Telstar by The Don

Puzzle explanation

The extra letters in wordplay spelt out “Proverbs chap. nine v. one”, which in the King James Version of the Bible reads “Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars”. The letters discarded from clashes formed T E Lawrence, author of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. The seven vertical words (representing “pillars”) highlighted in the grid were associated with wisdom: OWL, REASON, SAGE, ORACLE, PEARL, INSIGHT, NORMAN. EVE (highlighted by eight solvers) was accepted as an alternative to the more obvious OWL, in reference to a 1946 short story by Mary Orr called The Wisdom of Eve. The owl is a symbol of Minerva (Athena), goddess of wisdom, mentioned in the clue for 18ac.

Clue explanations

Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal

No Answer (clash) Explanation [extra letter]
Across
1 PRUNES PRES around UN
6 PELOTA PELT around O + A
11 RESIDUE (I [P]ERUSED) *
12 (C)AVEL CAVE + L
13 OPALED O[R] + PALE + D(ay)
15 LORICATE LORE around (I + C[O]AT)
16 (N)EESE KNEES − K + (ach)E
17 LESSON SLO[V]ENS *
18 TH(E)N ATHENA − A(lbus) − A(lbus)
20 CALLISTO (mythi)CAL LIST O(dysseus’s)
22 RETOOLED TOO in RE[E]LED
23 NEA(L) (i)N (d)E(t)A(i)L
24 ENCORE E[R]N + CORE
25 PSALM (bisho)P’S ALM(anac)
29 ASHLARED ASH + [B]LARED
32 LAGGEN [S]LAG + GEN
33 (A)RIEL homophone of AERIAL
34 SEA HARE SEE around (A + [C]HAR)
35 NYASES ((gee)SE SAY N(estling)) <
36 DETEST T[H]ESE * in D(elf)T
Down
1 PROWL L after (P + ROW)
2 REPREHENSORY (PERSON + ERYTHROPENI[A]) * − POINT *
3 USAGE [P]LUSAGE − L
4 (W)ILLS 2 meanings; ref. Prince William
5 SUDORAL DORA in (SU[N] + L(otion))
6 (R)EAR 2 meanings
7 ENFIELD EN + FIELD
8 LAIC IC[I] after LA
9 TEETOTALLERS (TOLERATE LE[N]T) * + S
10 ALIENOR REGIONAL * − G
14 BAS(T)E BEAST *
18 TREASON homophone of TREES + ON
19 ITCHY FITCHY − F
20 CORACLE COUPLE with RAC[E] for UP
21 LEVELED DEL[V]E < after LEV
26 (E)IGHT (GI in THE) <
27 ALGAE CATAL[O]GUE * − CUT *
28 MANET MA[N] + NET
30 LEES LEES[E]
31 RIS(E) (fervou)R IS E(xpected)
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