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

        Across

   1    Thinly scattered food chain outside of Stevenage (6)

   7    Place in complete shade (6)

13    Multitude of fishes on sandbank (5)

15    Fruit ain’t green when squeezed (9)

20    Fruit and nut salad ordered, without dressing, to start with (7)

21    Paper money returned for eating apple (6)

22    Barrow-boy arranged escort (6)

24    Chatty comedian arrives next to new canal (4,4)

26    Old solver is second person in the OT (4)

27    Neeson regularly appearing in Keanu’s role (3)

28    In short, especially. Yes, please – just a little! (3)

29    Cheated by many an individual (4)

34    Reason why I have taken on the vehicle check (6)

35    Neighbours character coming in late, resentfully (6)

37    Engineers’ strong desire to rise again (7)

39    Aerial transport heard in the prairies (6)

42    Nuts are nicest part of flowers (9)

44    Adding first coat of plaster. What a performance! (9)

45    Ageless old cricketer never hooks (6)

        Down

   1    Regularly sold one sour fruit (4)

   2    Average building also created shade (7)

   3    Deep blue of Mediterranean ‘îles’ (4)

   4    Second nature, out for a stroll (7)

   5    Languish and gets a tan at sea (8)

   8    Employed, but exploited (4)

11    Conductors choose right verses (10)

14    Top quality speaker’s remorse was slow to shift (4-5)

19    Favourable reception of resignation (10)

23    Primitive Methodist is a noisy Scottish musician (6)

25    Passage from unfinished steeple overlooking Norfolk town (8)

26    Building for chaps, in principle (8)

30    Certainly not a constituent part of Little Rock! (7)

31    Time for ironing? (7)

33    Bacchanalia getting court gaiters regularly dropped (6)

36    River at the pass (5)

38    Disheartened troglodytes in the capital of Calvados (4)

40    Bones from Troy not categorised at first (4)

41    Wistful exclamation when view is reduced (4)

A first prize of £30 and two runners-up prizes of £20 for the first correct solutions opened on 7 December. Please scan or photograph entries and email them (including the crossword number in the subject field) to crosswords@spectator.co.uk or post to: Crossword 2583, The Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP. Please allow six weeks for prize delivery.

Download a printable version here.

The post 2583: Out of place appeared first on The Spectator.

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