I didn’t find this one particularly difficult – there are a lot of common words in the answers, even thought some of the clues are a bit obscure. As I recall, I knocked it off in one sitting, taking about 80 minutes.
Some of the parsing were not so easy, however, and there are some I am not sure of. Audience participation is invited! I also can’t make heads or tails of Paul’s pun this week, if there is one.
| Across | |
| 1 | Return of hooter ahead of work’s end causes criticism (5) |
| KNOCK -CONK backwards + [wor]K. This is conk(1) in Chambers, the nose. | |
| 5 | Win account with energy in place of great industry (7) |
| ACHIEVE – A/C + HI(E)VE. | |
| 10 | Conspicuous chap pushed off on the other side once (11, three words) |
| OVER THE LEFT – OVERT + HE + LEFT. I didn’t really get this, being unfamiliar with the expression, but it was an obvious biff. | |
| 12 | A pot runs freely for Rab C’s cuppa (8) |
| STROUPAN – Anagram of A POT RUNS. | |
| 13 | Scots serve relish (4) |
| SAIR – Double definition. | |
| 14 | Bait full of English grain (5) |
| RAGEE – RAG(E)E. Bait is evidently a slang word for rage, given in Chambers. | |
| 16 | Professional who salts old mackerel (8) |
| PROCURER – PRO CURER. Mackerel is an old slang word for a pimp. | |
| 18 | Female is accepted by one to advise person up on animals (7) |
| FAUNIST – F + AUN(IS)T, as in an agony aunt. | |
| 20 | Particularly graceful horse leading a carriage (5) |
| ARABA – ARAB + A. | |
| 22 | Play around beside mattress (5) |
| FUTON – FU(TO)N. | |
| 23 | Busy loos are getting a spray (7) |
| AEROSOL – Anagram of LOOS ARE. | |
| 24 | Determined aged sins in a new way (8) |
| ASSIGNED – Anagram of AGED SINS. | |
| 27 | Raunchy ode that’s been cut short in past (5) |
| BAWDY – B(AWD[l])Y. An awdl is a Welsh ode, as you can probably tell by the L on the end! | |
| 29 | Aware of directly avoiding present (4, two words) |
| ON TO – |
|
| 30 | Bureau finally sacked one who tests old charger (8) |
| DESTRIER – DES[k] + TRIER. | |
| 31 | Conundrum about series that was out in the mid-afternoon? (11) |
| TEA STRAINER -TEAS(TRAIN)ER. | |
| 32 | Shed’s front with loads of locks gets you uptight (7) |
| STRESSY – S[hed] + TRESSY. | |
| 33 | French on, oh, returning deity (5) |
| SURYA – SUR + AY backwards. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Is section in sailing boat to go west (7, two words) |
| KISS OFF – K(IS, S)OFF. A koff is an old Dutch sailing boat. | |
| 2 | Checked over a custom zip (11, three words) |
| NOT A SAUSAGE – SAT ON backwards + A USAGE. | |
| 3 | Commoner once caught by Anglo-Saxon noble (5) |
| CEORL – C + EORL. Ceolas und eorlas, of course, is a well-know half-line in Anglo-Saxon verse, so this was a write-in for me. | |
| 4 | Dancing turned dark on whistle (8) |
| KRUMPING – MURK backwards + PING. | |
| 5 | Ace snatched up being of face value (5, two words) |
| AT PAR – A + RAPT upside-down. | |
| 6 | Fruit from old hedge stuffed into shelter (7) |
| CHAYOTE – C(HAY)OTE. | |
| 7 | Bones trouble one getting up (4) |
| ILIA – AIL I upside down. | |
| 8 | What grows in the main? Largesse surprisingly (8) |
| EELGRASS – Anagram of LARGESSE. | |
| 9 | With it this gas could show the extent of your endurance say (5) |
| ETHER – [‘t]ETHER, I suspect. Other interpretations may be possible. A rare ‘literal in the middle’ clue, which are not so rare in Mephisto clues. | |
| 11 | Buccaneering bold Boer holding up to end in Kimberley (11) |
| FREEBOOTERY – FREE + BO(TO upside-down)ER + [kimberle]Y | |
| 15 | Overcome by cursing ways to avoid clobber (8) |
| OUTSWEAR – OUTS + WEAR, as in menswear. | |
| 17 | Heart trouble or perhaps an affliction of eccentricity? (8) |
| CARDITIS – Double definition, one from the Uxbridge dictionary. | |
| 19 | People who polish ornamental wood (7) |
| SANDERS – Double definition; sanders is a word for sandalwood. | |
| 21 | New cola recipe with slices of zest added the icing for Spaniards (7) |
| ALCORZA – Anagram of COLA + R + Z[est] A[dded]. | |
| 24 | Suffering conversion beast makes good (5) |
| ABETS – Anagram of BEAST. | |
| 25 | Study that’s held back by primary assembly (5) |
| ESSAY – Backwards hidden in [primar]Y ASSE[mbly]. | |
| 26 | Copper nabbing Oscar, hollow rotten process which stands out (5) |
| CORNU – C(O,R[otte]N)U. | |
| 28 | Heartlessly put out something unpleasant (4) |
| DOSE – DO[u]SE. | |
At 33ac, I had HORUS, which of course made several downs impossible.
I was wondering about “it” and ETHER. This seems a typical Mephisto ploy and I sure can’t think of anything else.
Very near finished, with a doubtful KISS-OFF and SA_R. Found SAiR as variant for “serve” in a Scots dictionary online and also for “sore” but not “relish”—that is “saur.”
Might the pun be “Neckerchief”?
I wondered if 29ac ON TO, was “PRONTO” – PR.
Chambers has “pr.” as an abbreviation for “present”. And “pronto” is defined as a slang adverb “promptly, quickly”, which could also mean “directly”?
Your route to the answer is the intended one.
I also put HORUS in at the start and slowed myself down but not for too long. Fun puzzle.
Certainly a majority of known knowns in this one, indeed, OVER THE LEFT caused me most head scratching because although the WP was pretty clear I couldn’t see how the phrase would word and didn’t trust it. HORUS was so obviously the answer it was a surprise when it wasn’t
I found this one a bit more difficult than some with 4 clues I couldn’t suss out the parsing (22, 29 ac; 11, 25 dn). On the up side I did complete it correctly. Ceorl was also an instant write-in having come up recently in a conversional Anglo-Saxon course I’ve been amusing myself with.