Careful cluing does not occasion much comment, besides commendation. I did enjoy solving this.
The four 12-letter solutions across the middle certainly helped move along the solving process.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | TAB |
Drug not quite banned (3)
|
| TAB[U] (banned) minus last letter (not quite) | ||
| 4 | GREAT DANE |
Dog Day Afternoon originally named after star (9, 2 words)
|
| GREAT (star) + D (day) + A (afternoon) + NÉ (originally named), with a capitalization misdirection | ||
| 10 | BIOGAS |
Fuel‘s influence retaining energy on the way back (6)
|
| BIAS (influence) around (retaining) GO (energy) reversed (on the way back) | ||
| 11 | ANIME |
Japanese style of gum (5)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 13 | RATAN |
Who can tell what’s essential for cane? This is (5)
|
| RAT ([someone] who can tell) + inside letters of (what’s essential for) [C]AN[E], with a semi-&lit aspect, “ratan” being an alternate spelling of “rattan,” i.e., “a cane made from the stem,” according to Chambers. | ||
| 14 | ANIL |
Precursor to A1 dye? (4)
|
| If items listed in a series are designated A0, A1, A2, . . . , then the precursor to A1 is A0, or “A NIL“ | ||
| 15 | ETON MESS |
Sweet comment about Old Master (8, 2 words)
|
| NOTE (comment) reversed (about) + MESS (master), listed in Chambers as “obsolete,” thus “old,” with a capitalization misdirection | ||
| 17 | KELPIE |
Australian sheepdog that is chasing seaweed (6)
|
| KELP (seaweed) + I.E. (that is) | ||
| 19 | IN YOUR DREAMS |
Dancing around misery that is highly unlikely (12, 3 words)
|
| Anagram of (dancing) AROUND MISERY | ||
| 21 | HORSEMANSHIP |
Criminal hears SIM shortened phone hacking ability? (12)
|
| Anagram of (criminal) {HEARS + SIM + PHON[E] minus last letter (shortened)} | ||
| 24 | SHOTTE |
Maybe stroke skin of tense young pig (6)
|
| SHOT (maybe stroke, as in golf, perhaps) + outside letters of (skin of) T[ENS]E. A variant of “shoat,” this is listed in Chambers under the entry for a different variant “shote,” but not under “shoat” itself. | ||
| 26 | SIBLINGS |
Some blood diamonds, say, seized by MI6 (8)
|
| BLING (diamonds, say) inside (seized by) SIS (MI6) | ||
| 28 | ACER |
Maple syrup’s core is beside the point (4)
|
| ACE ([a single] point) + middle letter of (core [of]) [SY]R[UP] | ||
| 29 | CAPED |
At first Catwoman did like Batman (5)
|
| First letter of (at first) C[ATWOMAN] + APED (did) | ||
| 30 | BELLE |
Cracker abruptly made a loud sound (5)
|
| BELLE[D] (made a loud sound) minus last letter (abruptly) | ||
| 31 | ALARUM |
Sound warning about returning Banksy work? (6)
|
| A (about) + MURAL (Banksy work) reversed (returning) | ||
| 32 | SKINNY DIP |
Barely crawl, perhaps bound to either side of hotel yard (9)
|
| SKIP (bound) around (to either side of) {INN (hotel) + YD (yard)} with a slightly whimsical definition, “crawl” here referring to the swimming stroke | ||
| 33 | RED |
Rubbish wine (3)
|
| Double definition | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | TERAKIHIS |
Bats take Irish fish to eat (9)
|
| Anagram of (bats) TAKE IRISH | ||
| 2 | ABATE |
Temper of airborne goddess (5)
|
| A/B (airborne) + ATE (goddess) | ||
| 3 | BITO |
Piece of fruit (4)
|
| BIT (piece) + O’ (of) | ||
| 4 | GOALPOST |
Upright girl accepting love with speed (8)
|
| {GAL (girl) around (accepting) O (love)} + POST (with speed) | ||
| 5 | EASTER MONDAY |
Name relating to Father used by some in simple Christian observance (12, 2 words)
|
| {TERM (name) + ON (relating to) + DA (father, listed in Chambers as “dialect,” thus “used by some”)} inside (in) EASY (simple) | ||
| 6 | AS GOOD AS GOLD |
Virtually or entirely well-behaved (12, 4 words)
|
| AS GOOD AS (virtually) + OR (gold) | ||
| 7 | TANNER |
Who beats four penny-farthings with four rags? (6)
|
| Double definition, the first referring to the verb “tan,” which is synonymous with “beat,” and the second referring to obsolete coinage: a “tanner” was a sixpence coin, a “farthing” was a 1/4 penny coin, and a “rag” was a farthing, so fourpence plus four farthings plus four rags would equal sixpence, i.e., a tanner | ||
| 8 | ÂINÉE |
French senior apprentice not needing translator (5)
|
| [TR]AINEE (apprentice) minus (not needing) TR. (translator) | ||
| 9 | EEL |
Fish evenly cut at regular intervals (3)
|
| E[V]E[N]L[Y] minus alternate letters (cut at regular intervals) | ||
| 12 | MISHMI |
I’m repeatedly covering High School up, with something bitter beneath the surface (6)
|
| [{I’M + I’M} (I’m repeatedly) around (covering) HS (High School)] all inverted (up) | ||
| 16 | SUSPENDED |
Hanging begged to go around shed (9)
|
| SUED (begged) around (to go around) SPEND (shed) | ||
| 18 | MESOCARP |
Answer to the clue for 3 compares badly (8)
|
| Anagram of (badly) COMPARES, i.e., the fleshy, edible part of a fruit, referring to 3D in this puzzle | ||
| 20 | NOVICE |
Heartless violence confused recent convert (6)
|
| Anagram of (confused) VIO[LE]NCE minus middle letters (heartless) | ||
| 22 | EPIPEN |
Nurse holding tube in organ is a life-saver (6)
|
| EN ([Enrolled] Nurse) around (holding) PIPE (tube in organ) | ||
| 23 | OBELI |
No saving first and last two daggers (5)
|
| [N]OBELI[UM] (No) minus (saving) first and last two [letters] | ||
| 25 | THEME |
Subject of article on Gemelo (5)
|
| THE (article) + ME (Gemelo) | ||
| 27 | SPUR |
Macron’s above admitting pressure to push on (4)
|
| SÛR ([Emmanuel] Macron’s above, i.e., in French) around (admitting) P (pressure) | ||
| 28 | ABS |
It’s safer to drive with this six- pack? (3)
|
| Double definition |