Recipe by Parsnip

 
This week we had a puzzle set by Parsnip, a name not previously seen in the Listener series. In addition to the normal Across and Down clues, we were given a set of Ingredients clues, consisting of wordplay only, which were to be used to make up the majority of the unclued entries. The remaining unclued entries at 1 Across and 44 turned out to be PUPPY-DOG TAILS and ALL THINGS NICE, immedately recognisable as coming from the famous nursery rhyme, one version of which reads:

What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails,
And puppy-dog tails,
That's what little boys are made of.

What are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice,
And all things nice,
That's what little girls are made of.

The ingredients were DODMAN, LIMAX, NERITE and TREPANG (all types of snail) and ANISE, DEMERARA, SUCROSE and VANILLA (all types of sugar or spice). These had to be used to make up the names of boys or girls. The sets were (of course) mutually exclusive, so that DODMAN, LIMAX, NERITE and TREPANG made DON, MARTIN, MAX, PETE and REGINALD, and ANISE, DEMERARA, SUCROSE and VANILLA made CLARE, DORA, MELISSA, SINE, UNA and VERA, thereby completing an evening’s entertainment for Gregson.

Ingredients

One found in parish minister's house with no roof (5)
ANISE I (One) inside MANSE (parish minister's house) less M (roof ie M-roof)
Take on local population with one regiment (8)
DEMERARA R (Take) after DEME (local population) + A (one) + RA (regiment)
See the sights of Denmark's capital and centre of Holy Roman Empire (6)
DODMAN DO (See the sights of) + D (first letter of Denmark) + MAN (central letters of (HOLY RO)MAN(EMPIRE)
I am accepted into those who work on lighting (5)
LIMAX I’M (I am)  + A (accepted) inside LX (those who work on lighting)
New England's ceremonial form (6)
NERITE NE (New England) + RITE (ceremonial form)
Draw in briefly with perforated nozzle (7)
SUCROSE SUC(K) (ie Draw in, less last letter) + ROSE (perforated nozzle)
Cut plum, say, with short knife (7)
TREPANG TRE(E) (plum, say, less last letter)
Heart ripped out of Aston Villa taking in the result (7)

Across

11 Meals cooked by nurse – they're works of art (7)
ENAMELS EN(nurse) + AMELS (anagram of MEALS)
12 You'll find blood in these shellfish out of America -- use one from Scotland instead (5)
VENAE VENUS (shellfish) with US (America) replaced by AE (Scottish word for “one”)
13 Source of fruit is unknown river in Spain (8)
SYCAMINE ‘S (is) + Y (unknown) + CAM (river) + IN + E (Spain)
14 Gosh! Could this be a fish in the net? (4)
ECOD Nonce construction of E-COD, ie a fish as might be found on the Internet
16 Probe roach encrusted with sage, perhaps (8)
SEARCHER ARCH (roach[3] in Chambers) inside SEER (sage, perhaps)
17 Rolls for one I stuffed with pound and a quarter of mackerel and squid (8)
CALAMARI CAR (Rolls being a type of car) + I, all containing L (pound) + A + MA (quarter of MAckerel)
22 Taking diet Asti has regularly cut fatalities (6)
DEATHS Alternate letters of DiEt AsTi HaS
28 Sharper notes in enchilada recognisable initially (6)
EDGIER E + D + G (musical notes) + IER (first letters of In Enchilada Recognisable)
31 Seal cooked roast yams, lacking mass when turned out (5)
OTARY Anagram of ROAST YAMS, less anagram of MASS
34 Unusually hot bread in East California (8)
EROTICAL ROTI (bread) inside E (East) + CAL (California)
35 Like an energy drink? One's drunk over one hundred (8)
ISOTONIC I (One) + SOT (drunk) + ON (over) + I (one) + C (hundred)
39 Ducks lean meat's first cut and flipped (4)
NILS SLIM (lean) less M (first letter of MEAT) + ‘N’ (and), all reversed
42 Small neat dish of salad for the most part (5)
SAOLA Anagram of O’ (of) + SALA(D)
A neat being an ox, or similar
43 Colouring within short flat mint's centre (7)
INDULIN IN (within) + DUL(L) (ie flat, less last letter) + IN (central letters of mINt)
 
Down

2 Luce and salmon's head prepared for cooking so? (8)
UNSCALED Anagram of LUCE AND S (first letter of SALMON), &lit
3 Mostly pale soy mixed with a number of cases of palm-oil (7)
PAYOLAS Anagram of PAL(E) + SOY + A
4 Prepared topping for cottage pie – a medley? (7)
YEALMED Anagram of A MEDLEY
pie(2) indicating the anagram
5 Baskets of special filling for pies rapidly emptied (6)
OSIERY O’ (of) + S (special) + IE (ie PIES, less first and last letters) + RY (first and last letters of RapidlY)
6 Leave out conventional filler and stuff nut into what's left of ox cheek (4)
GENA UR (filler, ie an interjection used to fill a gap in speech, by convention spelt “ur”) removed from GAUR (ox), containing EN (nut)
7 Once a portion of toxic sea-bass needed returning (4)
AESC Hidden in toxiC SEA_bass, reversed
AESC being an old form of the letter “a”
8 Because I work alone, new restaurant's closure will be limited (6, two words)
IN THAT I + HAT (work alone) containing N (new) + T (last letter of RESTAURANT)
9 Veg crop burns (4)
LAZE LAZES (burns), less last letter
10 Sybil considers consuming lean cut (7)
SEERESS SEES (considers) containing RES(T) (ie lean, less last letter)
15 Scientist's book with one recipe initially contained (6)
DARWIN DAN (the book of Daniel) containing W (with), I (one) and R (recipe)
“initially” indicating that R is the first of the letters to be inserted
18 Blue Nun's essential ingredient replaces that of Corvo, perhaps? (5)
AZURE U (middle letter of NUN) replacing O in AZORE
Corvo being one of the Azore Islands, more familiarly known as The Azores
19 The cold ham, oddly cut in bad state (5)
IDAHO Anagram of HODA (even letters of tHe cOlD hAm) + I (in)
23 Describing one who uses or prepares dahl with rice (8)
HERALDIC Anagram of DAHL + RICE
Or being a term used in heraldry
26 Sandwiches – eating tons makes fat (7)
ROTUNDS ROUNDS (Sandwiches) containing T (tons)
27 Biological changes for these organisms potentially making yoghurt and goo ... (7)
BACILLI The answer + GOO = anagram of BIOLOGICAL
29 ... which is added to stock dished up for many millions (6)
GOOGOL GOO (from previous clue) + LOG (stock) reversed
30 Oliver's first set up at home: Fifteen's work securing this start (6)
ORIGIN O (first letter of OLIVER) _ RIG (set up) + IN (at home)
36 There's energy in salt wafer (4)
SEAL E (energy) inside SAL (salt)
37 Using malt bere distil, finally with time, distinguished Scotch (4)
TELT Last letters of malT berE distiL, + T (time)
38 Spots for Jonathan new liver on the turn – hands off! (4)
NEVI N (new) + LIVER reversed, less L & R (hands)
“Jonathan” being the people of the United States, as given in the main body of Chambers, thereby indicating an American usage