After a few weeks of struggling, thankfully a more tractable puzzle this week. I think I managed all but a few unaided, checked all but one of the remainder in dictionaries before entry, and cheated all out to get 18ac.
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | ADJUTANT BIRD – AD + JUT + ANT + BIRD. |
| 10 | CORNETTO – [r]OTTEN ROC[kers]<. |
| 12 | GLEI – G + LEI. |
| 13 | HEAR – dd. |
| 15 | METROMANIA – MET + ROMAN + I + A. Intriguing to learn that there really is a word for “an abnormal compulsion for writing verse”. |
| 16 | EGOS – EG + SO<. |
| 18 | A TATONS – A + TA + TONS . |
| 19 | EWER – [s]EWER. |
| 20 | PAPYRUS – (YR + U) in PAP’S + . |
| 23 | OLDNESS – [b]OLDNESS. |
| 24 | ARYL – A + RY + L. |
| 25 | CAPTORS – APT in COR[p]S I guess, though there may well be another “poet” word for “body” that I’m missing. |
| 27 | IMAM – MAMI[llae]<. |
| 28 | ASTEROIDAL – A + STEROIDAL. |
| 32 | SEEL – SEE + L[uck]. |
| 33 | PISH – IS in (P[ure] H[oney]). |
| 34 | AIGUILLE – L in (A1 + GUILE). |
| 35 | SCHILLER SPAR – Friedrich SCHILLER’S PAR. |
| Down | |
| 1 | ACHAENOCARPS – (ACORNS + A PEACH)*. |
| 2 | DOER – DO[v]ER. |
| 3 | UNRESENTED – (NUDE ENTERS)*. |
| 4 | TEXTURE – EXT in [litera]TURE. |
| 5 | ATTRAPS – AT + TRAPS. |
| 6 | TOOM – TOO + M. |
| 7 | ILAN – I + L + AN. |
| 8 | RETINULA – R + ALUNITE<. |
| 9 | DISASSEMBLER – SA in DISSEMBLER. |
| 11 | TROT – dd. |
| 14 | SATYRIASIS – (I STRAY)* + A SIS. |
| 17 | GELASTIC – G + ELASTIC. |
| 21 | ASSIEGE – ASS + IE + GE[l]. |
| 22 | PANDOUR – PAN + DOUR. |
| 26 | ROJI – J in R.O.I. |
| 29 | TUSH – US in TH[e]. |
| 30 | REAL – REAL[m]. |
| 31 | VELA – from VEGA, with L (luminance) for G (good). |