CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Roman officers run section badly (10)

6 Island offering cereal crop — for the ears (4) 9 News chief ’s entertaining heads of government — enormous creeps (5) 10 Model seduced outside church? Victor did it (9) 12 Major half-trembles in English river (7)

13 Spells words (5) 15 Hesitated with female going to get changed (7) 17 Animal runs over with energy — grass has come back (3,4) 19 Scout did sleep, so every other character lies close (7) 21 Count winemaker’s bottles spread out (7)

22 Jog naked around centre of Margate (5) 24 Penny with object to give out (7) 27 So upsetting for the peer, having lost power (9) 28 Dance with zero taste?

The contrary (5) 1 Care to let go of a wife’s hands? (4) 2 Forgotten knight returned holding nag’s tail (9) 3 Leading group in distress (5) 4 Fashionable drink in outskirts of Stroud as an alternative (7) 5 United Nations overturned sanction for type of weapon? (7) 7 Something to climb left out for snake (5) 29 Make hush money (4) 30 Bridge players requiring ID? It will make the press (10)

DOWN

8 In secret I’d developed rash (10)

11 Beg to be in French outing? (7) 14 Curious — being fine,

I sat dance out (10) 16 Release right priest before close of day (7) 18 Being sixteen, worried about Ecstasy (9) 20 Expect attitude after drink (7) 21 Vain American embracing tennis player (7)

23 500 Royal Engineers put on ship’s clothing (5) 25 Player making run in cricket (5) 26 Spare tyres cease to rise (4)