The Sunday Crossword No 3343, Sunday 02 Feb 2025

ACROSS

1   No trace of husband or nephew in Hibernia or lands further south (6) IBERIA hIBERnIA

5   Six slices of tripe set alongside old Spanish bread (6) PESETA [T]

8   Spooner tells us one seasoning food’s approaching being delightful (2,4,2,3) AS NICE AS PIE (~ a spicer's nigh to as nice as pie)

11 Scarlet towers over not-so-bright stars (3,6) RED DWARFS {RED}{DWARFS}

12 Overly loud American, looking back, going on (5) AFOOT {TOO}{F}{A}<=

13 Philippine city’s enthralling student paper (7) MANILLA {MANIL{L}A}

14 They split – to do the reverse! (7) ELOPERS (Run away to join) 

15 Called out: Starter’s cooking – taste? (7) SOUPCON (~soup's on)

17 Earl, scoundrel, overcome by booze, making misstep (7) ERRATUM {E}{R{RAT}UM}

20 Morning deity rejected doctrine (5) DOGMA {AM}{GOD}<=

21 Quack, then maraud wildly in a kind of story (9) DOCUDRAMA {DOC}{MARAUD*}

22 Creating three of M*A*S*H’s characters? (11) ASTERISKING Definition by example

23 Bride’s delirious, in bits (6) DEBRIS*

24 In southeast, Dutch to leave S African grassland thin (6) SVELTE {S{VELdT}E}

DOWN

2   Solve this clue to beget grand urban construction! (11,4) BRANDENBURG GATE* &lit

3   Second life for polystyrene wall filling (7) RENEWAL [T]

4   Verify eccentric Cartesian (9) ASCERTAIN*

5   Fruit and asparagus tip falling to the floor (5) PEARS (-s)PEAR(+s)S

6   See opera – ENO – never seeing energy in its star? (7) SOPRANO {See+OPeRA+eNO}

7   Sherlock’s defining characteristic heard in final moments (3,4,8) THE HOME STRAIGHT (~the holme's trait)

9   School leavers’ event in which patriotic songs belted out at last? (4) PROM (From 'Last Night of the Proms')

10 Occupying this inventor? Safety, principally! (4) OTIS Acrostic &lit

14 Troubles, including yoga, tai chi etc (9) EXERCISES [DD]

15 Does the groundwork for gits? (4) SODS [DD]

16 He makes little effort, braggart downgraded at first (7) COASTER (-b+c)COASTER

18 About to eat, having swallowed whiskey and claret (3,4) RED WINE {RE}{D{W}INE}

19 Everyman getting fourth of rounds, suppressing touch of angst, reluctant to pay (4) MEAN {ME}{rouNds} over {Angst}

21 Reads about faces (5) DARES*

Reference List

Husband = H, Nephew = N, Loud = F, American = A, Student = L, Earl = E, Dutch = D, Energy = E, About = RE

No 14397, Saturday 1 Feb 2025, Avtaar

 ACROSS

1 Approach without struggle from the moment you are seeking to master "Avtaar's Special" (6) AHIMSA {AH{I'M S}A}
5 Leek is wholly covered by shoot (8) SCALLION {SC{ALL}ION}

9 Fresh discharge over lake, silting every now and then (5-3) SPLIT-NEW {SP{L}IT}{N{Every}oW} {SP{L}{sIlTiNg}EW see comments
10 Hoist implanted with a power tool soft earth that is used for cutting grain (6) REAPER {REA{P}{E}R} E from? See comments

11 Habit is loose and not secure (6,6) SECOND NATURE*
13 Go, chasing the origin of Excalibur sword (4) EPEE {PEE}<=>{Excalibur}

14 Complete tally of banks in Timbuktu almost botched (3,5) SUM TOTAL {TimbuktU ALMOST}*
17 Portion of meat, cut noodles and batter with filling of oil (8) PASTRAMI {PASTa}{RAM}{oIl}

18 Tongue, eyes, thumbs, nails (4) ESTH [T] Chambers gives Esth as Esthonian, Estonian
20 Territory in the Pacific Ocean - land with uncapped view, possibly? (3,9) NEW CALEDONIA

{OCEAN LAND vIEW}* Semi &Lit

23 Master, I cracked spans of atoms' arrangement in molecules (6) STERIC [T]
24 Uncharacteristic mistake - missing zero - by head for accounting - one hundred thousand's taken back (8) ATYPICAL {TYPo}<=>{Accounting}+{I}{LAC<}
25 Pen essays without preface about pairings of chromosomes (8) SYNAPSES {PEN eSSAYS}*
26 Moving story? (6) CINEMA [CD]

DOWN
2 Wish age gets reversed after leaving college (4) HOPE {EPOcH<}
3 Yacht's cable is then fixed above a case of marble (9) MAINSHEET {IS THEN A MarblE}*

4 A nurse is concocting aromatics, principally for a solution to treat bruises (6) ARNICA {A}{RN}{Is}{Concocting}{Aromatics}
5 Two lads in Soweto, getting high after taking time off with girls, finally indulge in excesses (3,4,4,4) SOW ONE'S WILD OATS {TWO LADS IN SOWEtO}*{girlS}
6 Initials and header missing in text by a friend (8) ACRONYMS {sMS}<=>{A CRONY}
7 Bent limb cut by soldier (5) LEANT  {LEg}{ANT}
8 Makes too much fuss about revised core values essentially missing basics of team spirit resolution (10) OVERREACTS Anno not clear {CORE VAluES Team Resolution}* See comments
12 Ask for sealing a break on the surface (10) APPARENTLY {APP{A RENT}LY}
15 Enterprise dealing with checking metric for valuing stock (9) OPERATION O{P/E RATIO}N
16 Catches herds crossing old ground (8) PADLOCKS {PACKS} over {OLD}*
19 Working together in any case, after Australia, America and Spain dropped bombs (2,4) IN SYNC {IN}{aNY CaSe}*
21 Agents taking over old town in the Papal court (5) CURIA {C{UR}IA}
22 Lady's expression of loathing disregarded by British writer (4) MAAM MAughAM

REFERENCE LIST

Special=S, Lake=L, Power=P, Zero=O, One=I, Hundred Thousand=Lac, College=C, Nurse=RN (Registered Nurse), Time=T, Australia, America=A, Spain=E