A slightly strange week for me. I found this quite tough going and ended up writing in quite a few without following the wordplay. Strangely enough, everything seems perfectly clear on blogging, though I have of course had to check a few terms in Chambers.
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | SASSABY – B in (S + ASSAY). |
| 7 | BOSS – dd. |
| 11 | WHITE SPIRIT – (HIT + ESP + I) in WRIT. |
| 12 | BANGLES – BANG + LES[s]. |
| 14 | SNAPDRAGON – (NAP + DRAG) in SON. |
| 15 | ENEW – E + NEW. |
| 16 | SALARY – LAR[d] in SAY. |
| 17 | LABRIDAE – LAB + (A in RIDE). |
| 21 | SYCAMORE – ([spik]Y + CAM) in SORE . |
| 23 | SPOT-ON – T in SPOON. |
| 25 | PICA – PI + CA. |
| 27 | TIME-THRUST – IT< + METH + RUST. |
| 28 | COLE TIT – (LET + I) in COT. |
| 29 | ANTONOMASIA – (SAMOA NATION)*. |
| 30 | LYES – L + YES. |
| 31 | PORTEND – PORT + END. |
| Down | |
| 1 | SUBCELESTIAL – (BECAUSE STILL)*. |
| 2 | AWARN – WAR in AN. |
| 3 | SIGNWRITER – (WIRE + STRING)*. |
| 4 | ATLAS – [gre]AT LAS[situde]. |
| 5 | BEEPED – BEE + PED. |
| 6 | SPIRAEA – (I + EAR<) in SPA. |
| 8 | OREGANO – (E in ORGAN) + O. |
| 9 | SIMORG – (GRIM SO)*. |
| 10 | STONY-HEARTED – (TONY in SHEAR) + TED. |
| 13 | PALIMPSEST – [g]LIMPSE in PAST. |
| 18 | BROMATE – ORB< + MATE. |
| 19 | ISOTONE – (S + O + TON) in I.E. |
| 20 | SPINNY – INN in SPY. |
| 22 | CHROMO – HR in COMO. |
| 24 | GULAR – L in GUAR[d]. |
| 26 | CHIAN – A in CHIN. |