THC-crossword thread-6; 4 ans PP till 4 pm IST

[vaxiqavupkej]

Across
1 Learner is involved in combat aviation (6) FLIGHT
4 Aircraft is commonly seen in deserts (6) MIRAGE
8 Reflected beam has energy for 12 months (4) YEAR
9 Lakhnauti’s bison (4) GAUR
11 Pointer is normally seen at the top of a weather-vane (5) ARROW
14 Though born a princess, queen is more impoverished (7) NEEDIER
15 Monoceros has one grain behind the United Nations (7) UNICORN
16 Act after call for departure and surpass (5) OUTDO
18 Malevolent creature was seen on red carpet, initially (3)
19 Idiotic! But after Dada left, auricular … (4)
21 … fibrillation is resuming erratically, for starters. Shoot! (4)
22 Draw a navigation aid (3)
23 Setter went back after a month to a lake in Goa (5)
25 Dressed but unwilling to be in church dress at first (7)
26 Girl with broken net gets communication equipment (7)
28 A royal engineer riding a posh car is more uncommon (5)
29 King with foreign money (4)
31 Ran, after he went away, and grew old (4)
32 Elk first seen at Drigh Road air-base of No.1 squadron? (6)
33 Shun terrorism but hide a predator (6)

Down
1 Airborne insect lands on spilt gin in front of serviceman, one directly under 1 Lieutenant (6,7)
2 Angry Lawrence of Arabia chased the Irish Republican Army (5)
3 Badge when reversed can become a gun (3)
5 Type it in front of a government insurer (6) ITALIC
6 Lay honourable person is fit for takeoff (9)
7 Air force officer danced, courting Papa (5,7)
10 Biggles’s boss Raymond, say, hides gold in the potty after a song (3,9)
12 An air force officer: squadrons displayed in front of a naval officer (4,9)
13 Fly an aircraft when I get involved in a scheme (5)
17 Type of engine designed with pub torpor (9)
20 Metal worker’s call for silence around American educational institution (5)
24 The first, after loss of two consecutive letters, longing (6)
27 Nearly time for darkness (5)
30 Had gone back for dit’s counterpart (3) DAH