by Ken Greatorex
THEME: RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS
(click to enlarge & download)
CLUES ACROSS:
1. and 3 across and 6 across: ” _ _ _ _ , _ _ _ _ and _ _ _ _ _ _ “ ; method of excommunication for one who has committed a particularly grievous sin. (Three words, [4], [4], [6]
3. See 1 across
6. See 1 across
10. Beam [3]
11. Organ of hearing [3]
12. Circular composition of geometric designs symbolic of the universe, used in Hinduism and Buddhism as an aid to meditation [7]
14. Circular bands worn on the finger [5]
15. Manual computing device [6]
18: Resort area having mineral springs [3]
19. Single entity [3]
20. Enclosure for domestic animals [3]
22. Crowd, multitude [6]
26. Frozen water [3]
27. Person noted for courageous action [4]
28. Bacterial culture media and food ingredient derived from marine algae [4]
29. Event, happening, incident [8]
31. Dome-shaped Buddhist reliquary [5]
32. Track or groove made by the passage of vehicles [3]
33. Specified quantity of a therapeutic agent [4]
34. Symbol which represents a number [7]
37. Object of religious veneration; especially a body part [5]
39. North Atlantic food fish [3]
41. Military force [4]
43. Countertenor [4]
44. Menial kitchen servant [8]
45. Elephant-headed Hindu deity [6]
49. Reprise of 28 across [4]
50. Archaic good luck symbol appropriated by Nazis [8]
53. Dry creek-bed [6]
54. Palestinian guerrilla organization and political party [5]
55. Game played on horseback [4]
56. Adhering to an accepted, traditional or established faith [8]
57. Be contiguous to; abut [6]
CLUES DOWN:
1. Tramp (North American slang) [3]
2. Young man [3]
3. Soothing, healing or comforting agent [4]
4. Alternatively [2]
5. Muslim shrine in Mecca toward which the faithful turn to pray [5]
7. Din [3]
8. Locomotive or supportive limb [3]
9. Paschal Festival [6]
13. Ancient Egyptian Key of Life [4]
14. Archaic letters used to write Germanic languages [5]
15. Outer protective garment for the front of the body [5]
16. Valuable cash crop plant yielding alkaloids [4]
17. Reckless or mischievous act [7]
20. Five-pointed star held to have mystical significance [8]
21. Physics: point of zero amplitude in a periodic system [4]
23. Rodents [4]
24. Snooze [3]
25. Object of a prolonged endeavour [5]
26. One who destroys sacred religious images [10]
27. Three thousand six hundred seconds [4]
30. Anger [3]
31. Acidulous, dry, tart [4]
35. Nine-branched candelabrum used in celebration of Hanukkah [7]
36. His wife should never have looked back [3]
38. Image of Jesus on the cross [8]
40. Carry out, perform, execute [2]
42. Tower for summoning Muslims to prayer [7]
44. Turin’s best-known tourist attraction [6]
45. Dung of sea birds or bats [5]
46. The Self [3]
47. Utter, announce, express, state [3]
48. Aura [4]
51. Main tool in the sorcerer’s kit [4]
52. Representation of a sanctified Christian personage [4]
55. Ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle [2]
Solution: http://skeptics.cafe/puzzles/january-2012-crossword-solution/