A trio of unclued lights (four words, one with an apostrophe) gave rise to another trio found in four further unclued lights (eight words in total), all of which featured the two remaining unclued lights.
Across
1 Suspect fine spray having corrosion (8)
9 Assessment of arrangement of a tune and a viol (10)
14 Flower that’s popular with Nationalist (3)
16 Firm fish penned? (6)
17 Ethiopian king’s drink (5)
18 Chap welcome to retch (5)
20 Soup – broth’s mixed with bit of cabbage (7)
22 Two dramas – one cut – failure (7, hyphened)
24 Not very much of article by violinist, Tasmin (7, two words)
25 Small measure of herring as provisions (5)
26 In dismay I robustly rejected such language (5)
31 Poor Fleeson, personally (7)
33 King and emperor showing no love for novice (7)
37 Having docked, go on board and stop once (5)
39 Perfect language is spoken (6)
40 One and the same vow (3, two words)
41 Doc in Nairn distributing maize (10, two words)
42 Witness was back in the playground (6)
43 Possible 22, grounded roughly (8)
Down
2 Tale about island antelope (5)
3 Makes an approach and incurs debts (6, two words)
4 Very high spire lost half its lead (5)
6 Boarders together with partners at cards (7)
8 You glimpse some fruit (4)
10 Girl groomed nameless lesbian (6)
11 Favourite yachts rebuilt for little money (9, two words)
13 Ingenuity about origin (8)
15 Roofless Stanhope – new carriage (7)
21 Strings of beads for little fellows? (8)
23 Our Jeffrey from one of the services, wearing facial hair (7)
27 When a name is mistaken? (7)
29 Ban, notwithstanding offer (6)
30 This snack would be seconds with the Terminator (6)
32 Fur for queen and for me (6)
35 Band, net or line with hooks (5)
A first prize of £30 for the first correct solution opened on 8 April.
Doc
2105: Idle
issue 23 March 2013
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in