Not the toughest Beelzebub but plenty upon which to chew
ACROSS
4 Room to release chain with sailor chasing fish AMBERJACK fish
[ch]AMBER sailor JACK
10 Stage performer who’d be unlikely to become nobly priapic!
PRINCIPAL BOY (NOBLY PRIAPIC)*
11 Seaweed doing for large vessel LAVER dd
12 Cake, place for candle (it initially is blown out) SCONE
SCONCE candleholder minus C [andle]
14 A universal representation of this to me? Caligula, perhaps
AUTOTHEISM (SELF-DEIFICATION) a universal AU (THIS TO ME)*
16 Town recalled holding transactions concerning metal YTTRIC
TR transactions in CITY<
18 Searched around current, exhausted FINISHED
IN current in FISHED searched
19 Discuss canceling one’s allowance TRET allowance TRE[A]T discuss
20 Several times interrupting scene on stage EONS
hidden in [scen]E ON S[tage]
21 Dog behind monster fern CETERACH fern CETE sea monster RACH dog
23 Well to declare horse disease in Scotland SAYVIE horse disease
well SPA declare VIE
25 Acted in story about radical? Nonsense TARADIDDLE nonsense
acted DID in story TALE with RAD[ical] inserted
27 Old horses, not black STALE old STABLE horses minus B
28 Watch underworld guide shaking off gangster ultimately VIGIL watch
[gangste]R from VIRGIL underworld guide
29 See military boss and girl in Channel Islands provoking stock comments
LOCI CLASSICI see LO military boss CIC girl LASS in CI CI
30 Shoulder burden? Better to drop extreme parts CROSSETTE shoulder
burden CROSS [b]ETTE[r]
DOWN
1 Pet safely treated for extreme deformities? SPLAY FEET (PET SAFELY)*
2 Still scrambling on to aircraft FRACTIONATOR a still (ON TO AIRCRAFT)*
3 Expression of support against one tax VIVAT long live
against one V I tax VAT
4 Swelling animal sure is in trouble ANEURISMAL swelling adj
(ANIMAL SURE)*
5 Pen life story about monarch BIRO pen R monarch in BIO
6 Terms describing article in European mines EPITHETS terms
article THE in E[uropean] PITS mines
7 Spots identification for Arab guy RASHID spots RASH ID
8 Seething sailor getting news from Oz ABOIL seething
sailor AB news (Australian) OIL
9 Picked up other-worldly mushrooms and no cocaine plants of common type
CONSPECIFICS (SCI FI CEPS NO C)< all backwards – picked up
13 Compact cleaanser works with it CENTRALISE concentrate verb
(CLEANSER IT)*
15 Drink has chaps imbibing the good life? Not half METHEGLIN mead
(THE G LI[fe]) in MEN
17 Woman wrongfully splitting church fabric CHENILLE fabric
(woman HEN wrongfully ILL) in CE church
21 Electronic devices faked 250 Hz CODECS electronic coders
fake COD E 250 (Roman numeral) CS cycle per second = Hertz
22 Doctor attending a company’s stars DRACO constellation
doctor DR at A company CO
24 Half of veal good? That is – not what I’d say! VEGIE
VE[al] good G that is IE
26 Bother following from conscription DRAT bother DRA[f]T
( )* = anagram < = reverse [ ] = omit dd = double definition
Got through this fairly quickly on Sunday afternoon after doing the gardening and before dinner. The clue to 14ac amused me, having been to the UK premiere of Glanert’s opera Caligula only a couple of days before. Coincidence?