£250 prize to the first correct solution opened on 3rd January 2025.
Running clockwise round the shaded squares from the top LH corner is a quote appearing in Pseuds Corner in 2024. One word ('that') has been omitted. The 46 letters of the quote not crossing with normal answers are:
A A A A B D E E E E E E E G H H I I I I I K L L L M N N N O O O P R R R S S S T T T T T U Y
Across
1 'Underwear Morning' – it’s about team problem-solving (13)
8 Spiritual protector: a broadsheet darling (8,5)
16 Diet useless? Correct (4)
17 Ring thrust into Dave's mate makes a mess (5)
18 Nurses often are ahead (7)
19 Couple doing place out (8)
20 Ball sac's abnormal radius coveted by actor? (5)
21 Trade cannabis on Sabbath leading to fight (8,5)
23 Having got your leg over Scandinavian female, say, with energy (7)
27 Climber needs to piss into runny paste (5,3)
29 Working Scot's terrible overheads (7)
31 "Organ sock" in green initially results in reprimand (10)
33 Be watchful of advice to our readers to carry on removing mag covers (4,4,4,6)
37 Who's casually swinging both ways with variable entertainment? (7)
38 Fur garment on kinky godson – hot stuff (6,5)
40 PACE measure's tame – needs reversing (8)
42 Attractive people's thanks on getting fast time (6)
45 Set upon ditching wife, make merry (6)
47 Confesses who screwed Oprah? (4,4)
48 Flesh is soon corrupted – folly! (11)
51 Support Eye in slur (7)
54 Remove fly-fisherman's balls – look out for number one (5,3,3,7)
56 Encourage Brown to produce a simple dish (3,2,5)
58 They make cuts, sadly, to rail service initially (7)
60 Sounds like bloke's spicy spam material (8)
62 Mobile pack shoved into Rod for a treat (7)
64 Became hostile to Times leader on Grauniad 's net circulation (6,7)
67 King Brian's tender no more? (5)
72 Stunt has one getting dick's head caught in fly (8)
74 Public hoarding Bill's ham (7)
75 Lines of verse: Declaration of Sexual Orientation (5)
76 Lumberjack extremely protective of balls' appearance (4)
78 Cut down oral activity (head)
– a vulgar trait (13)
79 Ignore a derogatory, heartless politician's broadcast (3,2,6,2)
2/73dn. Lead up to Suez: cardinal going on the drink (3,3)
3 Right off a major US route, lacking the will (9)
4 Short time on start of Times cryptic (6)
5 Head's alternative: a student union (4,3)
6 Dislike of others' false pain or myths (11)
7 Model makes one lament getting up (5)
9 Common yarn involved with Lou (7)
10 Market town, so owners should shift round shitty end! (4-2-3)
11 Audible, visible spur (6)
12 Milk dispensers: place inside floppy penis (7)
13 Any Londoner's housing material (5)
14/77dn. Each profiteer's part of Chancellor Rishi's ill-considered scheme? (3,3)
15 Tool we're bending with zest (8)
22 Posh resort, by the way, is most particular (6)
24 What's that you said in boozer about a drink cure? (5)
25 Having an erection won't hurt in residential quarter (6)
26 Members heading off husbands (4)
28 e.g. John Lennon's look at drink (7)
30 Which divides members to a great extent (6)
32 Fellow in a group gets high (5)
34 Take steps to make people leaderless in US state (5)
35 Hunt's bequest to Labour? Far from first class (7)
36 Duplicate sex time during act (5)
39 Date with First Lady holding large probe (5)
41 Tip removed from contraceptive by dour, pious traveller (7)
43 Organs 'e put out from thrusts (5)
44 Since being on little money, gets rise (6)
46 In trouble, a Starmerite's the lowest! (5)
49 Strip off to take one for a drink (6)
50 Left side of arse forced into Carol's skirt? (6)
52 So it's bad with Conservative who suffers heroically (5)
53 Absence of contented expression for boat-builder (4)
55 Attraction of Nazi Germany? No way! (11)
57 Score but feel depressed (5,4)
59 Popular retreat with independent ex-vice president (unable to accept election result?)
(2,6)
61 Drunk with Pilsner, Kelvin runs for extinguisher (9)
63 Klan's with low, criminal smartarse (4-3)
65 Doctors enter US in disgrace (7)
66 Craft of Netflix, say, ditching Republican (7)
68 Trump's behind enforcing secret state sources review (6)
69 Tearing up Bellow in Georgia's capital (6)
70 Extra itinerant housing feature (5)
71 Some disbelief at warrant – death one? (5)
73 See 2dn. 77 See 14dn.
There is no Across Lite version of this crossword available.
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