Doc

2649: Shut up shop

The unclued lights (three pairs and two individually and two of which are of two words) are now of a kind.         Across    1    Spice rack item revealed by horse and page (3,4) 11    Plenty of space, we’re told, for nursing with a head cold (6) 12    Deserts featuring brown palms (7) 14    Nasty creature in the presidential car! (5) 15    Cold – it’s good wearing a hat!

2646 : Too many (In memoriam)

The unclued lights (two of two words) comprise two celebrity pairs which are represented by a singleton, two pairs (one ‘In memoriam’) and a trio of lights .

2643: Word-building

The unclued lights may be arranged to form a chain of words from three to eleven letters in length, each one being an anagram of its predecessor and one additional letter. One of these lights is hyphened. Elsewhere ignore an acute accent.

2640: Double entry

The 12 six-letter unclued lights bear a common feature, different in each case, but ignore one hyphen.         Across    1    Put up a hammock for son with Heather (5)    4    One lies drunk after attempt to restore equilibrium (9)    9    After seven days, say, shall journalist be wimpish? (4-6) 11    Muse was, for Caesar, love (5) 12    Cunard cruise finally turned to French river (7) 14    Vocalist shortly to be a scorcher (5) 15    Just a bit of a fight!

2637: Born to sing

The unclued lights (one of two words, and the remainder when paired correctly) are of a kind, verifiable in Brewer. Ignore two apostrophes. Across 7    Scottish seagull’s gullet (3) 13    Pull back leading troops president recalled (7) 15    Chocolate powder run over in taxi (5) 16    Overwhelmed, Laura was hampered a bit (5) 17    Reporters on Daily Record ignoring first workers’ home (6) 18    Biden, injured, is laid up (2,3) 21    Australia’s Finch from bazaar, going regularly (5) 22    What those in agreement are of the same view (3,4) 27    Coarse fellow admits nothing’s right. Beware!

2634: Word chain

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!

2631:Nine capitalists

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?

2628: Customary taxes

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.

2625: Playtime

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?

2622: Local call

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?

2619: All Grieg to me

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?

2617: Enzed scorers

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

2616: Atomic scorers

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?

2613: Way off

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.

2610: 700

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

2607: Streetwise

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

2604: Snap

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?

2601: Men of note

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?

2598: By any other name

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?

Crossword 2595: Three of a kind

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?