I’ve bitten the bullet and have provided the clues. It had always seemed to me to be unnecessary since anyone who has done the crossword must know what the clues are, but everyone seems to be doing it nowadays and possibly it looks a bit silly if I don’t do so as well.
Not absolutely sure about it, actually, because although Gaufrid pointed me in the direction of Paul Drury’s excellent program that does it all for you and everything has been easy enough, I’m not absolutely sure that it now looks better than it used to.
I’m in danger of failing to mention the crossword, which was up to Azed’s usual standard, all very satisfactory. My doubts about one or two things will no doubt be shown to be my fault not Azed’s — they usually are.
Definitions are in italics.
Across
1 Like what costermonger pushes mostly having to call round, trading wholesale (12)
C(AS HANDCAR{t})RY
9 Tiara’s unusually studded with eastern precious stone (7)
ASTERIA — (Tiara’s)* round e
10 Nasty look taking in a Scots story-teller (5)
LEE(A)R — liar
12 Forward punched, rendered useless (4)
PERT{use}
13 E.g. corgis having been ‘done’ at Balmoral, stunted (8)
SCROGGIE — (e.g. corgis)* — anagram indicator ‘having been ‘done”, the Scottish indicator ‘at Balmoral’
14 Foul contents of hanky, a zone concealed one pocketed (6)
OZAENA — (a zone)* round a, the anagram indicator I think ‘concealed’, which seems a bit odd — perhaps I have it wrong
16 Blame end-of-year trains being reduced? (5)
DEC. RY — Dec. = December, ry = lines = railway
18 Form a notion that is about the end (well, almost) (6)
I(DEAT{h})E
19 Do they discount pickled herring roes? Not her (8)
IGNORERS — (herring roes – her)*
21 Shell money put into work reversing old skin complaint (8)
SUPPEAGO — peag in (opus)rev.
24 Children accepting adult rule in card game (6)
T(A R)OTS
26 Extended flap, a feature of comical operettas (5)
comicaL OPERettas
28 E.g. Borodin rained off (6)
ANDREI — (rained)* — the composer is Alexander, but no doubt there is an Andrei Borodin — yes I see there is, but was Azed really thinking of him?
29 Medium discomfort in relaxing toil (8, 2 words)
OIL PAINT — pain in (toil)*
30 Self-identification by bass, short then long? (4)
I AM B — another name for an iambus
31 Constituents of lira once imposed upon Italy (5)
SOLD I — there were 20 soldi in a lira
32 One élite corps in line that’s easily cracked (7)
F(1 SS)ILE
33 Part of formal accounts for installations (12)
INSTATEMENTS — in = part of, statements = formal accounts
Down
1 Bridges cross Po, a tad wobbly (11)
CAPODASTROS — (cross Po a tad)*
2 Jock’s hit, heading for Rossyth, in pile-up (6)
ST(R{ossyth})ACK — Rossyth? I thought it was Rosyth
3 My foot will propel me in the sea (or deep) tho’ stormy (9)
HETEROPOD — (or deep tho’)*
4 Endless choky with what signifies first degree battery? (5)
NIC{k} A D — choky = prison = nick
5 Favourite task – nothing held up (7)
DARLING — (nil)rev. in darg
6 Something spicy for haggis-eaters (calorie good in dietary terms?) (4)
C LOW — clove in Scotland — low as in low-calorie
7 Climbing defensive mound to the accompaniment of English music (6)
REGGAE — (agger)rev. E
8 Mimosa’s cousin runs on famous course (8, 2 words)
R AINTREE
11 Makes fresh sketch of red currants (planting key?) (11)
REDESCRIBES — ESC [the escape key] in red Ribes
15 Repose I’d arranged round middle of shift to fit into time stages (9)
PERIODISE — (repose I’d)* round {sh}i{ft}
17 Reduction to common standard, requiring an age with old nonentity I involved (8)
E(QUAT I)ON
20 Sal cracked in present oil extraction process (7, 2 words)
GAS LIFT — (sal)* in gift
22 Quiet deluxe car creeps around as of old (6)
P ROLLS — old spelling of prowls
23 Rick presenting recipe found in S. European country (6)
SP(R)AIN — perhaps one thinks of Spain more as a West European country, but there is no denying that it is pretty far south
25 Familiar girl, sort of cuckoo, housed by the writer in Marseille (5)
JANIE — ani in je (French — in Marseilles — for I)
27 Our planet heads of globe artichokes imitate (approximately) (4)
G{lobe} A{rtichokes} I{mitate} A{pproximately}
*anagram
Failed to finish- I haven’t been doing very well lately. However, just finished today’s, so maybe I have turned the corner!
Two alternatives with Andrei Borodin:
A. Homer nods
B. Borodin is being used as a generic Russian surname
Thanks Azed for the usual enjoyment and John for the blog.
14ac: Chambers gives “disguise” as a meaning for conceal, which just about works as an anagram lead, although it is perhaps more of a stretch than one would normally expect from Azed.
28ac: Given that Andrei Borodin exists and has been in the news, it is plausible that he was the intended reference, but it will be interesting to see if there is anything in the “official” notes when they come out in two weeks’ time.
On the subject of giving the clues in full in the blog, I am all for it. It is true that I usually have the crossword to hand when I first read the blog, but this will not necessarily be the case if I look back at a later time or date when more comments have been added.