Black Maria by Agricola

Puzzle explanation

The puzzle marked the anniversary of the first “soft” (ie, non-crashing) landing on the far side of Earth’s moon, on 3 January 2019 by China’s Chang’e 4 mission. Luna 3 was a Russian craft that took the first photographs of the lunar far side, in October 1959. Chang’e is the Chinese goddess of the Moon; Luna, Diana and Artemis are Roman and Greek moon goddesses. The latter two were entered in the grid with letters reversed, (as if seen from behind), so that 28ac РОССИЯ (Rossiya = Russia) appeared correctly in Cyrillic script. The Sea of Cleverness (Mare Ingenii) and the Sea of Muscovy/Moscow (Mare Moscoviense) are the two largest far-side seas, which the puzzle’s title refers to as “black maria”.

Clue explanations

Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal

No Answer Explanation
Across
2 SELENOGRAPHY (G(ar)Y + LARSON + (s)HEEP) *; ref. The Far Side cartoons
11 HERALD AL in HERD; ref. Henry V
12 ACAPNIA AIA around (CAP + N)
13 ANNALS ANN + ALS
15 ASP AS + P(oplar)
16 CERAMIC HOB CIBACHROME *
19 GARIGUE GAR + I + GUE
21 ETTIN EN around (T’ + TI)
22 EREBUS E + REBUS
24 RUFIYAA (A FAIRY) * around (p)U(t)
26 4-O’CLOCK 2 meanings
28 POCCNR COP < + C + RN in mirror writing
29 LAVER 2 meanings
31 RETREAT 2 meanings
33 CLEVERNESS CLEVE + R + NESS
36 NOW WON <
38 AECIUM MAU(r)ICE *
39 ARGUING A + R + U in GING
40 DROMOI DI around ROMO
41 3-DIMENSIONAL З (Cyrillic letter transliterated as Z) + DIVISIONAL with MEN for VI
Down
1 CHANG’E 4 CHANGE + 4WD − WD
3 ERNE ERNIE − I; ref. Morecambe and Wise
4 LAARI LA + AR + I’
5 ELLA ALLE(l) <
6 OAKIER KIE(-kie) in OAR
7 RACHE RAC + HE
8 APTOTIC APT + OTIC
9 HIS (Uta)H IS(n’t)
10 YAPON YAP + ON
14 SCAUPER SCAR around ÉPU(isé) <
17 MUSCOVY MUS + CONY with V for N
18 DIANA IAN in DA
20 A-ROAD AROBA − B + D
23 BLELLUM L in BELLUM
25 ARTEMIS (AM + IS) around RTE
27 KRENGS (KR + S) around ENG
29 LUNA 3 3 after LUNA
30 RÉGIE (EG + IE) after R
32 RECON RE + CON
34 NERO N’ + ER + (li)O(ns)
35 SIMA AMIS <
37 ORD (Apoll)O (neve)R (mattere)D
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