Toughie No. 25 — cryptic crossword

A toughie puzzle: 40 clues on a 15×15 grid. Solve it online — check your answers as you go, ask for a hint, and read how each clue works once it is solved.

Across

1. Minute particles when the cat is let in (5)
5. Inexpensive injection, but an unfair jab (5,4)
10. One casting a spell, with irritation (5)
12. Sicilian pastry held by the Vatican, no lie (7)
13. Boasted about a knight who was made king (7)
14. Nectar cocktail produces a daze (6)
15. Film dunes shifting, still untouched (6)
17. Bridal — unplait and restyle at the salon (7)
18. Borough bawler, the original newsreader (4,5)
21. Caught one fish for a smoke (5)
22. A rota reorganised for the main artery (5)
23. They are reached, but nobody ever travels to them (9)
25. Great work — a Derby, perhaps (7)
26. Cheeps translated into an oration (6)
29. Angles wonderfully converted! (6)
31. Carted back in time to belittle (7)
32. A mature reorganisation produces one who plays for love (7)
34. Pit worker sounds like a youngster (5)
35. Plug for gowns, one that speaks to the nation (9)
36. Primarily tiring rambles, endless kilometres, slogs! (5)

Down

1. A century for the nobleman — quite a story (7)
2. Confess to possess (3)
3. Swirling mist about north yields sweets (5)
4. Reserve a portion of the latest ore shipment (5)
5. Jaw at some French inn (4)
6. Odd, bewitching Circe swallowing a small coin (9)
7. Searches for gold, or what may lie ahead (9)
8. Passing affection, in perfect partnership (4,2,5)
9. Small child to totter by the river (7)
11. Conservative boy, well turned out (4)
16. Uncalled for — one writ to the editor (11)
19. Fellow pupil with style, and a good friend (9)
20. Points out current distance oddly calculated (9)
22. Bounder breaking into an operatic number — this is paradise (7)
24. Hospital caught up in wild sprees, in certain circles (7)
26. Part of those mixed developments — a house, maybe (4)
27. Works to put in the ground (5)
28. Compound seen in the latest eruption (5)
30. Legs having no energy for sports (4)
33. Before the successor, we hear (3)

More: Toughie cryptic crosswords.

Front page · Onesies · Gentle · Standard · Cryptic · Toughie · Themed · How to solve