A very tough week for me, not helped by not being able to locate an unusually high number of the answers in Chambers, rather than just the names and places.
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | PAS-DE-CALAIS – (DA[n]CES)* in PALAIS. A départment of France. |
| 10 | AWEIGH – A W EIGH[t]. |
| 11 | LEAN-TO – ANT in LEO. |
| 12 | STRUDEL – S + (D[electable] in TRUE + L). |
| 15 | OVERPLUS – OVER + P + LUS[t]. |
| 16 | ADENI – DEN in A1. |
| 17 | HAOMA – HA + OM + A. |
| 18 | LINACRE – LINAC + RE. |
| 20 | AGRIN – CH + the answer would be CHAGRIN. |
| 21 | FATLY – (A + [wurs]T) in FLY. |
| 22 | ARMLETS – M in [v]ARLETS. |
| 24 | OBIIT – OBI + IT. |
| 26 | VISIT – V + I + SIT. |
| 27 | RANSACKS – RAN SACKS. |
| 29 | LYNCEAN – Y[outhful] N[atural] C[inema] in (David) LEAN. A director with whom I am only familiar via crosswords! |
| 30 | MIZZLE – MIZZ + L[if]E. |
| 31 | PICNIC – (I in PC) + hom. of “nick”. |
| 32 | CESAREVITCH – CE’S + (TH EVICAR)*. I initially assumed this was somebody’s name, but in fact it appears to be a title meaning “the eldest son of a tsar”. |
| Down | |
| 1 | PASCAL – PASC[h]AL. Blaise Pascal, I would guess, though philosophy is all a bit of a mystery to me. |
| 2 | SERPENTINIZE – (PRIZE + INTENSE)*. |
| 3 | DIURNALIST – INDUSTRIAL*. |
| 4 | CHEVY – C + HE[a]VY. Here “badger” is a verb, and so the answer is an alternative spelling of “chivvy”. |
| 5 | ALLEGER – ALL + EGER. |
| 6 | LEER – REEL<. |
| 7 | INFLORESCENT – (L in INFO) + RE + SCENT. This doesn’t seem to be in Chambers, but a quick web search suggests that it’s valid. |
| 8 | STRUMITIS – STRUM + IT IS. |
| 9 | GOSSAN – GOSS + AN. |
| 13 | I PAGLIACCI – (G in (I + PAL + I ACC)) + I. |
| 14 | ADIABATIC – [l]A[b] in (ACID A BIT)*. |
| 19 | RAUCLER – (A CURLER)*. |
| 21 | FORUMS – OF< + RUMS. |
| 23 | STANCH – TAN in SCH. |
| 25 | SKYPE – P in SKYE. |
| 28 | AMLA – ALMA<. |