ACROSS
1 After alterations our coat is really frightful (9)
ATROCIOUS – (OUR COAT IS*)
6 Flexibility to eat cooked spleens (10)
SUPPLENESS – SUP [to eat] + (SPLEENS*)
12 Chap taking horse round for girl (7)
MARLENE – LEN taking MARE round
13 Treasury so filled by Edomite king (9)
THESAURUS – THUS, filled by ESAU R
14 Reported attempt by commercial gang of criminals (5)
TRIAD – homophone of TRY + AD
16 I’ve to replace gold in battery — it’s adding up (12)
ACCUMULATIVE – ACCUMULAT{or->I’VE}
17 Proceeds to meet force: correct to be alarmed (4,6)
TAKE FRIGHT – TAKE [proceeds] + F + RIGHT
19 Snooty Guardian misrepresented religious occasion (8,6)
ROGATION SUNDAY – (SNOOTY GUARDIAN*)
22 Shopping centre killer in holiday isle (8)
MALLORCA – MALL ORCA
24 Seignories regularly selected by male self-interest (6)
EGOISM – {s}E{i}G{n}O{r}I{e}S by M
25 Brown horse fed regular helpings of straw or equivalent (10)
TANTAMOUNT – TAN MOUNT, fed {s}T{r}A{w}
26 Succeeded with month — after missing the first three — avoiding drink (5)
SOBER – S with {oct}OBER
29 Measure duration of two notes (4)
TIME – TI + ME
30 Defence Intelligence seeing army unit (8)
DIVISION – D.I. + VISION [seeing]
32 Brood about awful place without cinema (9)
MULTIPLEX – MULL “about” TIP, plus EX [without]
34 Navy chiefs mostly have high opinion of a lieutenant, first in year (9)
ADMIRALTY – ADMIR{e} A LT + Y{ear}
35 Considered certain to get in alcohol (8)
MEASURED – SURE getting in MEAD
36 Look pleased when son’s lost race (4)
MILE – {s}MILE
39 New Year in parrot country (5)
KENYA – N Y in KEA
40 Playing tee then inn — as the golf clubhouse is considered? (10)
NINETEENTH – (TEE THEN INN*) – the proverbial nineteenth hole
42 Compensate some mature couples (6)
RECOUP – hidden in {matu}RE COUP{les}
44 Drive out using oxygen for energy in military manoeuvres (8)
EXORCISE – EX{e->O}rcise
46 Very best carbon engineers guided over a hundred engineers (5,2,2,5)
CREME DE LA CREME – C REME + reversed LED + A C REME; Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers
48 Top twelve deliveries or more got zero wickets (10)
OVERSHADOW – OVERS [one over being six deliveries, so multiple = at least 12] HAD 0 W
49 Insecurity sustains need, unfortunately (12)
UNSTEADINESS – (SUSTAINS NEED*)
53 Dull brownish-yellow persimmon’s hard inside (5)
KHAKI – KAKI [Japanese persimmon] has H inside
54 I note short fir tree, one quite close to where willow’s used? (9)
INFIELDER – I N FI[r} ELDER
55 Reptile tense about a rat dropping close (7)
TUATARA – reversed TAUT + A RA{t}
56 Founder in port region, completely wrecked (10)
PROGENITOR – (PORT REGION*)
57 Fruit the man carried in blue van? (9)
SPEARHEAD – PEAR + HE, carried in SAD
DOWN
1 Pure gold at heart of EM Forster novel? (5)
AURIC – {m}AURIC{e}
2 Their mum’s suffering with a painful condition (10)
RHEUMATISM – (THEIR MUM’S + A*)
3 Welsh town mostly to respond over Christmas coming up (8)
CAERLEON – reversed REAC{t} + reversed NOEL
4 What comes from sextet, couple turning up? (5)
OCTET – hidden reversed in {sex}TET CO{uple}, &lit
5 Arm fanatic? This can create tension in turn (6,3)
SLEEVE NUT – SLEEVE [arm] + NUT [fan]
6 Rascal’s endless swindle (4)
SCAM – SCAM{p}
7 Turning up road on a hill, not bad for seclusion (6)
PURDAH – reversed UP + RD + A H{ill} [not bad = minus ILL]
8 Isles left with essential nature, managed until Europeans vacated (6,8)
LESSER ANTILLES – L + ESSE + RAN TILL E{uropean}S
9 A curl Titian’s represented is true to life (12)
NATURALISTIC – (A CURL TITIAN’S*)
10 Informer about wife being a partner swapper (7)
SWINGER – SINGER “about” W
11 One politician with broadcast audibly intended to show disability (10)
IMPAIRMENT – 1 MP with AIR + homophone of MEANT
15 What can define characters of Dorothy, Matthew and Brian, say (3,6)
DOT MATRIX – DOT, MAT and (Brian) RIX
18 Brooded over craze for place roamed by devils? (8)
TASMANIA – reversed SAT + MANIA
20 Moan about mom’s unruly wedding attendant (9)
GROOMSMAN – GROAN “about” (MOM’S*)
21 Harshly criticising small vehicle if expiring on losing key (10)
SCARIFYING – S CAR IF {d}YING
23 Almost certain moment United, one down, overcame (10)
SURMOUNTED – SUR{e} MO UN{i}TED
27 Militant ringer, one very big in church (9)
BELLICOSE – BELL + I + OS in CE
28 What too many rail passengers are doing for supplier of fuel (7,7)
FILLING STATION – double def with a description of an jam-packed station, all too familiar to all London commuters
31 Green put in prison when limiting alternative technology (8)
IMMATURE – IMMUTE “limiting” A.T.
33 Bring about old commercial pitch in putting out a programme (12)
BROADCASTING – BRING “about” O AD CAST
34 Footwear irritates continually on stone, never right (5,4)
ANKLE SOCK – {r}ANKLES on {r}OCK
37 State reportedly to assess trunk road in the US (10)
EXPRESSWAY – EXPRESS [state] + homophone of WEIGHT
38 Stop Act Four after what Feste repeats in Twelfth Night, perhaps (10)
DEACTIVATE – ACT IV after E [only repeated character in {f}E{st}E], in DATE
41 Vengeful trio of Brussels bureaucrats, say, having day in Rome (9)
EUMENIDES – EU MEN, having IDES. The classical Furies, ironically named “the kindly ones”
43 Wild olive tree also going up the wall (8)
OLEASTER – (TREE ALSO*)
45 Outdoor work with English rain awful (4-3)
OPEN-AIR – OP with (E RAIN*)
47 Sweet company getting initially more healthy (6)
COMFIT – CO getting M{ore} FIT
50 Morning service has Roman Catholic in support (5)
TERCE – RC in TEE
51 Antelope displaying vigour over days (5)
ELAND – ELAN over D
52 Billions lug and carry (4)
BEAR – B + EAR [lug]
Nice to see rogation sunday, the day on which my parish still organises a Boundary Walk each year.
COD ROGATION SUNDAY: What an Anagram!