Despite some initial misgivings this turned out to be a straightforward puzzle from Schadenfreude. Quite a few answers seemed to fit and a couple were too short but their first and last letters always fitted. Luckily I managed to get several of the first few down answers and worked out the theme word. It was then just a matter of finding the birds and the remaining theme words.
As ever with Schadenfreude the cluing was clear and unambiguous with some very nice surface readings.
The caught birds are shown in RED.
(XY Z)* anagram
X[Y]Z insertion
X[y]Z deletion
ZYX< reversal
“xyz” homophone
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BIRD-CATCHER | unclued theme word. | |
| 9 | AMAH | A HAM< | |
| 10 | ANALYSED | (E[l]AN SADLY)* | |
| 12 | NAGARI | (AGAIN R)* | |
| 14 | OPENS | dd | OS = out size. |
| 16 | SPAHEES | S[PAH]EE S | see = escort, s = head of security. |
| 17 | NO-NOES | N[ON]OES | on = acting |
| 21 | RUMINANT | RUN T | |
| 22 | TROCHEES | T[HE]ES | TES = Times Educational Supplement, a weekly supplement aimed at the pre-18 educational sector. |
| 27 | NATURA | AUNT* RA | |
| 28 | RELAPSE | RE[LAPS]E | |
| 31 | PIETA | PIE TA | a depiction of the Madonna and Child. |
| 32 | DEWANI | DEW (IN A)< | |
| 33 | AGREEING | A GING | |
| 34 | GRIN | G[R]IN | GIRN fitted just as well to start with. |
| 35 | CHILDCROWING | C HI[L]D ING | an ing is a meadow. Fairburn Ings is a lovely RSPB reserve in North Yorkshire |
| Down | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BANKNOTE | BAN E | |
| 2 | IMAGOES | (IS O)* | |
| 3 | RAGE | R A GE | Ge = Gaia, a goddess. |
| 4 | CARPER | CAR PER | Car = Charles (from the latin) |
| 5 | TAMP | TA[M]P | |
| 6 | CLOAK | C [L] OAK | c = coloured. |
| 7 | HYPHENATE | HYP[AT]E | at is one hundredth of a kip. |
| 8 | RENEW | RE NEW | |
| 11 | SEESAW | SEE SAW | see = judged, saw = experienced. Nice use of two meanings of see given that one had already been used in 16a. |
| 13 | ISSUER | IS SUER | |
| 15 | MOSCHATEL | SOME* L | |
| 16 | OMENED | E in DEMON* | |
| 19 | STEALING | S IN G | |
| 20 | HOWLER | H.E. R | H.E. = His or Her Excellency, a title given to an ambassador. |
| 23 | SAPEGO | SAP EGO | |
| 24 | URANIN | [b]URN | burn = cigarette. |
| 25 | WEIGH | “way” | |
| 26 | SPAED | S PA ED | S = saint |
| 29 | SAIC | (IS A)* C | |
| 30 | SARI | S IRA< | Ira is a Hebrew name meaning watchful. |
Not particularly inspired by this one. (And a bit hard to finish while walking the coastal path from the Lizard to Land’s End over Easter without a dictionary.)