The Times 29086

[TioMateo]

Am sure of the answers but don't like/get the parsing of these 4:

1)  I'm surprised about backing a real outsider (2,5) N? H?P?R

Answer obviously NO HOPER ("real outsider"/"outsider").Why?

2)He takes coats from people attending in rotation(7)            S?E?R?R.  Answer obviously SHEARER ("He takes coats").Why?

3)  Iron and gold boxes belonging to academic (9) P?O?E?S?R

Answer obviously PROFESSOR ("academic"), and FE = "iron" and "OR" = "gold",  but....?

4)Former partner avoiding more sex is characteristic (5) T?A?T

If you take ex (former partner) away from "more s(ex)", you get MORES, which means customs, which are "characteristic".  But you then have to accept a sort of three-tiered clue so that MORES is changed (why?) to get the answer of TRAIT.

[Toorak]

2 anagram of hearers (people attending)

[Toorak]

4 (ex)tra it (sex)

[Toorak]

3 press (iron) with of (belonging to) inside & or 

[Toorak]

1 oh (I'm surprised) on (about) reversed & per (a) - e.g. two a minute/two per minute

[Neveracrossword]

1 Oh, I'm surprised

On, about

Backing = reversed, so No Ho

Per, a, each etc

[TioMateo]

Many thanks, Toorak, for your quartet of answers.  My only (pedantic but, I believe justified) quibble is that for ON (about) to be BOTH reversed (backing) AND to surround OH, requires another moderarator which isn't there. The actual words used only give (OH)(NO)(PER).

[TioMateo]

Oh dear, I've just seen Nac's answer, which solves my quibble and, having re-examined Toorak's answer, I can see he could be saying the same thing.  My apologies.