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Araucaria in very good form

Completely agree - brilliant crossword from Big A.
Lots of good stuff - but 2d is one of the best/funniest clues I've seen in a long time - sums up his wit & humour I think.
Also 20,21 referring to "time 26 between 1s (across and down)" is superb and very typical (& topical) of him.

Exactly: several clues that look insoluble at first,one or two completely disguised definitions, play on words other 1a would never dream up,mysterious cross-referencing,"simple" ones where the penny doesn't drop till much later,only occasional use of recondite vocabulary,chance to learn all about events you've never really heard of, but also to polish up your knowledge of the Classics,puns where you wonder why no-one else has ever thought of them ----- I'm sorry, but there really IS no ma

Exactly: several clues that look insoluble at first,one or two completely disguised definitions, play on words other 1a would never dream up,mysterious cross-referencing,"simple" ones where the penny doesn't drop till much later,only occasional use of recondite vocabulary,chance to learn all about events you've never really heard of, but also to polish up your knowledge of the Classics,puns where you wonder why no-one else has ever thought of them ----- I'm sorry, but there really IS no ma

(woops) master of delight of his calibre! Thank you, "Arau", for every little detail!

I agree, this was a really neat one. Did it on Saturday without recourse to the internet but am still mystified by 'time 26 between 1s (across and down)'. Knowing all the answers (and all the other parsing) doesn't help at all. What's the connection?

You posed a very good question,livs, but I've got the answer:
German one of the dogs=HUND
brings up=REARS
without=surrounding colouring=DYE
time ofwar between setters & solvers:2013 is crossword centenary (first one published in USA 1913)
Extremely clever Arau., wasn't it -- not just the OTHER "Hundred Years War" between England & France which in fact lasted about 116 years!

Ah, all is clear at last - thanks gk!

Didn't know about the centenary.

BTW, I thought German = HUN
and one of the dogs = D
but it's all the same in the end.