + RE (on) reversed
Desperate Dan being a character from the Dandy comic
8 A cloudy gas comes about naturally (7)
ACC[RUE or REW]S A + C (cloudy) + CS (gas)
Both RUE and REW work here, though RUE is probably what Dipper intended
11 Foregoing any working, city certainly ill-prepared for standing charges (17, two words)
[STATIC E]LECTRICITY Anagram of CITY CERTAINLY, less anagram of ANY
13 Private eye putting an end to impostor in public school (9)
[PINK]ERTON R (last letter of IMPOSTOR)  inside ETON (public school)
14 Spoil starter for supper -- and in this sense, sweets (12)
MARSH[MALLOW]S MAR (Spoil) + S (first letter of SUPPER) + HS (in this sense)
16 Fuel leaking from broken engine (8)
KE[ROSE]NE Hidden in broKEN Engine
17 Surrounded by unending fear is a terrible place to be (12, two words)
DIS[ASTER] AREA DREA (DREAD ie fear, minus last letter) contaning IS
19 Wastrels investing new money in foreign capital -- and old money follows (12)
SPEND[THRIFT]S P (pence, ie new money) inside SEN (foreign capital) + D (old penny) + S (shilling)  (neither being current currency)
21 Rousing sound in alla cappella reverberating (9, two words)
[BUGLE] CALL Hidden, reversed, in aLLA Capella
22 What may influence judgement hard fellow made without one (10, two words)
H[ALO E]FFECT H (hard) + F (fellow) +  FEC(I)T (made, less I ie one)
24 Returning to beginning of exercise, swing to and fro (9)
O[SCILLA]TE OT (TO reversed) + E (first letter of EXERCISE)
25 Modestly -- and essentially -- calls for towel (7)
LOW[LILY] Middle letters of CALLS FOR TOWEL)
26 Container I would fill with old narcotic substance (11)
[CANNA]BINOID BIN (Container) + I’D (I would) + O (old)
28 Actress missing opening of Hamlet in north-west state (9, two words)
IDA [LUPIN]O H (first letter of HAMLET) removed from IDAHO (north-west state)
31 Ring includes one soprano that's alarming (9)
DIS[MAY]ING DING (Ring) containing I (one) + S (soprano)
33 Sort of hose novice hid in unfinished ditch during opening of garden (12, two words)
SILK [STOCK]ING L (learner ie novice) inside SIK(E) (ditch, minus last letter) + ING (meadow)
35 Frightened Welshman? (8)
AL[ARUM]ED ALED, Welsh name
38 A way of making a joint from a metal band containing carbon (10, two words)
ARC [WELD]ING A + RING (metal band) containing C (carbon)
40 Joyce, for one, had this -- she isn't upset without it about (9)
[IRIS]HNESS Anagram of SHE ISN’T, less anagram of IT
41 Iceland invading a minute country, becoming like Uncle Sam (15)
AM[ERICA]NISATION IS (Iceland) inside A + M (minute) + NATION (country)
42 Half-buried but uninjured (9)
IN[VIOLA]TE INTE ie first half of INTERRED (buried)
43 Somehow, he entertains without juggling these in the act (11, two words)
IN [FLAG]RANTE Anagram of HE ENTERTAINS, less anagram of THESE

DOWN
1 Catch about a thousand in contest (4)
KEMP KEP (Catch) containing M (a thousand)
2 Parking on more ancient reclaimed land (6)
POLDER P (Parking) + OLDER (more ancient)
“on” indicating concatenation in the vertical sense
3 Less primitive nature -- unusually adroit (4)
NEAT Anagram of NATURE less UR- (primitive)
4 Catholic, maybe, for the time being (5)
NONCE NON CE ie non Church of England
5 Discover half of tigers could be attached to keepers (7)
FINDERS FIND (Discover) + ERS (second half of TIGERS)
The reference is to the expression “finders keepers”
6 Most of marshy area concerned with producing rice wine (5)
MIRIN MIR (ie MIRE, marshy area less last letter) + IN (concerned with)
7 Allow her to take two-handled drinking bowl (3)
CAP Two meanings
8 It occurs in opera before king and emperor initially arrive (4)
ARIA A (before) + RI (King and Emperor) + A (first letter of ARRIVE)
9 Digestive fluid achieving a twenty-fold reduction in food in stomach (5)
CHYLE L (50) for M (1000) in CHYME
10 Pole leaves secret police, being replaced by lieutenant's organised units (8)
GESTALT LT (lieutenant) for PO (Pole) in GESTAPO (secret police)
12 Certain part of fish. It appears in Northern river (8)
DEFINITE FIN (part of fish) + IT, all inside DEE (Northern river)
15 Three-quarters of pig feed contains very good pinch of rock salt (6)
SAILOR SLO ie three-quarters of SLOP (pig feed) containing AI (very good) + R (first letter of ROCK)
Solvers are required to substitute I for 1 in A1 (first rate), which seems a little unsatisfactory
18 Promote professional standards of conduct; easy to take in one so upset (8)
ETHICISE ETHE (easy), containing I (one) + SIC (so), reversed
19 Religion is hit by beginnings of independent secular movement (8)
ISLAMISM IS + LAM (hit) + ISM (first letters of INDEPENDENT SECULAR MOVEMENT)
20 Flattered old French artist in speech (6)
CLAWED Homophone of CLAUDE (ie Monet, old French artist)
23 Danced and got entangled with end of maypole (7)
TANGOED Anagram of AND + GOT + E (last letter of MAYPOLE)
27 Poet losing heart in verse competition (6)
TENSON TEN(NY)SON (poet), minus central letters
29 Broadcasting endlessly on radio channel (5)
DRAIN Anagram of (O)N RADI(O)
30 Odd people making killings -- oddly, without difficulty (5)
GINKS Anagram of KILLINGS, less ILL (difficulty)
32 When John from Hawick could be from Hanoi (5)
ASIAN AS (When) + IAN (Scottish equivalent of JOHN)
34 Knight, president and goddess (4)
NIKE N (Knight) + IKE (President ie Eisenhower)
36 Part of Ceylon, empty and uninhabited (4)
LONE Hidden in CeyLON Empty
37 Flies pressman into Kyrgyzstan (4)
KEDS ED (pressman ie editor) inside KS (Kyrgyzstan)
39 Five dollars is missing in the end (3)
FIN FINIS (the end), less IS