This
was a fairly difficult puzzle as half the answers had to be solved ‘cold’. The
extra words could be grouped into 5 groups, Trees, Games, Colours, Containers
and Birds. Taking the first 4 groups in order and taking the 1st, 2nd,
3rd and 4th letter of each word in order and then
reversing direction, in a zigzag fashion, a message could be revealed - NEW
ANSWER AT THIRTY-THREE ACROSS. The ‘birds’ had to placed in the position
symmetrically opposite their number. This finale was very elegant and all the
lights contained real words. The title referred to the zigzag pattern, maybe like a skein of geese.
Gregson
has split clues to show both answers. Answers initially entered in the grid are
shown in bold type.
ACROSS
1 One leaves in a hurry after escaping finally hideous
GHASTLY G (last letter of ESCAPING) + HASTILY less I
grandmother with sharp cloth (7)
NANKEEN NAN + KEEN
5 Evergreen apprentice dared to conceal
CEDAR Hidden
television at college creating a situation with a predictable outcome (5)
SET-UP SET (TV) + UP (at college)
8 Machine for lifting carbon melted base
CRANE C (carbon) + RAN + E (base)
metal compound found in country lacking leader (5)
ERBIA (S)ERBIA
10 Twice father with foul
PAWPAW 2 x PA + W (with)
dwarf follows South American vagrant (6)
STROLL S + TROLL
12 Heartlessly suggests warriors
IMPIES IMP(L)IES
worry about a fine water-bottle (6)
CARAFE A + F (fine) in CARE
13 Secures penetrating newsflash! Estonian
LASHES Hidden
plane crashed near church's opening (6)
CHENAR (plane tree) CH + anagram NEAR
14 Exceptional singer to give up
RESIGN Anagram SINGER
wild beasts for a dog (6)
BASSET Anagram BEASTS
15 Insincere praise, insolence and serial depravity
LIP SERVICE LIP (insolence) + SER (serial) + VICE
show French girl lacking gravity primarily to be facetious young lady (10, one of two words)
DEMOISELLE DEMO (show) + (G)ISELLE less G (gravity)
16 Large jug inside brewery
EWER Hidden
entrance made of diamonds and old gold (4)
DOOR D + O (old) + OR
17 Once forced a way into Petra's recklessly
PEARST Anagram PETRA’S
extended position in the cartel (6)
ÉCARTE Hidden
19 Frank sharpens the
HONEST HONES + T (the)
riposte about old injury (6)
RETORT RE + TORT
24 Unknown angler returned mackerel
DORY Y (unknown) + ROD Reversed
shark discovered in Brooklyn (4)
ROOK Hidden
27 Write interesting start to letter (electronic) building support
PENTASTYLE PEN + TASTY + L + E
to get school badge for maximum win (10)
BACKGAMMON BACK + GAM + MON
29 Obligation to entertain drunk let off
WATTLE WAT + Anagram LET
bilingual daughter and giddy girl, having lost her head (6)
DIGLOT D (daughter) + (G)IGLOT
30 Cheek! I caught French
GALLIC GALL + I + C (caught)
girl's expression of surprise about capturing butler's heart (6)
MYRTLE MY! + (bu)TL(er) in RE (about)
31 Heads of European utilities company have regularly endeavoured to outwit
EUCHRE initial letters
ill-bred person working on a rig (6)
IGNARO Anagram ON A RIG
32 Cross Baron and Earl set about terrible grid
BRIDGE Anagram GRID in B + E
causing sickness - call setter back! (6)
EMETIC CITE ME reversed
33 Bishop and queen admit game
BROWN B + R + OWN
birds sing somewhat enchantingly (5)
CHANT Hidden
34 Cut base criticism
SNIPE SNIP + E
that is dogging unhappy, small princess (5)
SADIE SAD in IE
35 Commercial opinion, unconventional but inconclusive, agrees
ADHERES AD + HERES(Y)
abyss is a hollow (7)
SWALLOW ‘S + WALLOW
DOWN
1 Frozen Georgia
and Welshman
GEALED GE (Georgia) + ALED
dupe quiet friend according to William (6)
PLOVER P + LOVER
2 Smack heroin in poison
TANGHIN TANG + H (heroin) + IN
from under-secretary in Ontario constitutes an outdated deception (7)
ABUSION AB + US + I’ + ON
3 Sensational line up - depressed,
YELLOW LEY reversed + LOW
most uninspiring master dressed in shabby clothes! (6)
TAMEST MES (master) in TAT
4 Head of Science to strain resin
STORAX S(cience) + TO + RAX
drops employing circuits with terminals of pure brass (6)
LAPSES LAPS + (pur)E (bras)S
5 Heard Redgrave, perhaps, firmly
STEEVE Homophone, ref. Steve Redgrave, Olympic rower.
refuse holder, a quiet Canadian (6)
ASHCAN A SH + CAN
6 As an illustration wet feathers
EGRET EG RET
do turn up - not in Cuba (5)
TONIC NOT reversed + I (in) + C
7 Gull ugly old woman and allow
HAGLET HAG + LET
scheme (extremely elegant) for a heavenly body (6)
PLANET PLAN + E(legan)T
9 Soldiers all look for green
REALO RE (Royal Engineers) + A (all) + LO
fruit found in disturbed, nitrogen-free ground (5)
GOURD Anagram GROU(N)D less N (nitrogen)
11 New place for putting
GREEN 2 definitions
boxes made of wood and radioactive metal (5)
LOGES LOG + Es
18 Beryl led me astray framing artist
EMERALD Anagram LED ME including RA
to shout abuse about lawyer creating safety feature for a car (7)
ROLL-BAR LLB (lawyer) in ROAR
19 Note machine-made lace kite
ELANET ELA + NET
sits on fence with hard ridges (6)
HEDGES H + EDGES
20 Heads of Mafia and underworld villains even dye
MAUVE Initial letters
drug for essentially more money (5)
OPIUM (f)O(r) PIU (more) + M
21 Egoist crumpled cheap cigar
STOGIE Anagram EGOIST
packet with concealed skill (6)
CARTON ART in CON (with)
22 Heaven when net lifts up
ASGARD AS + DRAG reversed
large victims for consumer of fish (6)
OSPREY OS (large=outsize) + PREY
23 Wrongly charts formal
STARCH Anagram CHARTS
dress decline following rugby supremo's lead (6)
RUSSET RU (Rugby Union) + S(upremo) + SET
25 Activity involving covering numbers (fifty) on time shut
LOTTO L (50) + O (on) + T + TO (shut)
old kingdom - remote but not the Faroe Islands (5)
REIGN (FO)REIGN less FO (Faroes)
26 Chats worriedly after unknown sails
YACHTS Y + Anagram CHATS
back in luckless evacuee's boat (6)
VESSEL Hidden reversed
28 Revolutionary ship plank
CHESS CHE (Guevara) + SS
encouraged intellectual to ignore two isolated characters making a contemptuous
remark (5)
EGGED EGGHEAD less HA! (a contemptuous remark)