Death in the Afternoon by Little Hare

Puzzle explanation

The extra letter sequences removed from clues were jumbles of Theseus, Daedalus, Icarus and Ariadne. The corrections to misprints spelt out “Ariadne’s clue”, hinting at 8dn (ie, the clue containing the jumble of “Ariadne”) and the “thread of Ariadne” (traced from the T in 8dn to the E in 16ac). Ariadne gave the thread to Theseus so that he could find his way out of the Cretan labyrinth after killing the Minotaur kept within (the letters of MINOTAUR being erased from the centre of the grid). The labyrinth was built by Daedalus, who was then imprisoned on Crete to protect knowledge of it. Later, Daedalus created wings so that he and his son Icarus could escape the island by flying away. DAEDALUS appeared rising in the grid, but Icarus flew too close to the SUN (in the top row of the grid) and fell into the SEA (bottom row).

Clue explanations

Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal

No Misprint, [extra letters] Answer Explanation
Across
1   MICROS (COM + RISSOLE − SOLE) *
5 (A)way UNPAYS P(eople) in (U + NAYS)
9   ALLENARLY N in (ALL + EARLY)
12 (R)eigned DIADOCHI ADO in (I/C + HID) *
13 Bra(I)n’s UP TOP UP TO + P
14   NITRIC (CI + TIN) < around R
15   LIMNAEID ID after (A MILE + N) *
16 [Uses the] = THESEUS RIEM IE in RM
18 gl(A)sses OPALS COPALS − C
20   DONOR (DONOR + ABSINTHE) * = A BORN HEDONIST
23 wor(D)ed TELD ((Mid)DLE T(emple)) <
26   ESCAROLE (A + S + CREOLE) *
27   ARARAT BARBARA − B − B + T
28 ga[la: dad sue]s = DAEDALUS OFGAS (S + A + GF + O) <
30   DATARIAS (A + RAIDS AT) *
31 D[arius, c]aring = ICARUS PROWESSED PRO + WEED around S(talk)S
32   NOSEAN SEA in MANON − MA
33 (N)ot LEETLE LEE + LET with T moved toward the front
Down
1   MASULA S(ailors) in MAUL + A
2 p(E)rson CLOT C + BLOT − B
3   REJONEO (JOURNO − U + E(dit) E(rnest’s)) *
4   SAIKEI I in SAKE + I
5 (S)alt URANIN U + RAN + WIN − W
6   PYOTS TOPSY *
7   ACCRUAL A + CRU in CAL
8 [near aid] = ARIADNE STICKS 2 meanings
10 ha(C)ks SHIELD LAW D in ELL in WASHI(ngton) *
11   SPIROGRAM (O + RIPS) < + GRAM
17 (L)ags INMATES IN + MAT + ES
19   PERFUSE PURE * around F + S + E
20   DEADEN (HEAD − H) in DEN
21   USTION QUESTION − QE (separately)
22   ACRAWL (W + CLARA) *
24   BESIDE (EDIBLES − L) *
25 c(U)rtain DRAPE RAP in DE
29 scar(E) GAST (Grimacin)G AS T(om)
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