Welcome (I think) to Chalicea (aka Shirley Curran) as part of the Spectator setter team. She’s set intriguingly for the Guardian, Telegraph, Listener and Enigmatic Variations. A gentle solve – though, despite my grandfather coming from Tiree, I had to consult Wikipedia for a couple of the unclued.
The instructions say: the unclued lights are a small fraction of almost 800. It transpired that the almost 800 are Scottish islands (keys of the Kingdom – which Scotland once was). Wikipedia tells me there are around 900 but I suppose it depends who’s counting and what counts … Once I got Benbecula, the trail was clear.
The unclued entries are MINGULAY (1a) JURA (8a) BENBECULA (18a) SKYE (29a) IONA (21a) SOAY (41a) VATERSAY (42a) ARRAN (22d) FAIR ISLE (23d) and STAFFA (33d)
The finished grid looks like this:
Across
12 Oilmen rail about petroleum product (7,3)
MINERAL OIL
Anagram (about) of OILMEN RAIL. Unfortunate that OIL appears in the clue …
13 Came across religious instruction chapter consisting of verses (6)
METRIC
MET (came across) + RI (Religious Instruction) + C (chapter) – thanks to Hector
14 Bleat including angry tirade for this plant? (7)
MARANTA
MAA (the bleat of a goat, according to Chambers) including RANT (angry tirade)
15 Tea urns of Salvation Army medic, very apt resources, say, for starters (8)
SAMOVARS
First letters (for starters) of Salvation Army Medic Very Apt Resources Say … but the O doesn’t seem to be clued.
19 Et voilà! He’s poetry in motion (3,6)
HEY PRESTO
Anagram (in motion) of HE’S POETRY. Definition: what a magician says in revealing his trick – et voila
20 Limit river level (4)
TIER
TIE (limit – in the sense of restrain) + R (river)
24 Father informally taking in socially acceptable northern islander (6)
PAPUAN
PAPA father informally) taking in U (socially acceptable, according to Nancy Mitford) + N (nothern)
27 Theatre alarms occasionally forbidden under Islamic law (6)
HARAAM
Alternate letters (occasionally) of tHeAtRe AlArMs. Haraam means forbidden under Islamic law
30 Endless source of irritation for god (4)
THOR
THORN (source of irritation without its end)
32 Medical specialist to bury benevolent creature with emotion at heart (9)
INTERNIST
INTER (bury) + NIS (a benevolent creature in Scandinavian folklore) + T (emoTion at heart). An internist is a specialist in internal diseases
34 Skilled worker, salesperson, and aviator (9)
REPAIRMAN
REP (salesperson) + AIRMAN (aviator)
37 Tree feller’s a civic dignitary (8)
ELDERMAN
ELDER (tree) + MAN (feller)
38 Wee juvenile with scruffy sty (7)
TEENTSY
TEEN (juvenile) + TSY – anagram (scruffy) of STY
39 Somewhat disdainful son, smelling awful (6)
SNIFFY
S (son) + NIFFY (smelling awful)
40 Join end to end quantities of cloth, final items (10)
TAILPIECES
TAIL (join end to end) + PIECES (quantities of cloth)
Down
1 Upset Punjabi has memory that includes form of address (8)
MEMSAHIB
Hidden (that includes) in PunjaBIHASMEMory reversed (upset)
2 Cold period I endured initially in prison (3,3)
ICE AGE
I + E (endured initially) in CAGE (prison)
3 Female cut short outsize income payments (5)
GIROS
GIR (girl cut short) + OS (outsize)
4 Calvinist ruse I dismantled, tending towards doctrine of salvation for all (14)
UNIVERSALISTIC
Anagram (dismantled) of CALVINIST RUSE I
5 Check incorporating originally missing bit of chair (7)
ARMREST
ARREST (check) around (incorporating) Missing originally
6 Be buoyed up around beginnings of abnormal tidal bore in this? (8)
FLATBOAT
FLOAT (be buoyed up) around first letters (beginnings) of Abnormal Tidal Bore
7 Perkier ex-con we sorted out in training scheme (4,10)
WORK EXPERIENCE
Anagram (sorted out) of PERKIEREXCONWE
9 Bone’s dull snap after skinning (4)
ULNA
Middle letters (after skinning) of dULl sNAp
10 Conductor’s racket (6)
RATTLE
Double definition, the conductor being Sir Simon Rattle
11 Incarnation of backsliding renegade, a vice-admiral (6)
AVATAR
Reverse (backsliding) of RAT +A +VA (vice-admiral)
16 Sudden attack, part of dramatic tussle (5)
ICTUS
Hidden in (part of) dramatIC TUSsle
17 Cooked many a bird (4)
MYNA
Anagram (cooked) of MANY
25 A Chinese weight of a similar character (4)
AKIN
A +KIN (Chinese weight)
26 Repeated expression of surprise about school’s figure of speech (8)
METONYMY
MY + MY (repeated expression of surprise) around (about) ETON (school). Metonymy is the use of part of something to represent the whole, such as “the stage” for theatre.
28 Worried alto, GI with advanced ear problem (7)
OTALGIA
Anagram (worried) of ALTO GI +A (advanced)
30 Accepted beliefs, empty theories involving pity (6)
TRUTHS
T S (empty theories) around (involving) RUTH (pity)
31 Bantu person, man with courage embodying energy and resistance (6)
HERERO
HERO (man with courage) around (embodying) E (energy) + R (resistance). The herero live in Nimibia
35 Milton’s monk’s pan for cooking in oil (5)
FRIER
Double definition, the first being Milton’s word for friar
36 Predict a star and constellation (4)
BETA
BET (predict) + A
I was delighted to see a Chalicea Spectator as I was in the mood for something gentle. Although I enjoyed the puzzle, this was marred slightly by a tiny little… dissatisfaction with the first and last clues. In 1 Across, it was unfortunate, as Prospero says, that ‘oil’ was in both the clue and the answer. For 36 Down, my grandson told me that Beta isn’t a constellation, but the brightest star in a constellation – and Chambers seems to confirm this. Still, it was nice to have a new setter (for the Spectator) and the theme itself was charming – so thanks, Chalicea!
13a: RI (religious instruction) and c (chapter) are separate abbreviations (both in Chambers), so I don’t think we need an indicator of first letters.