Toughie No. 36 — cryptic crossword

A toughie puzzle: 38 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. Gold and silver, perhaps, are lamest when melted down (6)
6. Failure to hold in a tantrum — the odd ones out (7)
10. Left with the king, a hopeless case (5)
11. One settled, but still sitting on the fence (9)
12. A professional name on the front of the stage (5)
13. It comes out, and the fairy pays up (5)
14. Island, by the sound of it, with a jumbo — an expensive burden (5,8)
15. Deal with the speech, and where to send it (7)
17. Wildly claiming I am sane, with total memory loss (7)
18. Threads torn to bits and thrown out (7)
21. English upset by mass at the diplomatic mission (7)
24. Assorted approval, or a silver lining with a cloud attached (5,8)
27. Insect flying back with an unknown gives a sharp taste (5)
30. Greek character found in those who loathe taxes (5)
31. After dark, what a mare! (9)
32. Yank in uniform allowed in — all above board (5)
33. Coot, yes, dished up by these prairie scavengers (7)
34. Sown, or ranked among the top players (6)

Down

1. Some demonology, but not in stereo (4)
2. Provided with funds when conclusion is due (7)
3. Corporate ethics contain some bite (5)
4. Rainbow over the hive is a store of old records (7)
5. Learner in the side has to edge along nervously (5)
6. The years when the waistline spreads but the hair doesn't (6,3)
7. Hone a phrase badly composed for the knight (7)
8. Fashionable ways of making advances (7)
9. Refuge from a scary aunt gone wild (9)
10. Stomach, or clear out completely (3)
15. Under the motor, Mum with a twitch produces a pistol (9)
16. Second jobs put one out of the game (9)
19. Frantically seeking any exit — a case of nerves (7)
20. Hospital yard tirade over the water outlet (7)
22. Bishop after litter is scattered — easily broken (7)
23. Omen of an era — what directs you round the airport (7)
25. Cooker fitted in a steamer? Long stories (5)
26. Anonymous, but dropping the world body, is identified (5)
28. Found in a big riddle! (4)
29. Still, the ends of a happy time out (3)

More: Toughie cryptic crosswords.

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