This one was not too bad, although I gave up after an hour and went to bed. I finished it off pretty quickly the next morning.
There were a couple I couldn’t parse while solving, so I had to research them for the blog. I think my explanations are now fairly correct – let me know if you think otherwise.
| Across | |
| 1 | Bird running wasn’t emu (8, two words) |
| MUTE SWAN – Anagram of WASN’T EMU. | |
| 7 | Begs to remove a valuation that’s out of date (4) |
| PRYS – PR[a]YS, some Spenser for you. | |
| 10 | Box of pills at home has run out (4) |
| INRO – IN + R + O, a Japanese box of pills often found in US puzzles. | |
| 11 | Old embroidery, thoroughly elaborate (6, two words) |
| WORK UP – WORK + UP. Yes, UP meaning thoroughly is in Chambers. | |
| 13 | One strange idea placing bird within lizard family (9) |
| IGUANIDAE – I (GUAN) anagram of IDEA. | |
| 14 | In revolt in South Africa, new village head (5) |
| ZUPAN – Z(UP)A + N. | |
| 17 | Like a horse fool did shoe badly (11) |
| SOLID-HOOFED – Anagram of FOOL DID SHOE. | |
| 18 | One of the starlings, some millions wheeling (4) |
| MYNA – ANY M backwards. | |
| 19 | Stop broadcasting right after signal (7, two words) |
| SIGN OFF – SIGN + OFF, as in the off side of the field in cricket, which is the right side for a right-handed batter. | |
| 21 | Mushroom bloomed … it must have sun (7) |
| BLEWITS – BLEW + IT + S. | |
| 22 | Regularly query Dutch language (4) |
| URDU – [q]U[e]R[Y] + DU. | |
| 24 | Take away armoured fighting vehicles to break up? (11) |
| UNMECHANIZE – Literalist cryptic hint for the meaning of disorganize. | |
| 28 | Moon’s age at New Year, something agreed on by earth (5) |
| EPACT – E + PACT. | |
| 30 | Have briefly to interrupt oddly distant millenarian (9) |
| ADVENTIST – Anagram of DISTANT around ‘VE, as used in I’ve and we’ve. | |
| 31 | Some feline pet adores this? (6) |
| NEPETA – Hidden in [feli]NE PET A[dores]. Catnip, apparently. | |
| 32 | Recurrent fuss about English concert halls (4) |
| ODEA – ADO backwards around E. | |
| 33 | Mountain goat territory involves height (4) |
| TEHR – TE(H)R. | |
| 34 | Watches county game’s beginning (8, two words) |
| EYES DOWN – EYES + DOWN, an Irish county. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Wretched driver missing last couple (4) |
| MIZZ – MIZZ[en]…..I think. | |
| 2 | One local detective, not fully employed (6) |
| UNBUSY – UN BUSY. | |
| 3 | Bacterium on the rise: conclude flourishing is without oxygen (9) |
| TREPONEMA – AMEN (O) PERT upside-down. | |
| 4 | Facing sit-in, desperately symbolic (11) |
| SIGNIFICANT – Anagram of FACING SIT-IN. | |
| 5 | Weak old northern Scotch thistle heads — something like wilt? (7) |
| WOULDST – W + OULD + S[cotch] T[histle]. | |
| 6 | A deviation off course arising continuously (4) |
| AWAY – A + YAW upside-down. I don’t see AWAY as continuously, but it’s one of the first definitions in Chambers. | |
| 7 | I am brought in for first part (5) |
| PRIMO – PR(I’M)O. | |
| 8 | Chinese ready denial over hiding uranium (4) |
| YUAN – NAY backwards containing U. | |
| 9 | Rapid drug treatment for flu (8) |
| SPEEDFUL – SPEED + anagram of FLU. | |
| 12 | Tumour formation goes on since receiving treatment (11) |
| ONCOGENESIS – Anagram of GOES ON SINCE. | |
| 15 | Forced change editor might make in agonizing on ad changes (9) |
| SFORZANDO – S FOR Z + anagram ON AD, a cryptic echoing some recent TfTT discussions on spelling. | |
| 16 | Before noon, tense doctor enters hall walking (8) |
| AMBULANT – A(MB)ULA + N + T. | |
| 20 | Dye product that is protecting silk (7) |
| ISATINE – I.(SATIN)E. | |
| 23 | Enticed outside the City, the old make less (6) |
| DECREW – D(E.C.)REW, ye olde poste code. | |
| 25 | Title for ruler, old uncle to the late queen (5) |
| EMEER – EME + E.R. | |
| 26 | Plan of Paris: in the centre, Seine river (4) |
| IDEE – [Se]I[ne] + DEE. | |
| 27 | Remain isolated, losing heart (4) |
| STAY – ST[r]AY, as in a stray idea. | |
| 29 | A canned vegetable dish (4) |
| TIAN – TI(A)N. | |
6a: AWAY =CONTINUOUSLY, as in “He prattled away for the best part of an hour.”
Didn’t have a clue about UNMECHANIZE, though it couldn’t be anything else, but I now see on checking that MECHANIZE is defined as “to provide with armoured armed vehicles.”
I managed to fat-finger WUULDST, so one pink square, but this was a lot of fun. UNMECHANIZE required a deeper dive into Chambers, as did finding MIZZEN as a driver on a sail.