Pff. Quite a lot of obscurities (to me, at least), and I have to confess to outside assistance for 28dn. Finished in the nick of time to preserve my 100% record (since mid-January, so not really much of a 100% record, but it's important to me).
- 1ac: CLUMP: Book lost by club member – clot: CLUB - B(ook) + MP (member of parliament)
- 8ac: SUBER: Cork it's hell getting back, leaving aside opening: (e)REBUS (hell) reversed
- 12ac: HORA: Dance music, the limit for harmonica: H OR A (limits of harmonic); ref. Hora, which is not in my Chambers (1993)
- 13ac: INAURATE: A ruin, battered and corroded, rarely gilded: *(A RUIN) + ATE (corroded)
- 14ac: URNED: Like tea or coffee made for an audience?: sounds like “earned” (made)
- 16ac: PANTAGRUELION: Magic herb adding puff to a thin liquor, one gracing menu?: PANT (puff) + A GRUEL (thin liquor) + I (one) + ON (on the menu)
- 17ac: REIF: Pillage of Scots creating touching condition: RE (creating?) + IF (condition)
- 19ac: MARSALA: Strong sweet wine sadly beak sent back: ALAS (sadly) + RAM (beak)
- 20ac: CROSSFISH: Rather angry about following asteroid: CROSSISH (rather angry) around F(ollowing); ref. Sea star
- 23ac: STEALTH: Whisked lattes, hot – secret process: *(LATTES H(ot))
- 26ac: JANN: You'll find Trojan never imbibing such weakish spirits: troJAN Never
- 27ac: SELF-ASSURANCE: Fuss as cleaner is sacked? Confidence required: *(FUSS AS CLEANER)
- 31ac: ALLEY: It's certainly bordered by lines? Yes, or the other way round: YEA (yes) around LL (lines) reversed; double use of “the other way round”
- 32ac: EPIDURAL: Dial up re being feverish, wanting relief from labour: *(EPIDURAL); this was for a long time this week the only entry I had in the grid, bringing amusement to the veterans of childbirth in the house.
- 33ac: ZATI: Monkey from South Africa with reverse of appeal: ZA (South Africa) + IT (appeal) reversed
- 34ac: LENOS: Thin fabrics – love coming into contact?: LENS (as in “contact lens”) around O (love)
- 35ac: SAROS: Rails over very long time cycle: SORAS (rails) reversed.
- 1dn: CHAPRASSI: Fellow accompanying prince is brought up as an orderly: CHAP (fellow) + RAS (prince) + IS reversed
- 2dn: LOMA: Sort of fringe an old pro cut from below: A MOL(l) (old “pro” as in prostitute) reversed
- 3dn: URANIC: Once celestial queen is found in the heart of such: RANI (queen) in (s)UC(h)
- 4dn: PARABOLANUS: Church layman tending the sick of old (as S. Paul on being upset about urchin): *(S PAUL ON) around ARAB (urchin)
- 5dn: DINGUS: Beat with American doodad: DING (beat) + US (American)
- 6dn: ONER: Bouncer from Jonson, erratic: jonsON ERratic; though ONER is “lie” and bouncer is a “liar”, so, hm.
- 7dn: PADUA: Where Anthony lived and died, going into shell: PAUA (shell) around D(ied); ref. Anthony of Padua
- 8dn: SUPERIORESS: Is she unsettling to pure sisters if not TT? *(TO PURE SISTERS - TT) &lit.
- 9dn: URAL: River suggesting the country separated from its source: (r)URAL (country)
- 10dn: BANIA: Climbing a hilltop, I planted a fig tree: A NAB (hilltop) reversed around I
- 11dn: ETIOLIN: Plants denied light display it: see one riverain's holding up: NILOTE (riverain) around I (one) reversed
- 15dn: ANAMNESIS: One muddled names and lives in recollection of Proust: AN (one) + *(NAMES) + IS (lives)
- 18dn: EUTERPE: Energy required in scrambling up tree, palm genus: *(UP TREE) around E(nergy)
- 21dn: FOULLY: Disgustingly posh, boused in e.g. mock ruin: U (posh) in FOLLY (mock ruin)
- 22dn: HANGAR: Surrogate mother keeping son, so abandoned, in large shed: HAGAR (surrogate mother; ref. Hagar) around SON - SO
- 24dn: ELSIN: Sort of Scottish punch – single drunk, not good: *(SINGLE - G)
- 25dn: TSARS: Official adjudicators giving ‘special’ in ratings?: S(pecial) in TARS (ratings, as in “sailors”)
- 28dn: FADO: Following difficulty striking new driver, golfer displays dejected air: F(ollowing) + ADO (difficulty) / FALDO (ref. Nick Faldo) - L; ref. Fado
- 29dn: SLAB: Substantial piece of cake, second, shortened party: S(econd) + LAB (ref. Labour Party)
- 30dn: CITO: Heads for courier in treating order with despatch: C(ourier) I(n) T(reating) O(rder)