VII

[Saarang 2008, Preliminary Round. Co-set with NDK]

1a, Nobleman reportedly changes to the owlish duty hours (5, 6)
1d, Negative puzzle? (7)
2, Population data in pigeonholes without his tomfoolery (4, 4)
3, One with several levels is praised in legend, we hear (8)
4, He plays his tape strikingly new (8)
5a, Device creating or utilising nothing (6)
5d, Defect in using the Levi-Cevita tensor (4)
6, Item corrodes, one hears, yet they invest in them (4, 6)
7, Fantastic figure totally the same however you look at it (5, 6)
8, Stem the pursuit (5)
9, Job without 1a seems to count four digits backwards (4, 2, 4)
10, Beginners restlessly sail in it (8)
11, Evoking laughter to check endless jargon (8)
12, Do not enter public opinion in the forecast (4, 4)
13, Big cat -- lion? Puma? Its head and tail on the way! (7)
14, Immediately let out of opulent assortment (4)
15, Search parameters in terms of solution (8)
16, Delivering cow's last portion of meal (8)
17a, Marines troop up to meet (7)
17d, Drink in vessel to strain retailer's cut (5, 3)
18, Sounds like crooked drink (3)
19, Invoke silent initiative (5)
20, Pen myths about damsels (8)
21, Adverts league dies if fixed up (11)
22a, Erstwhile heavy metal -- no lead (3)
22d, Should not organize hunt to get leader (6'1)
23, Woody log in use pulverized (8)
24, Girl writer effects a strike in tourneys (5, 5)
25, Craftily entrap li'l Albert in the previous generation (8)
26, Make light of a failure to go straight (3)
27, Cushion the core of Apple commercial (3)
28, Bad vital character is against the champ (8)
29, Veteran wearing antique watch (3, 5)
30a, At home, row free from one place in grave (5)
30d, It stubbornly joins the last group (5, 3)
31, Makeup spot aboard ship (8)
32, Batty uncle and soldier engage in our work (7)
33, Piscine feelers stop sound intensity measures (7)
34, Classification ending one unknown mystery (8)
35, A particular technique in pathogen removal (5)
36, The Greek character opened the prize taken here (4)
37, Will maker try a pinnacle? (8)
38, Frank little girl (4)
39, One investigates former dictator and queen (8)
40, Angelic man is turning evil (10)
41, Password to open the seed (6)
42, Argue with games like these, as articulated (5, 6)