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1. A
caring ma/ster’s where the young are in trouble TERMINI (…mater ministers…)
6. As
an economical dish, the bit/es are all left-overs SITUS
10. Pupil
failing, ex/empted, to abandon modern languages AMORALIST
11. When you’re fond of coarse loaves you’ll find a ho/me VISTA Dr Watson’s first solve of the puzzle. It’s fairly certain that the join will be inside ‘home’, and ‘Hovis’ sprang quickly to mind.
12. They don’t match traditional beers, those sampling – ne/ver! WALESA Here’s the ‘common proper name’ of the footnote. Lech Wałęsa has gone down in history as the leader of the first of the 1980s revolts against Communist regimes in Eastern Europe.
14. If
you really want to go, f/ling gets you nowhere ASTERID
17. A stay-at-home lover of his de/tracts but rarely NACARAT (…den a car attracts…) One of the more stretched undevilled readings.
19. Might that red centrepiece be enhanced by agree/ment? NORNA Another fairly quick solve, with ‘green ornament’ suggesting itself readily.
20. Your brakes need replacing – p/ads are badly worn LUSTRE
22. It
was a bad injury but th/rust will soon heal ELEGIT (…the leg,
I trust,…)
23. You
soon learn that one, working fa/ns more STEAR
24. Maybe
Sybil once dreamt of building ba/t! SILANES Not
a reference to the oracles of ancient Greece, but to Sybil Fawlty
of Fawlty
Towers, who might have once thought of settling with Basil into somewhere
cosier than their Torquay guesthouse.
28. Is it time to call it a day? Female rock star qu/its ATROPOS This was Dr Watson’s last clue solved. The connection of ‘quits’ to the first sentence was too strong to suggest a break, and ‘f/emale’ looked the most promising. Of course for glam-rockers there’s really only one truly female star amongst all the androgynes, namely Suzi Quatro, who by all accounts hasn’t quit yet, whatever she might posit.
30. Essential for strategic game: player stow/s board ITCHES A dilemma for the solver: is it ‘to win chess board’ or ‘to wit, chess board’. The first seems a more natural reading, but solving 2 down reveals that INCHES doesn’t fit.
31. Why
buy plastic roses when re/ins are available?
ALL-UP
32. A no/d, hard, lacking much experience of riding VICEREINE The second part of the clue points firmly towards a solution beginning with VICE.
33. Primary
schoolmates can get a bit annoyed with cl/ots EVERT
34. Critics
of Irish leisure activity dis/port, as poorly organized SMEATHS (…diss
Meath sport…)
DOWN
1. We
have no details yet (bu/ried)
– programme is promised TAVA
2. The
sentry in a castle, ke/en
for intruders
EPISTOLIST (…keep is to
listen…)
3. To put back RESTORE The competition word offers a good variety of possible treatments.
4. In belfry tiff do some cla/ngers out of turn IMARI (…claim a ringer’s…) A well-placed apostrophe is often a Deviller’s friend in need.
5. After
my snakebite they found a little ve/st NOMINATE
6. With
the car I name, s/ave good advice SAAG (…in a mess, AA gave…)
7. W/aters get the most from a well-balanced meal ILL-FASTE
8. After
a brief, res/it the remainder of the paper TIED
9. Dismissing old pop hits like tel/e critic wasted few words STARTERS Something needs to connect a pop hit to brevity, and here it’s the 1962 instrumental Telstar by the Tornados that’s dismissed by a terse critic.
13. Is
this pe/er one that loves
idling around Adriatic resorts?
SCARAMOUCH (…Pescara moucher…) Azed had little
choice here but to link the resort of Pescara with mouching.
15. As a comedian cutting corn/er towards the more sophisticated INESSIVE (…corniess, I veer…) A beautifully worked P.D. from an umpromising word.
16. Some twitchers love nothing better than gaz/ons! INGATHER An almost ideal long word for a P.D. clue. In fact INGATHERING appeared as a solution in last year’s puzzle.
18. It’s good to see my old college p/esters tarts ALASTRIM (…pal as trimester…) This is the sort of funny surface with a twist that competitors aspire to in P.D. competitions.
21. In
Hansard one can, no/ting RIP in debate TEMPLET (…note MP letting rip…)
25. An
indi/e’s permitted filming in the royal palace CRANE (…Indic ranee’s…)
26. Her/d
way ahead, sent forward to scout ECCE (…he recced…)
27. What’s that, pa/inted pink? It’s theft! PERT Azed’s sly reference to the Financial Times, aka the Pink’un, may have been inspired by D. Willamson’s VHC clue to GEST in Azed 1766: “If pa/inting is pinkish you could be looking at theft!”.
29. The chef’s a star hi/t, as the best in the business SPAS Dr Watson wondered if the chef was known for his pittas (giving SPIT) until the intersecting solution at 34 across was entered.