* = anagram
ACROSS
1 MELISSA ELI in (MASS)* Good surface with RC Church not having women priests.
5 STOPCOCK STOCK around OP(work) C(about)
9 CORPUS U in CORPS
13 CONVENIENCE STORE CONVENIENCES TORE (rent)
14 MIMOSA M (married) (AM I SO)* Mimosa is a sensitive plant
16 OREAD O READ
17 SET SAIL set = group “sale”
18 BRUTALISE geT AL (Capone) in BRUISE
19 ETHERISES issuE THE RISES
21 COMMEND COMMENCED less CE (Church)
22 AMIGO hidden
23 RIVET (t)RIVET
25 SIDELINES Double definition
27 ENGAGED Double definition (match = wedding)
29 STATEROOM (mottos are)*
31 WINDOW-SHOPPER Cryptic definition, punning on ‘store’
34 STOP-AND-SEARCH (a stern cop’s had)*
35 DANCE BAND Cryptic definition, punning on ‘trip’ = dance
37 OSMOSIS OS and MOSS around I
39 EQUIPMENT QUIP MEN in ET (film)
42 STRAW refers to the “last straw” with a definition also, remnant of harvest
43 GIGUE GIG (d)UE(t)
45 MUGGIER MUGGER around I
47 SLOPPIEST (slips poet)*
49 STEM (stop) CELLS (rooms)
50 NECTARS TAR in NEC’S
52 PASSÉ PASSAGE less Ag (Silver)
54 ORIGIN OR I GIN
55 CHELSEA PENSIONER (ONE SENILE CHAP’S)* ER Former serviceman in a Chelsea hospital in London
56 DREDGE DR EDGE pun on ‘collector’
57 ELEGANCE ELEG(y) A NICE less I
58 SLAVISH Slob LAVISH
DOWN
1 MICROMETRES One-millionth of a metre (CRIMES)* around ROME, arresT
2 LANCE GLANCE less G
3 Stephen SPENDER 31 is WINDOW-SHOPPER
4 A MISS IS AS GOOD AS A MILE e.g. for the punter, to be beaten by a short head is just the same as falling at the first fence (A MISSIS) (a wife) (DO MASSAGE OIL)*
5 SANITISED (IS STAINED)*
6 OMEGA (AGE MO) reversed Definition: the last
7 CATTLEMAN (act mental)*
8 CURABLE RU (Rugby Union) reversed in CABLE
10 OKINAWA O KIN AWA’
11 PROMISING PROM I SING
12 SHAREHOLDER pun on share = ploughshare
15 HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS Used to decorate cakes “paired off in accommodation” – two Cs (hundreds) and two Ms (thousands) are in that word, in each case together.
20 HAVE A GO HAVE(n) A GO (board game)
21 COLD WAR i.e. between East and West after WWII OLD W in CAR
24 THE OAKS One of the classic horse races (for fillies) (HEATS, OK)*
26 SNOOD My last answer – a headband once worn in Scotland. Wordplay refers to the expression ‘cock a snook’ so it’s SNOO(k) Duchess
28 GROVELS GROVES around Leap
30 MY EYE M YE YE
32 NO-HOPER hidden
33 PRAIRIE AIR I.E. after P R definition: plain
34 SMORGASBORD (Bars good Mrs)* Not being too sure how this was spelt held me up a bit until I got crossing entries.
36 DOWN-TO-EARTH definition: practical and realistic. Final stage of astronaut’s journey must be… down to earth.
38 MAGNESITE AGNES in MITE
40 UNION (marriage) FLAG (deteriorate)
41 EASY AS PIE pun on ‘turnover’ = pie
44 ETCHING FETCHING less F
46 GASOHOL LAG reversed around SOHO
48 PAPRIKA (A KIR) reversed after PAP
51 CLEAN Energy in CLAN
53 SINAI S IN A1 Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Law (OT)
c1830 [Remembered in use]. 1894 G. EGERTON Keynotes 137 Little cakes with hundreds and thousands on top. 1922 G. K. CHESTERTON in Illustr. London News 12 Aug. 234/1 There ought not to be anything but a plural for..the sweets called hundreds and thousands. 1932 A. CHRISTIE Thirteen Problems i. 22 ‘Cooks nearly always put hundreds and thousands on trifle, dear,’ she said. ‘Those little pink and white sugar things.’ 1953 DYLAN THOMAS Under Milk Wood (1954) 60 Brandyballs, winegums, hundreds and thousands, liquorice sweet as sick. 1967 N. FREELING Strike Out 87 Little sugary pellets like hundreds and thousands.