I’m not sure if this was hard or easy – I made heavy weather of it at first, managing only a few answers in a first session, then raced through the rest on returning a day later.
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | INNSBRUCK – I + (NS in NB) + RUCK. |
| 11 | ELUDES – LUD in [d]EE[p]. |
| 13 | UNAU – NA in (U + U). |
| 14 | BALL – dd. Nicely misleading clue. |
| 15 | PANACEA – ACE in (PAN A). |
| 16 | ATHANASY – AT HAN[d] + [e]ASY. |
| 18 | ROARER – O in RARER. |
| 20 | DUEL – DUE + [c]L[ash]. |
| 21 | MIMOGRAPHER – (PROGRAMME + [t]HI[s])*. |
| 23 | OSTEODERMIC – [d]O[ctors] + (SOME CREDIT)*. |
| 25 | NOVA – ON< + V[ery] A[bruptly]. |
| 27 | AKIMBO – A + [s]KIM + BO. |
| 29 | THIRTEEN – (I in HRT) + TEEN. |
| 32 | TAIAHAS – AHA in TAIS. |
| 33 | TWIN – TWIN[e]. |
| 34 | PRAT – TARP<. |
| 35 | LIEGE – EG in LIE. |
| 36 | STREAKIER – STREA[m] + KIER. |
| Down | |
| 1 | DEBARMENT – BAR in DEMENT. |
| 2 | FLAT – L in FAT. “Natural” is used here in the musical sense. |
| 3 | FULHAMS – FUL[l] + HAMS. |
| 5 | NEON – [o]NE ON[e]. A deceptively clever one that took a bit of figuring out. |
| 6 | SHASTA DAISY – S + HAS + (DAIS in TAY). |
| 7 | BUNYIP – BUN + YIP. |
| 8 | RUAIDHRI – (AID in RUHR) + I. |
| 9 | UNCE – UNC[l]E. |
| 10 | CAESE – E in CASE. I made life difficult for myself by writing in CEASE first – I suspect I wasn’t the only one! |
| 12 | SPARROWHAWK – (ROW + HAW) in SPARK. |
| 17 | ALE-CONNER – AL[l] + ECON + N + [be]ER. |
| 19 | ROTAVATE – A VAT in ROTE. |
| 22 | EMMEWED – EMME[t] + WED. |
| 24 | EITHNA – (HATE IN)*. |
| 26 | OP ART – O’ PART. |
| 28 | LIAR – RAIL<. |
| 30 | RILE – RI[f]LE. |
| 31 | EIGG – I in EGG. |