This seemed a very tough week, and it has taken me until today to get things finished off.
It didn’t help that the four longer entries put up quite a struggle, which made it difficult to open the grid up.
Last one in was 27 across where I wasn’t familiar with that sense of the word, plus spent too long trying to make it start with F, though I wonder if I was the only one!
*=anagram, []=dropped, <=reversed.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | CONTERMINOUS – RM in (CONTE + I + NOUS). |
| 10 | AMORCE – MOR[e] in ACE. |
| 11 | ARNA – A[ppetise]R + NA. |
| 14 | ANTISKID – [m]ANTIS + KID. |
| 15 | ESTOC – [achill]ES TO C[ombat]. |
| 17 | SARDANA – R in (SAD + ANA). |
| 19 | LEAVE – three definitions, I think: “will” as in “bequeath”, then “desert” and “produce greenery”. |
| 20 | SCIENTER – (IN SECRET)*. |
| 21 | TETCHILY – TET + CHIL[l]Y. |
| 24 | MBIRA – (RIB in AM)<. |
| 25 | ALBERGO – (B in ALE) + R + GO. |
| 27 | DONOR – DON + OR. A “donor” in this case is an impurity in semiconductor material”. |
| 29 | NAUPLIUS – UP in SUN[d]IAL*. |
| 30 | TITI – TITI[an]. |
| 31 | SIESTA – IE in (SS + TA). |
| 32 | PROTONEMATAL – (TRAP TOO MEAN)* + L. |
| Down | |
| 2 | OMASAL – (AS A MO)< + L. |
| 3 | NOSTRATIC – NO + (R in STATIC). |
| 4 | TRIO – from RIOT with its last letter moved to the start. |
| 5 | RENUNCIATION – ((NUN + CIA) in TIER*) + ON. A “nun” is apparently and old type of spinning top. |
| 6 | MITRAILLEUSE – (TRAIL in MILE) + USE. |
| 7 | INISLE – I + (S in NILE). |
| 8 | NASCENCE – AN< + (C in SCENE). |
| 9 | UNIX – U + NIX. |
| 12 | ADDERWORT – RED< in TOWARD*. |
| 13 | BESETMENT – (ET + MEN) in BEST. |
| 16 | SATURNIST – (A TURN) in SIST. |
| 18 | DECREPIT – DECRE[e] + PIT. |
| 22 | HALLOO – HALL + O + O[ffice]. |
| 23 | AGOUTA – OUT in AGA. |
| 26 | FAIR – two definitions: “market” and “square” as in deal. |
| 28 | ODEA – [som]E in ADO<. |
Yeah, I found it tough, too. I think I was thumbing through my copy of Chambers from the start to check guesses.
27ac – can’t remember how I got there, but when I looked up the definition I did remember doing the quantum mechanics of semi-conductors and how transistors work way back when doing my degree forty plus years ago, but I had completely forgotten the term in the interim.