(although not indicated, this crossword came with much help from the Saturday Age)

I’m sure all cryptophiles will join me in wishing AS all the best for the next 6 months in Indonesia.  So as a farewell present, I thought I’d get things rolling on this week’s entry.  AS and I chipped away at it at his house on Saturday, but needed TH’s ring-pull to make our effort respectable today.

Being a fan of many things Yugoslavian, I felt a sense of responsibility to get out “Tito’s piercing (6,4)”.  I’ve even been to Josep Broz’s grave, and I was lamenting not having opened the 18 across to see where the piercing might have been.  It then occured to me that maybe it had nothing to do with the marshal, and I discovered this nugget of DA gold

14 across:  Tito’s piercing? (6,4)

Tito = tit + o = tit with a ring = nipple ring