No 9496, Thursday, 02 Apr 09, Nita Jaggi

Coming back after a computer crash is like being back from the dead. Lost one of my drives and a lot of important data. Anyhow todays crossword is a ho-hum one with some of the clues being just inexcusable
ACROSS
1 - Confused opera piper led in a neat manner (5-3,5) - APPLE-PIE ORDER*
8 - Father turns back for a respite to order the first course of a meal (9) - AP<-PETISER*
9 - Actions taken on legal documents (5) - DEEDS [CD]
10 - Plain artist has one caught in anger (7) - {P}{RA}IR{I}E
12 - South Island has the main kind of monkey (6) - {SI}MIAN*
14 - Fruit drink for a crowd of people (5) - CRUSH [2]
16 - Mammals measure up to twenty incomplete squares (4) - EL<-KS Don't ask me for the annotation of KS !!
19 - Head nurse to copy the back side of the neck (4) - {N}APE
20 - Born in Alabama on Tuesday, an explorer gets a large bird (9) - AL{B}A{T}{ROSS}
21 - Leader in charge of the ceiling decoration (4) - BOSS [2]
22 - Cast perform some parts of the play (4) - ACTS*
25 - Subjects of study in software assignments (5) - AREAS [T]
27 - Jade in to last for long in the space station (6) - SALYUT Annotation eludes me
29 - Scholarly king on the little horse (7) - LEAR{NED}
32 - Emperor protects a wild ass (5) - KI{A}NG
33 - People not present have seen a best form (9) - ABSENTEES*
34 - Real speedy tax developed in a worse manner (13) - EXASPERATEDLY*
DOWN
2 - Leader’s short speech to boost confidence (3,4) - PEP TALK [CD]
3 - Subsequently — an unpunctual monarch (5) - LATE{R}
4 - Mounted up the lady on the side of a pram (6) - PU<-{SHE}{R} This clue has uneasy connotations
5 - Royal Navy after each to work hard for money (4) - EA{RN}
6 - Rhode Island covers a notice on single line segments (5) - R{AD}{I}I
7 - Welcome celebrities on a coloured rug (3,6) - RED CARPET [CD]
8 - Have enough of an unopened specimen for analysis (5) - (-s)AMPLE
11 - In charge of the oriental snake in the vessel (7) - {IC}{E}BOAT
12 - Talk in a friendly way to a quiet animal (7) - SH?O?SE (Addendum - {SH}MOOSE Some indicator needed to give a hint that this was a variant because I thought it should be spelt as SCHMOOZE or SCHMOOSE)
13 - People in South Africa have an organization for the very intelligent (5) - MEN{SA}
15 - Loosen the odd gunny twines (5) - {U}{N}{T}{I}{E} [T]
17 - A double for an actor (4,5) - LOOK ALIKE [CD]
18 - Disrespectful German soldier is in to request (5) - SA{SS}Y
23 - Hide the fact from the commander in a clean manner (7) - {CO}NCEAL*
24 - Borders of a liner around a fish (5) - S{IDE}S
26 - Gangster to request before a state (6) - AL{ASK}A The Aurora Borealis in the photo at the link looks terrific
28 - Strong desires from four gestures (5) - URGES [T]
30 - Girl terribly inane (5) - ANNIE*
31 - Losing heart to sculpt the hollow enclosure (4) - CA(-r)VE