“THE CLASH will be on stage thirteen times. One set of letters (according to definitions when read in clue order) gives two names, whilst the other set spells the names of three adversaries; a generic name for the former pair appears in the circles. All grid entries are given by wordplay, and Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
In clue order, the correct letters spell IAPETUS CRONUS (the names of two TITANS, which appears in the circles), and the letters entered in the grid spell ZEUS HADES HERA (three adversaries of the Titans).
This occupied a very enjoyable few hours when I should definitely have been doing my taxes.
Notes:
(a) 29 across was incorrectly printed as ‘Skirts Muslim prince sent back’. The correction appeared online.
(b) Unfortunately, I can’t fully parse 34 across.
Notation
(xxx) = definition
[xxx] = (anagram/homophone/container/etc.) indicator
XXX* = anagram
< = reversal
VIRGOAN / Z = clashes
Please post a comment if the explanations are not clear.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CATECHUMEN | Learner’s C (cold) ATE (upset) CHUM (mate) and EN (nurse) (10) | |
| I/Z | 11 | VIRGOAN | Late summer baby’s V (very) Z (last letter) [upset] GRAN* [with O (nowt) in] (7) |
| 12 | EAGER | GER (Tent) on EA (local channel) makes you keen (5) | |
| A/E | 14 | PHARISEE | P (Positive HEIR* [failing] to get hypocrite (8) |
| 15 | CAMSHO | Thrawn? CAM (Teuchter’s slate) ‘S (is) on HO (hold) (6) | |
| 16 | AURA | LAURA (Group of cells) L (left) [lacking] air (4) | |
| 17 | PRAY | Fervently hope for U (upperclass) RAY (look) (4) | |
| 19 | REDEEM | RED (Bloody) E (eccentricity) EM ([borders on] E |
|
| 21 | LATITANT | Lurking in LA (US city), TIT (nag) ANT (social worker) (8) | |
| E/S | 24 | OVERKEEN | OVER (Closed) KEN (disreputable house) [where S (son) remains] too devoted (8) |
| 26 | TREBLE | More than double < LB (pound) [flipped] [into] TREE (box, say) (6) | |
| T/H | 27 | ANTE | Fixed stake in JapAN HEreabouts (4) |
| U/A | 29 | RIMU | Tree < AMIR (Muslim prince) [sent back] (4) |
| 31 | CESTOS | What Aphrodite wore – [tight] CORSET*, [but S (small) for R (Queen)] (6) | |
| 33 | ROADLESS | [This could be] {RESOLD AS}* ‘having no access’ (8) | |
| S/D | 34 | ARRAS | A term for their RAD (wicked) tapestry (5) |
| 35 | SQUIDGE | SQ (Latin following) GUIDE (Baedeker, say), G (heading) [back] to jam (7) | |
| 36 | SHEAR-STEEL | Cutting-edge material? “SHEER STEAL” (Pure rip off), [we hear] (10) | |
| Down | |||
| 2 | AZNAR | <{NZ (New Zealand) A (accepted)} [overturning] AR (Arab) Prime Minister (5) | |
| C/E | 3 | TREMATIC | [Happily] {RATE ITEM}* of underwater breathing apparatus? (8) |
| R/S | 4 | EGER | [Wanting closure] EGES |
| O/H | 5 | COP OUT | COP (Plod) [on] HUT (building) bypass (6, two words) |
| 6 | UNEARNED | [Bats] {NEED A RUN}* which is hardly merited (8) | |
| 7 | MERE | Previously pure pool (4) | |
| N/E | 8 | NAIADS | Pond life? EA (Each) I (one) ADS (bills) (6) |
| 9 | PEERESS | PEER (Pink) |
|
| 10 | DREAMINESS | [Displaced] {MAN DESIRES}*distant state (10) | |
| U/R | 13 | SCULPTURAL | SCULL (Row) [about] [broken] PART* [including] R (right) of carving (10) |
| S/A | 18 | WAVELESS | Still W (with) AVE (average) ALES* [to shift] (8) |
| 20 | EVENTIDE | End of day EVENT (happening) with IDE (fish) (8) | |
| 22 | A PRIORI | AI (Sloth) [cloaking] PRIOR (monk)’s form of reasoning (7, two words) | |
| 23 | IBADAH | Worship in {A |
|
| 25 | RHESUS | Research subject? RHS (Royal Humane Society) [holds] [up] < USE (work) (6) | |
| 28 | HODGE | Rustic worker who’s BODGE (clumsy), [B (born) to be H (hard)] (5) | |
| 30 | OLDE | Quaintly quondam ODE (lyric) [about] L [what gets L |
|
| 32 | SPIT | S (Section) PIT (supplies) shower in some districts (4) | |
| C | A | T | E | C | H | U | M | E | N | P | D |
| V | Z | R | G | O | A | N | E | A | G | E | R |
| S | N | E | E | P | H | E | R | I | S | E | E |
| C | A | M | S | H | O | A | E | A | U | R | A |
| U | R | A | Y | U | W | R | E | D | E | E | M |
| L | A | T | I | T | A | N | T | S | V | S | I |
| P | P | I | I | O | V | E | R | K | E | S | N |
| T | R | E | B | L | E | D | H | A | N | H | E |
| R | I | M | A | O | L | C | E | S | T | O | S |
| R | O | A | D | L | E | S | S | P | I | D | S |
| A | R | R | A | D | S | Q | U | I | D | G | E |
| L | I | S | H | E | A | R | S | T | E | E | L |
Thanks Mr Sting – and Auctor. That misprint explains why I couldn’t quite work out all the clashes – I had RIMS for ‘skirts’ and didn’t see the correction – but I think I got there with the completed grid in the end…
I had 34a as A + R (terminating letter of their) + RAD (wicked).