Spectator N0 2550

[Matakari]

Good morning, Doc has me somewhat puzzled with the following for which I would appreciate answers, thanks!
ACROSS:
11 Alton United seen regularly (5) : WO?I?
24 Caesar’s for backing mine! (4) : ???M
39 Grave demeanour having repaired one roué’s sari (10, two wds :
?E????S?L? ( AERIAL SILK )

DOWN:
1 Vandal and striker broke metal drinking vessel (13, two wds) : ????E?T?N?AR?
( PEWTER TANKARD )
36 Some upcoming amateur player (4) : P??E

I think I have the Unclueds, but have some doubts about them.

[Beachmaster]

1d silver tankard (anag)

[aelmpvw]

11 louie?

[dannyk13]

11. Louie -alternate letters starting with 'l' of Alton ?

[aelmpvw]

36 prue? is there a theme i'm unaware of?

[Matakari]

Thanks, aelmpvw and Dannyk13! The preamble for Doc's "Shorties":
"The unclued lights and 8 clued without thematic definition are of a kind, expressly confirmed in a section of Chambers."

[Tilly2]

39 serious air

[Neveracrossword]

Tilly2, great to see you helping out!
Matakari, what's happened? You seem to be struggling with every crossword these days? (My encouraging tactics seem to have failed, I am going for the harsh reality approach!)

[Tilly2]

Be gentle, NAC. :-)

[Neveracrossword]

I'll try, Toilly, I really will - it's just exasperation after 13'years of giving answers!

[Matakari]

Got 11a, but could not parse it and for 1d, I suspected that it was an anagram of”vandal” and “striker” and did not get it to work. I am still left with 24a and now 30d, Thanks again for helping!

24(A) Caesar’s for backing mine! (4) : ???M
30(D) Fertile isle’s borders (6) : ????IE

[Neveracrossword]

30 Richie - Rich +IE (I sl E), it's one of the clues mentioned in the preamble.
24 Enim, just 'mine' reversed.
Maybe next week you'll fare better, Matakari - I'm trying to inject some optimism and I hope that will bear fruit!

[aelmpvw]

30d richie? lots of answers appear to be names?

[MLN:RUGBY]

Hi Neveracrossword,
For your/our peace of mind, I'm in touch with some of the setters of these crosswords. We now know his identity & he's wasting his time as his entries are binned, so not included in the prize draws!
Just thought I'd cheer you up!

[Neveracrossword]

Yes, aelmpvw, that's right. Matakari omitted the info on the theme, I think he was keen for us to finish this one off!

[Matakari]

Many thanks, all!

[Neveracrossword]

See you next week, Matakari... and the week after ... and the one after that....

[dannyk13]

Matakari seems to have abandoned Cryptic Connections.

[Tilly2]

I don't know what's going on here but it seems to be a bit unpleasant.
Do I need to keep away?

[Matakari]

Good afternoon NACW, I’m somewhat alarmed at the pronouncements of MLN:Rugby concerning my visits to the Answer Bank. I thought the Answerbank was open to help all crossword lovers and was not aware that appealing for assistance constituted an infringement to their rules and exclusion from the prize draws. To quote MLN:Rugby, one would think that I am some kind of criminal: “We now know his identity & he's wasting his time as his entries are binned, so not included in the prize draws!” And to quote Tilly2, all this seems quite unpleasant, indeed!
I would be grateful to know,NACW, what my status is on the site for the future. Thanks again for your kind response!

[JayLogan]

Not one you asked about, but 8 is poorly clued. The album title was the single of the word, whereas the solution is plural, so the clue would read better as: "Abba album's at airport facility"