In Transit by Agricola

Puzzle explanation

The puzzle marked the 250th anniversary of the first voyage of discovery of Captain James Cook, who set sail on the Endeavour from Plymouth on 26 August 1768. The grid entry at 13dn is JAMES COOK, with all but the central letter encoded using the Playfair code phrase HMS END(E)AVOUR. The first mission of the voyage was to observe a transit of Venus in Tahiti, represented in the grid by the symbol for Venus moving from one side of the Sun to the other. He then went on to chart the coast of New Zealand and part of Australia. The stages of his journey marked in the grid were UK (actually Great Britain at the time; the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland came into existence later, on 1 January 1801), Cape HORN, NZ (named Nova Zeelandia (Nieuw Zeeland) by the Dutch 124 years earlier, which Cook Anglicised to New Zealand) and the Cape of Good HOPE.

Clue explanations

Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal

No Answer Explanation
Across
1 SOCIOBIOLOGICAL SO + C + (IO + IO) around B(anks) + LOGICAL; ref. botanist Joseph Banks
11 CAMP C(ome) A(fter) M(aori) P(eople)
12 ANKYLOSES K(oala) in (SEAS ONLY) *
14 LEAPER LEA + PER
15 EDEMA (D + ’EM) in EA
16 BOUK BOK around U
17 LAYING LAG around YIN
18 BEAR 2 meanings
19 BOSKS BASKS with O for A
22 NIEF NIE + F
24 NEAP PAEAN < − A
25 MERV (sum)MER V(acation)
27 EST 2 meanings
29 DEMO DEMO(crat)
30 I SEE IS + EE
31 PARVENUS EN in PARVUS
32 SUNFAST (FUSS + TAN) *
35 FRANZ F + RAN + Z
37 UNTRUE AUNT − A + RUE
39 OFT SOFT − S
40 ISLAM ISM around LA
41 DEHORNERS (R + NÉ) in (DE + HORS)
42 UROSCOPIC OUR * + SCOP + I/C
43 UEFA FEU < + A
44 FLIGHT RECORDERS (FIRST HELD GROCER) *
Down
1 SILLY MID-OFF SILLY + MID + OFF
2 OCEAN OC + E + À + N
3 IMPI (I, I) around MP
4 OPENS UP OP + ENS + UP
5 IN ESSE (I SENSE) *
6 LYES YES after L
7 GOA GOA(d)
8 ISLANDS LAND in ISS
9 AS OF A + S + O + F
10 LEUKOPOIESIS (I SEEK OIL-SOUP) *
16 BREE BEE around R
18 BEEF BEF around E
20 OVERDOG OVERDO + G
21 KRANZ RAN in KZ
23 FLÂNEUR FLEUR around AN
26 REFT REF + T
28 TSUNAMIC (I + SANCTUM) *
33 AURAR AU + RAR(e)
34 HOPEFUL (OF HELP) * around U
36 FLOR L in FOR
38 THORNED NED after THOR
40 ISH -ISH
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