ACROSS 1A: water biome: “pog frond” spoonerism 7A: Oxford: B + ROGUE 9A: British ladies: LAV[a] 10A: flounder: famiLIAL Friends< 11A: for me: IDSAY* 13A: toilet problem: C + LO + G 14A: why don’t we go with that & net server’s results ddef. 17A: secret rendezvous: counTRY STars 19A: primula: XXXLOLLIPOP reverse letter bank 20A: priest: positions 1, 4, & 9 (squares) of “E[vi]L [spir]I[t]” 21A: free: hVAC ANThems 22A: making changes to: E(MENDI*)NG DOWN 1D: parental affection: /FILLY’LL’VE/ 2D: ”You think you can do this?”: /RED E/ 3D: Internet’s clearly: OB + VS 4D: fish loved by many? and a church father ddef. 5D: when midnight in Paris comes on: NU(I)T 6D: warming: DELI + GH(TIN)G 8D: it’s shaped like a triangle: GABLE* 10D: with the devil?: FA[mo]US TI[t]AN 12D: command to computers: CTR + L + fo[rC]es 15D: fictional lion: ASLAN[t] 16D: final: _E + X + AM 18D: mythological monster: YE[e]T + (#2 in) [d]I[e]
"Filial" is used to refer to the relationship between children & their parents ("filial duty/love/etc"). I also thought filial & brotherly love were the same thing when I wrote the clue, I think maybe because "filial"/"Philadelphia" sound etymologically related?
2D is a homophone: many exit signs (in the US, at least) are backlit with red (though increasingly with green) LED. So "part of some exit signs" is the red "E" at the beginning of the word, which sounds like "ready"
"Diehard" and "nut" are both synonyms for "hardcore fan," the space between "Die" and "Hard" was added to match the title of the movie, but I felt that small bit of trickiness was justifiable for the surface
"Closing" can be read like "after," so: After DELI, TIN went into GHG is the wordplay. Kinda clunky admittedly, and it could be removed without affecting the wordplay, but I wanted a surface that rang true with the real world. :)
1A: water biome: “pog frond” spoonerism
7A: Oxford: B + ROGUE
9A: British ladies: LAV[a]
10A: flounder: famiLIAL Friends<
11A: for me: IDSAY*
13A: toilet problem: C + LO + G
14A: why don’t we go with that & net server’s results ddef.
17A: secret rendezvous: counTRY STars
19A: primula: XXXLOLLIPOP reverse letter bank
20A: priest: positions 1, 4, & 9 (squares) of “E[vi]L [spir]I[t]”
21A: free: hVAC ANThems
22A: making changes to: E(MENDI*)NG
DOWN
1D: parental affection: /FILLY’LL’VE/
2D: ”You think you can do this?”: /RED E/
3D: Internet’s clearly: OB + VS
4D: fish loved by many? and a church father ddef.
5D: when midnight in Paris comes on: NU(I)T
6D: warming: DELI + GH(TIN)G
8D: it’s shaped like a triangle: GABLE*
10D: with the devil?: FA[mo]US TI[t]AN
12D: command to computers: CTR + L + fo[rC]es
15D: fictional lion: ASLAN[t]
16D: final: _E + X + AM
18D: mythological monster: YE[e]T + (#2 in) [d]I[e]