The advance copy I received had a strange lack of spacing in some of the clues. I don't think that was deliberate, but one can never be sure with crossword setters.
This was mostly on the easy side with lots of clues put together from combinations of abbreviations and words with missing letters. The surface readings were quite good with special kudos to 7D for referencing an actual Elvis film.
ACROSS | ||
8 | NEMATODE |
Worm boring around inside swelling (8)
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Tame<(=boring) in node |
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9 | ENAMEL |
Electronic tag left in coat (6)
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E{lectronic} + name(=tag) + l{eft} |
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10 | FLAY |
Beat back section of Royal Fusiliers (4)
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Hidden, rev in royal fusiliers |
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11 | SHRED |
Extremely selfish communist has scrap (5)
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S[elfis]h + red |
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12 | SOUR |
Tartnote written by university Romeo (4)
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So (=note in solfege scale) + u{niversity} R{omeo} (R in phonetic alphabet) |
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13 | THE THING |
Get hint about grabbing husband in horrormovie (3,5)
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(Get hint)* around h{usband}. The Thing was a 1982 John Carpenter film. |
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16 | CASTLE |
Keepplacingplayers beside short leg (6)
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Cast(=players in theatre, cinema etc) + le[g]. I can't see any point to the lack of spacing. |
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18 | DUST |
Powder found by detective arresting posh model (4)
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(DS(=Detective Sergeant) around U(U/non-U)) + T (as in the venerable Model T Ford). |
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20 | ALONE |
Endless nonsense is eschewed by all? (5)
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[B]alone[y] |
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21 | EASE |
Starts to extol Ambassador Suite, emphasising comfort (4)
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Initial letters of extol Ambassador suite emphasising |
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22 | CENSOR |
Inspector‘s son kidnapped by hideous crone (6)
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S{on} in crone* |
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23 | NATURIST |
Article about holidaymaker spurning old stripper (8)
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Na< (=indefinite article e.g "an item") + t[o]urist |
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26 | PIKE |
Weapon‘s power deployed by Eisenhower (4)
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P{ower} + Ike (=nickname for Dwight Eisenhower, 34th President) |
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28 | GROVE |
Covert resistance fostered by Tory minister (5)
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R{esistance} in Gove (=Michael Gove) |
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30 | BELL |
Beginning to engrave lines on bishop’s ring (4)
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(E[ngrave] + l{ine} twice) on b{ishop} |
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31 | NEURON |
Nationalists collecting money for intelligence cell? (6)
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N{ationalist} twice around Euro. A neuron is a cell in the brain, so might loosely be called an intelligence cell. |
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32 | LEARNING |
Right admitted to bias in education (8)
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R{ight} in leaning |
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DOWN | ||
1 | WEALTH |
Whitman, perhaps, capturing English hotel’s opulence (6)
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(Walt around E{nglish}( + h{otel}. Walt Whitman was an American poet. |
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2 | LADY |
Young man suppressing yen to be a woman (4)
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Lad on top of (=suppressing) y{en} |
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3 | BONSAI |
A snob set up institute for Japanese art (6)
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(A snob)< + i{nstitute} |
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4 | LEER |
Like heartless queen’s lascivious look (4)
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L[ik]e + ER |
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5 | HEADACHE |
Pain commander inflicted on a revolutionary (8)
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Head(=commander) + a Che (Guevara) |
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6 | CATS |
Musical elements of play about reaching the top (4)
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Acts(=elements of a play) with c(=about) moved to the top |
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7 | BEGUILES |
Charms Elvis originally displayed in disastrous GI Blues (8)
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E[lvis] in (GI Blues)*. GI Blues was indeed an Elvis film from 1960. |
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14 | TITUS |
Emperor‘s footman essentially wearing outfit wrong way round (5)
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[Foo]t[man] in suit<. Titus was a Roman emperor who lasted just a couple of years in the job before dying of a fever. |
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15 | GROAN |
Love interrupting elderly relative’s lament (5)
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O in gran |
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17 | STEER |
Having captured Troy, oracle castrated bull (5)
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Seer around T{roy}, which is an abbrev used in Troy weight. |
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19 | UNEDITED |
Original couple touring Spain and Germany with daughter (8)
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Unite(=couple as a verb) around (E(=Spain, Espana) + D(=Germany, Deutschland)) + d{aughter} |
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20 | ARROGANT |
Haughtyking stops upcoming artist performing tango (8)
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R(=rex, king) in RA<(=Royal Acadamecian) + tango* |
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24 | TOERAG |
Lowlife got over being given time inside (6)
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Got< around era |
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25 | SPLINT |
Left welcomes new support (6)
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Split(=left in the sense of "It's time I split") around n{ew} |
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27 | EARL |
Nobleprematurely abandoning leader of Yorkists (4)
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Earl[y] (minus Y[orkists]) |
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29 | OWLS |
Read Orwell’s letters regularly; they epitomise wisdom (4)
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Odd letters of Orwells |
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30 | BANE |
Outlaw ultimately overcame nemesis (4)
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Ban + [overcam]e |
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