Doc

The eight six-letter unclued lights half-overlap each other and so yield a complete word chain beginning with any one of them.         Across    1    Complex U-turn before end of lane. Wrong!

The unclued lights are of a kind, verifiable in Brewer with the help of the red squares which must be read in order row by row. Ignore one apostrophe and an acute accent, elsewhere. Across 9    Terrible President out on a limb at heart, troubled (10) 14    Courier company raises its charges (3) 16    Make one see red – possibly green and a touch of amber! (6) 17    Author moving gently, dropping article (5) 20    Mathematician coming across wife in Milton Keynes, say (3,4) 22    Travels by plane and a Roman road to Timeless Test (7) 24    Highbrow title is affected (7) 25    Sounding like Matilda’s creator’s Indian dishes (5) 26    Youngster central to 19, sadly (5) 28    See what people say?

The unclued lights (one hyphened and plural, and another in the past tense) are of a kind, all verifiable as such in Chambers, most of them on a specific page.

The unclued lights (one of two words) and four others clued without their thematic definition are of a kind. Across 1    Two little boys tapped their heads (6)7    Birettas seldom reveal this tuft (6)13    US challenge to foil and dismiss at the wicket (5)14    Material from The Spectator, London (5)17    Salary and gratuity, collected by mail (7)18    Incandescent, he’d be forced to put rubbish out (3,3)19    Infection covered by the oculist? Yes! (4)22    C19th biologist’s not left film director (6)25    Violinist’s bow? No, the other end! (5)26    Followed the progress, we hear, of Lenten psalm (5)33    Study Latin on express (4)36    Live broadcast with the French (6)40    Friendly greeting unwanted amongst Heinz’s offering?

The unclued lights (six of two words and one of three words), one pair or individually, are of a kind, verifiable in Brewer. Ignore one apostrophe.         Across    1    Declare nothing will stop crime, causing disgust (8)    6    Attack, losing head in drinking bout (6) 11    Objects to intellects (5) 13    Young girl by supermarket, getting potato (7) 14    Humble faculty head embraces Doc (6) 16    Tail, small and trim (4) 17    Certainly not Greenland! (2-2,4) 21    African, say, on the wing, no good performing (3-5) 23    What about painting crosswise?

The unclued lights, (four of two words), when arranged correctly, yield a famous TV quotation. One word does double duty; ignore an apostrophe too.         Across    4    Oblige to provide lodgings? (11) 11    Spanish food of peas cooked with everybody inside (7) 14    Gave a present that’s not about to be old-fashioned (5) 19    Complaint made by one head about pupils (7) 21    Smoke in the Tube (4) 23    Whirlwind Frank making Tony hop (7) 24    Duck having twitch of the ear (4) 25    Yes, indeed. Under 50% (3,4) 30    Performers in drag?

The 12 thematic unclued lights form the second half of an alphabetical list, one solution finally and another first and last.

The thirteen thematic unclued lights form the first half of an alphabetical list. Ignore all accents. Across 10    Cut-throat chap’s birds (10) 13    Behavioural stimulus affected Earl 8 (8) 16    Girl in chains? (5) 17    Skilfully handled – after a stroke? (7) 18    White van going across Indian territory first (7) 20    Revised asking price a German rejected for US travelling bag (8) 25    Jack starts to play up rudely (3) 26    Gold mace is a good omen (7) 28    22-0 rout. So divine! (7) 29    Little boy at Orkney creek (3) 31    Ace pilot crashed – of lyrical bent (8) 34    Almost finally having Midwest displayed in these?

The unclued lights (one of two words), all verifiable in Brewer, precede a word which appears as an abbreviation four times in the lower right-hand quadrant of the completed grid. Solvers should highlight all four examples. Ignore two apostrophes.

This is Doc’s 700th crossword in the weekly series. The unrelated unclued lights (including one pair and two proper nouns) display this number.

The unclued lights (three coming first and one coming last, two pairs and four of two words) are of a kind.

The unclued lights (one hyphened and one pair) are of a kind.         Across    4    Swollen state of tailless bird’s head (9) 10    Evil mix of love and malice (10) 14    Cox for Hereford, perhaps?

The unclued lights are of a kind. Two solutions are initials. Across 1    Officers’ training school – place to write music – cello arrangement with two notes (5,7)10    Fertile Spanish plain, say, in Virginia (4)12    Moorland bird that pesters the female?

The unclued lights (one of two words) may be paired, one past and one present.         Across    1    USA dealt out compliments (8) 11    It’s still a healthy drink in spring! (7,5) 14    Go on to take legal action (7) 18    Parallel grooves are first adjusted (6) 23    Irritable, like our cats and dogs?

The unclued lights display a common feature, different in each example. Elsewhere, ignore an apostrophe. Across 1 Tracks birds (5) 4 Top gear when cornered? (6,3) 9 So democrat organised convoys (10) 11 Unfinished old sailing boat in Sri Lankan city (5) 12 Expert model offer (7) 14 Capable assistant at office? (5) 15 Some Tosca villain’s nitpicking complaint (5) 21 Too chill – put out waterproof material (8) 22 Top professional’s critique of performance before opening night (7) 24 Mark from outside edges of scimitar (4) 25 Foolish folk back hot-tubs (4) 27 Weather report?

The unclued Across lights were of a kind, as are the unclued Down lights now. All are verifiable in Brewer under 16. Across 4    Team go over to Irish monument (6,5)11    Train pass daughter’s lost (7)12    Delicate and light, keeping in time (6)13    Colluding with ancient tribe’s hilarious escapades (2,7)19    Band’s origin (7)21    Get together in time-share (4)23    Milky tea, call for change (7)25    Chatterbox not quiet – noisy type (7)32    1980s Austin model having some art form (7)34    Could be Dover – or not!

The unclued lights start with the trio JAN, the abbreviation for JANUARY which is ‘this month’ or ‘INST’, the puzzle’s title. First prize Thomas Williamson, Moygashel, Dungannon Runners-up Susan Bell, Reeth, N.

To start off the New Year, the unclued lights (one of two words) share a common feature.

Five unclued Across lights are of a kind and are out of place as the five unclued Down lights.