Ballad by Elgin

Puzzle explanation

Kipling’s The Ballad of East and West begins:

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgement Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, tho’ they come from the ends of the earth!

The grid was supposed to be a cylinder with east and west edges meeting at the missing column, where EARTH and SKY flank JUDGEMENT SEAT. Clue answers EAST, WEST, BORDER, BREED and BIRTH didn’t appear in the grid. The unclued entries were HERCULES and HECTOR (strong men), sharing a common “face”, at the end of EARTH. The grid symmetry extended to the directions in which opposite across entries ran; the middle row contained palindromes only, so it was its own reverse.

Clue explanations

Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal

No Answer Explanation
Across
A AEFALD (n)A(m)E (o)F (b)A(l)L(a)D
B BIRTH RT in BIH
C BORDER RD in BOER
D BREED B + REED
E CADEE C + A + DEE (mistakenly defined as “gopher”, which is a variant spelling of “gofer” but not in the sense of one who runs errands)
F CAUKER UKE in CAR
G EAST LEAST − L
H EVULSED (EVULSED + ROOT) * = (DUE TO SOLVER) *
I JENNY-LONG-LEGS JENNY + LONG LEGS
J LAMAISTS LASTS around (re)MAI(ns)
K PARADED AD in PARED
L REDDER REDD + ERG − G
M ROBING ROBIN + G
N ROMEOS ROME + OS; 2 meanings
O SAND-CAST S(table) + AND + CAST
P SEESAW SEE + WAS *
Q SEMEMES SEES around MEM
R SPIROID (D(urga) + IO + RIPS) <
S STITCHES (THIS SECT) *
T STRAIT ’S + TRANSIT − NS
U TARDY TARRY with D for R
V TEA SET EASE in TT
W TRUSTLESSNESS (RESULTS SENT) * + S(cientist)S
X TWISTED TWI + STED
Y WEST WEST(erns)
Down
1 EARTH HEART with letters “cycled”
2 NOTICES SECTION *; or S after NOTICE
3 YAPSTERS (TRY PEAS + S) *
4 LEPTON P in (LET ON)
5 NARD (R + AND) *
6 GLARES GLASS with RE for S
7 EREBUS ERE + BUS
8 SKY TROTSKY − TROT
9 DICIEST D(odger) + ICI EST
10 ERODES DORÉ < + ES; ref Gustav Doré
11 ELECTED EXPECTED with L for XP (ie, 10p)
12 SEDATE (compo)SED AT E(ase)
13 TRIALIST (L + IS IT ART) *
14 SPRUCES 2 meanings
15 ACMITE IT in ACME
16 TERRAS TERRANS − (Su)N
17 MISSEL MISS + EL
18 SEDER SEER around D
19 DISS 2 meanings
20 ESS (m)ESS(enger); (addr)ESS(ee)
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