Still stuck on a few! 2D: The ultimate in disgusting rubbish (4) _ R _ T [is it GROT? If so why?] 24A: Secures oil and gas in the ground (8) R _ S _ R _ _ _. [s it RESERVES? If so, why?] 19D: Little time wasted with soft toys in whirlpool (6) A _ D _ _ _. Thanks for your help.
24 RESERVES is right. To reserve means to put something aside for later, to reserve a room means to secure it so that you can have it. RESERVES can also mean that which is kept as a store of something, to be used later.
Reserves of oil and gas are stored, by Mother Nature, in the ground, so they are a kind of bank from which we can draw, but reserves don't have to be oil and gas. They can be reserves of food in your larder, or reserves of money in the bank.