Oh, the pressure! You guys are too good. I thought this word would be a real challenge, and you came up with some doozies. I enjoyed every one of them, but will mention some especially masterful touches: rambler’s “laughed out of court” at 8, greedy kite’s “hand-rinse” at 11 (I mean really, how unlikely is this anagram opportunity?), the gem-polishing AB’s “Pilate light” at 27, bigbadmarty2’s use of “exempt from” at 28, les40’s inspiredly craftsmanlike 32, therogue’s two SUPERB entries at 42 (talk about perfect anagram indicators)… But we all have our idiosyncrasies (you heard it here first), and I happen to be a sucker for creative definitions, and I don’t know how one could do much better than the somewhat irreverent-sounding one in ixion’s at 10:
Her Danish isn’t kosher for an old Jew’s diet (9)
What a nut. Here’s your “prize”. If you search for Sanhedrin-related clips, you won’t believe the weird things you’ll find; I was treated to not-rare-enough glimpses of the underbelly of “civilization”, all sorts of references to the “Synagogue of Satan” (!). There was even a woman who was telling Oprah that she grew up in a Jewish family who sacrificed babies at home. The clip I chose just struck me as being blandly humorous; she seems to be a sort of Bible-toting Martha Stewart, explaining it all for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yWpMOFH0Uw
After this terrible winter I hope you all have a resurrecting spring to look forward to. Happy Easter!
p.s. Thanks, busby! I had never heard of the Sanhedrin Wilderness.