I did not find this particularly difficult, as there are a good number of simple starter clues that will get some letters into the grid. Some of the multi-word answers might well be biffed if you happen to be thinking along the right line. I did have to research some of the more obscure allusions, and look up a couple of unlikely words. I did like the literal for class war, but I thought the Wilfred Owen allusion was a bit farfetched.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Old Dutchwoman hiding what’s in certain wrinkle (6) |
| FURROW – F([s]UR[e])ROW. Using the inside of a word not in the clue is definitely advanced wordplay, but this is Mephisto. | |
| 5 | Crumbs — book more of the same (6) |
| BREADS – B + READS. Reads as in the slang word for books. | |
| 10 | Hilarious performance in salt’s boast (10, three words) |
| SHOOT A LINE – S(HOOT)ALINE. Boast as a verb, salt’s as meaning belonging or pertaining to salt. | |
| 12 | Rank hostility from girl and women entering limo, perhaps (8, two words) |
| CLASS WAR – C(LASS,W)AR. | |
| 13 | Overcharge English set for fur (6) |
| OCELOT – O/C + E + LOT. | |
| 14 | Is witch hunt a source of malignancy? (6) |
| SPURGE – ‘S PURGE? Spurge is a highly poisonous plant. | |
| 15 | Actor left out who coughs up? (5) |
| PAYER – P[l]AYER. | |
| 17 | Son with whiskers that is making a fuss in Fife (7) |
| STASHIE – S + TASH + I.E. Tash can also be spelt tache, as you might expect, but the variant spelling is needed to the wordplay. | |
| 19 | Dummy Berliner’s one entering fort (5) |
| FEINT – F(EIN)T. | |
| 20 | Old drinker’s credit is straight, apparently (5) |
| STRAP -STR + AP, both valid abbreviations according to Chambers. | |
| 22 | Offering dad rash creams (7) |
| SRADDHA – Anagram of DAD RASH. I had concluded this might start with sr-, and looked it up; not many words in that section of Chambers. | |
| 27 | Meal is about old-fashioned resolution (5) |
| SEDER – ‘S + REDE backwards. | |
| 28 | One for doomed youth and no longer those people (6) |
| ANTHEM – AN + THEM. An is an archaic dialect form of and. The literal alludes to a poem by Wilfred Owen. | |
| 29 | Earl returned constant old ogle (6) |
| EYLIAD – E + DAILY backwards. An epic poem in which the Greeks check out Helen of Troy? | |
| 30 | Musha! Be last amidst glasses of beer (8) |
| BEJABERS – BE + JA(BE)RS. A jar is given as a glass of beer in Chambers. Last probably refers to the prior word – well, that’s my theory. | |
| 31 | A souther blowing up hems in Maghreb — one can’t be ignored (10, three words) |
| A SORE THUMB – Anagram of A SOUTHER + M[aghre]B. | |
| 32 | TS Eliot’s first blasted set being the cause of lethargy? (6) |
| TSE TSE – T.S.E + anagram of SET. | |
| 33 | Lacking husband, looker needles wife leaving so criticises (6) |
| DISSES – DIS[h] + SE[w]S. The literal is a bit off, although some dictionary probably gives that meaning; Chambers does not. | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Flipping signal frequency kills settings (6, two words) |
| F STOPS – S/F backwards + TOPS. | |
| 2 | Thread developed on prayer (8, two words) |
| ROPE YARN – Anagram of ON PRAYER. | |
| 3 | King of Britain almost without oaks (6) |
| ROBLES – R O’ B + LES[s]. | |
| 4 | Lieutenant trapped by established routine is inclined to roll (5) |
| WALTY – WA(LT)Y. Many setters would have been tempted by waltz. | |
| 5 | Black line for male in original expert at levelling? (7) |
| BLASTER – B + (-m,+L)ASTER. As in the master copy. | |
| 6 | Term for beasties in handfuls of grass grates for Scots (5) |
| RISPS -RI(beastie]S)PS. | |
| 7 | Being acceptable to society concerning guarantee (6) |
| ENSURE – ENS + U + RE, a compendium of the usual cryptic suspects. | |
| 8 | Plant in a garden do oddly gaining height (10) |
| DRAGONHEAD – Anagram of GARDEN DO + H. | |
| 9 | Small and perhaps spruce gent finally finding a way (6) |
| STREET – S + TREE + [gen]T. | |
| 11 | Dropping points leading to some instability (10) |
| SCATTINESS -SCAT + TINES + S[ome]. | |
| 16 | The bard’s to treat leniently as I did of us strangely (8) |
| FIDDIOUS – Anagram of I DID OF US. | |
| 18 | Correspondent segment — one that will do club (7) |
| ISOMERE – I + SO + MERE, where mere is a Maori club. | |
| 20 | Fish is a bass in form (6, two words) |
| SEA BAT – SE(A, B)AT. I’m not sure how seat means form – the closest meaning in Chambers is to establish. | |
| 21 | Stunned Ottoman leader with stone (6) |
| AGHAST – AGHA + ST. | |
| 23 | Of Latin editions, discounting popular special charges (6) |
| DELPHS – DELPH[in] + S. Charges in the sense of heraldic charges, in this case a piece of sod. The Delphin was an edition of Latin classics published in France. | |
| 24 | Measures of ravelled breads (6) |
| ARDEBS – Anagram of BREADS, giving a measure of volume in the Middle East. | |
| 25 | Some awesome bosses dried fruit (5) |
| MEBOS – Hidden in [aweso]ME BOS[ses]. They’re dried apricots. | |
| 26 | Poet’s branded first principle about rule (5) |
| SERED – SE(R)ED. | |
This was evidently posted before completion.
My complaint is that SERE is listed in my Chambers app as alternative spelling for “sear” in the sense of “Dry and withered” but not in the sense of “burning” or “to brand.”
Yes, I somehow hit the wrong button – sorry about that.
Yes, I only discovered the Wilfred Owen poem thru working this puzzle.
Chambers has as definition 24 of “form” “A long seat or bench.”
My take on BE as “last” was definition 6, “to remain or continue without change.”
Let’s hear it for CLASS WAR!