Quick-ish solve, with no nasty surprises, although there were a few where the answers seemed obvious, but wasn’t quite sure on the parsing till much later. Some still not sure on! As usual, a bit of a shorthand write up, so any questions just ask!
| Across | |
| 1 | PASS MUSTER – PASTE, (wallpape)R around SUMS reversed |
| 6 | SCATTERBRAIN – SCATTERED RAIN with ED replaced by B=book |
| 14 | ELAPSED – DALE around ESP, all reversed |
| 15 | GUEVARA – A RAVE, UG(ly) all reversed, for the Latin (american) icon |
| 16 | CHORALE – CHOR(d), ALE |
| 17 | TWEE – WEE = little, with T(ime) up front |
| 18 | JUICER – JUR(y) around ICE |
| 20 | WHARFAGE – FAG=chore, inside W=with, HARE=mad creature |
| 24 | ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS – ON WAR (suite)D, then the salvation army (not south africa!) |
| 25 | SKILFUL – (silk)* FUL(l) – not quite sure on the exact parsing of the second part, but the answer had to be |
| 26 | MASSEUSE – MASS=widespread, “E USE” = European employment |
| 27 | GUTTER – double def |
| 29 | LITERARY CRITIC – (arty circle I rit)* where rit is (w)RIT(e) |
| 31 | PUT TO SEA – P, (set out)* , A(way) |
| 34 | THE BIRDS – hitchcock film, not sure I get the second half of the clue though |
| 36 | FOR HEAVENS SAKE – HEAVE N,S inside FORSAKE |
| 39 | EXCUSE – sounds like EX QUEUES |
| 41 | JURASSIC – J, I/C, around UR, ASS, for “very old” |
| 43 | FAIRIES – F, AIRIES(t) |
| 46 | LLOYD GEORGE KNEW MY FATHER – had to wait for most of the checkers and then fill in, as I did not know this song, nor that it was to the tune of Onward Christian Soldiers |
| 47 | SARDINIA – S(iren) then ARIA around DIN |
| 48 | RHYMER – (merry H)* |
| 49 | CRIB – BIRC(h) reversed |
| 53 | WRINGER – W, RINGER |
| 54 | EVIDENT – ID inside EVENT |
| 56 | GERMANE – GERM, AN E |
| 57 | GREAT RED SPOT – cryptic def with the giant being Jupiter |
| 58 | APOTHECARY – AY, around POT, RACE reversed |
| Down | |
| 1 | PLENTEOUS – (E,E,NOT)* inside PLUS |
| 2 | SWANEE WHISTLE – (what else is new)* |
| 3 | MUSK – M(o)U(s)S(a)K(a) |
| 4 | SODIUM CHLORIDE – NACL (chemical symbol for Sodium Chloride/Salt) is found in barNACLes, and it is itself found in seawater |
| 5 | EGG – EG, (buildin)G |
| 7 | CLAW – C(onservative) , LAW |
| 8 | TRASHINESS – SHINE, inside ART reversed, and SS |
| 9 | ESCARGOT – (RACES)* , GOT |
| 10 | BOOM AND BUST – double def |
| 11 | AMAZEMENT – AT outside MAZE, MEN |
| 12 | NEED – NEE, D |
| 13 | NEUROSIS – SO RUE in SIN, all reversed |
| 19 | CERAMICS – MICS, after C, ERA |
| 21 | PREFER – P, REFER |
| 22 | LIVERISH – double def |
| 23 | USERNAME – US, ERE around NAM |
| 28 | SUPER FLYWEIGHT – SUPER, FLY, W, EIGHT |
| 29 | LATTERLY – (f)LATTERY around L |
| 30 | IDOLATER – message is “I DO LATER” – not sure why it is a cleaner and not a plumber or gardener. Probably missed something |
| 32 | SPANISH ARMADA – cryptic definition referring to Francis Drake’s game of bowls |
| 33 | HATCHWAY – HATCH, WAY |
| 35 | INSIDE RIGHT – INSIDE = banged up, RIGHT = properly |
| 37 | SHIRAZ – SHIR(t), AZ= extremes. |
| 38 | QUIRKINESS – (skin risque)* |
| 40 | CROSSFIRE – CROSS = religious symbol, FIRE = inspire |
| 42 | SUNDRIES – SUN DRIES |
| 44 | SHRUBBERY – SH = belt up, RUBBERY = with elastic |
| 45 | PEDIGREE – (pier edge)* |
| 50 | SWAG – S, WAG |
| 51 | KILO – sounds like KEY, LOW |
| 52 | URGE – (o)U(t)R(i)G(g)E(r) – quite like the use of “evenly” here indicating the even numbered letters, as opposed to the usual ones like alternatively or every other. |
| 55 | TIP – expected by serving waiters as opposed to those in queues. |
34ac: “It’s for the birds” = “It’s unimportant/trivial”
Enjoyed this crossword, though it seems I unaccountably failed to submit it, not that I ever win anything anyway..