Cryptic across
7 Pose stagehand as something else in Matthew’s analogy (5,3,5)
8 Undermine party that’s dogging the international team (4)
9 Jewish holiday? British dynasty first meet kabbala extremists to get head start (8)
10 Almost see the point before the poet (7)
11 Unknown number abandon Irish county’s vital inner workings (5)
13 Ahab nervously takes on the son of Ner (5)
15 When outside Turkish hat is donned in this biblical place (7)
18 Under religious rules, not being unruly: yes – eventually (2,6)
19 Fish to name-drop, rave about (4)
20 Absurd jabs Asa gets: stupid, he’s only off to Antioch (says the KJV) (5,8)
Cryptic down
1 Piece of beef, leg joint, trimmed in the Japanese tradition (6)
2 The goat herder made king in the NT (5,3,5)
3 Field is upset after Vaughan Williams left out one of the angels (7)
4 You text girl it’s over in Italian city (5)
5 Is tome from Alexandria library perhaps late being returned? It’s concerning (4,2,3,4)
6 Clytemnestra tantalized some members in the ranks (6)
12 Coal Yorkshire river takes south after seam is worked out (7)
14 One of Solomon’s men Joseph’s brother, being familiar, almost offended (3,3)
16 Drink is clear and cold: fit for a king (6)
17 Classic English city hat is a fixture locally! (5)
Quick across
7 Nickname of St Thomas Aquinas (7,6)
8 Scottish island where St Columba landed in 563 (4)
9 Alternative name for Silas (8)
10 Judge and prophetess who fought the Canaanites (7)
11 One of the Gershonite class of Levites as divided by David (5)
13 Filch: swinging blow (5)
15 One of the set parts of the Mass (7)
18 Town used throughout the Bible as a warning of God’s judgment (8)
19 Popular English river name (4)
20 In a precise, punctilious and (pompously) formal manner (13)
Quick down
1 Holkar dynasty Indian city of two million people (6)
2 The ————-, Latin narrative poem of Ovid (13)
3 One of Zerubbabel’s companions on the journey back from Babylon (7)
4 Images or representations of gods used as objects of worship (5)
5 Celebrated series of the lives of the saints in order of their feasts (4,9)
6 Major ethnic and language group of Nigeria (6)
12 ——- et Chloé, ballet by Ravel (1912) (7)
14 —— Hole, limestone caves of Somerset (6)
16 Romano-British ‘saint’, maybe of Llangwyryfon near Aberystwyth whose church is dedicated to her (6)
17 Region under the governorship of Ben-Geber (5)
Entries to Crossword 0578, The Catholic Herald, Herald House, Lamb’s Passage, Bunhill Row, London EC1Y 8TQ or email [email protected] (Answers in by February 6)
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