Solvers should heed a warning when deducing ten symmetrically placed unclued lights (two of three words and one of two words).

Across

1 Poet entertaining Round Table (5)
4 Together, brutes briefly help the old order (9)
11 Live international back on a roll (6)
12 Sting seen in church right by jetty (7)
15 Oddly enough, Chloe broke priest (5)
16 Noisy dosser needs time out from extreme difficulty (6)
22 Female tailing former PM, an old chicken (8, hyphened)
23 Proposition in article again having leader demoted (7)
27 Left exercises – one not showing signs of tuition (7, hyphened)
29 Yet Helen dancing is a gas (8)
32 You picked up excellent dope over in paradise (6)
34 Unlimited cut, a bit of a shock for Edmund? (5)
36 Wearing chief painful in recession (7)
37 Maybe confirms one new son in family (6, two words)
39 Nanny lurked without an alternative, in a way influenced by spirits? (9)
40 Massage joint, ignoring back, using hand evenly (5)

Down

1 One in charge of only very minor wards (10, hyphened)
2 Main beacon, top breaking off in a storm (5)
4 Second student in empty, flashy display (7)
5 Diplomatic specialist keeping M’s books for Bond (10)
6 In a single month, offer foreign capital (7)
7 Ancient nobles regularly redacted memoir, alas (5)
8 Very much wanting it over, poetry ended by Times journalist (9)
13 Former outfits promoted by, e.g., McCarthy and Stalin (7)
15 Lost instrument caught Eliot out (6)
17 Careless fleet clung to battle (10)
18 Best place to turn after traffic heads primarily east (7, two words)
19 Scrubbed inside tank, getting sort of smudged (10, hyphened)
20 Cold about to stop one famously mad gossip (9)
21 Threat upheld, one might say, by Charles le Roux (6, hyphened)
26 Again got up from heart of forest floor, rising in dread (7)
28 Dearth of gold following pressure on Square Mile, for one (7)
31 Burning desire (5)
33 Island’s small business covering central India (5)

A first prize of £30 for the first correct solution opened on 9 November. There are two runners-up prizes of £20. Please scan or photograph entries and email them (including the crossword number in the subject field) to crosswords@spectator.co.uk – the dictionary prize is not available. We will revert to postal entries when things are normal again. Please allow six weeks for prize delivery.