It’s Not Involved by Quinapalus

Puzzle explanation

The extra words in clues were individually jumbled (in all but one case) and respaced to yield “alpha kappa alpha delta eta mu epsilon iota alpha”, spelling out ΑΚΑΔΗΜΕΙΑ (academy) in ancient Greek. The modifications to letters in rows 2 and 3 of the grid (reflecting L to create gamma, rotating Ws to create sigmas and increasing the “quantity” of O-micron to O-mega) produced ΑΓΕΩΜΕΤΡΗΤΟΣ ΜΗΔΕΙΣ ΕΙΣΙΤΩ, “let no one ignorant of geometry enter”, the inscription said to be displayed above Plato’s Academy in Athens. The blank cells were joined to show the outline of a tetrahedron (with a dotted line for the hidden edge), the simplest of the Platonic solids. The puzzle’s title referred to a platonic relationship, which doesn’t involve “it” (sexual relations).

Clue explanations

Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal

No Extra word Answer Explanation
Across
1   MASTER MASONS MA’S + TERM + A + SONS
12 pal DRAMAS DRACHMAS − CH
14   AGRA AGR + A
15   ENLARD (EN + LAD) around R
17   LIGNITE L + IGNITE
21   OROPESA O(rdnance) + ROPES + A
23 haka GONERS ON in GERS
26 papa DEY DYE *
27   DO TIME DO TI ME; ref. notes in C major
29   CACOON (COCOA + N) *
30 lapheld PIEMEN EME in PIN
31   AREOSYSTILE A + (CLOISTER + YES) * − C(apital)
32   LICKETY-SPLIT LIT after (ETY in (LICK + SP))
Down
1   MAMMALOGICAL MAGICAL around (M + MALO); ref. David Copperfield the illusionist
2 teat ALHAGI (Puritanic)AL HAGI(ographer)
3 Empusa TOE-DANCE ANECDOTE *
4   EMIRS IRS after ’EM
5 oil REWAX REW + AX
6   APING A + PING
7   SHWA WASH *; ref. the ə symbol
8   NOTARY (A + R(eed)Y + NOT(e)) *
9   SWORD-BAYONET (BYTES IN A WORD) * with O for I (as binary digits)
10   TISANES STAINES *
11   URGENCE (GCE UNDER) * − D
13   MEER M + E’ER
16   LIP-DEEP (E + APPLIED − A) *
18   TOST OS in TT
19   JOWARI (JOWARI + CARAMEL − R) * = MAJOLICAWARE
20   BROOSE ROOS in BE
22   SESELI (IS + EELS) *
24 ailanto TIPSY TI + SPY *
25   EMITS MIT in E’S
28 hap DOOK DO + OK
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