Toughie No. 33 — cryptic crossword

A toughie puzzle: 42 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. Chances are the river swamped skis (5)
4. Cigar for a faultless over (8)
9. Mother had a boy — a chiseller! (5)
11. Record wrapped round film — a dull grey-brown (5)
13. Waist grows old in one's forties, say (6,3)
14. Five smashed a sill in Roman country houses (6)
15. Pound the outer casing (5)
16. Port meadow, an unexpected quarter (4,5)
18. Adenoidal characters in a Havana salon (5)
19. Lira exchanged in a den (4)
20. Paragraph breakdown produces complete inaction (9)
22. She, sinful, is reformed — generous! (9)
24. Fifty in a bad way — thin on top (4)
25. Old flame, quick with a reply, is one living abroad (5)
27. White stone from an altar base, restored (9)
30. Unknown in the heather, stretched out (5)
32. So dive around for the recordings (6)
33. The chap you cut out to save money (9)
35. Cars from Palau to Samoa, in part (5)
36. Trimmed and moved little by little (5)
37. Cheek from a taut edit gone wrong (8)
38. Hosiery for the Boston nine, we hear (5)

Down

1. Charges concealed in corporate schemes (5)
2. Turn in fresh versions for holiday keepsakes (9)
3. Scents male sneaking into markets (6)
4. I pose awkwardly, giving balance (5)
5. Purpose glimpsed in golden days (3)
6. Female cooked a fella a chickpea fritter (7)
7. Losing energy, create a packing case (5)
8. Finished a measure on day one, having had too much (9)
10. Petty press conditions in a contract (5,5)
12. Spanish girl, perhaps, upsetting April (5)
17. Advancing? Pelt the gang! (10)
19. Romanian money I make a hash of — a blood disorder (9)
21. Immediately there is a twitch — just a figure (9)
23. All feet shuffled for a handout (7)
24. Inlet with nothing posh — a Louisiana creek (5)
26. Begs, having lapsed dreadfully (6)
28. Fraud it uncovers! (5)
29. Sidestep a plug inserted in the evening before (5)
31. Empty talk and an afterthought — pants! (5)
34. Malta, Elba, Djerba are chiefly in it! (3)

More: Toughie cryptic crosswords.

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