CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS 1 Promise broken by English poet with red and purple flower (10) 6 Stretch of quasi-arid land in the East (4) 9 Top eleven embraced by mother with flower (7) 10 Tie up an unruly flower (7) 12 Likings for swan songs? (9) 13 Blossom with a Top-Fortyish sound (5) 14 Tip of tulip eaten by female deer and fawns? (5) 16 Ron’s album, sadly, not up to par (9) 19 Assuming failure, get “Uncle!” out and go down on one knee (9) 20 Flower our group planted behind parcel of land (5) 21 Going back, expose the weakness of potato or dahlia root (5) 23 Black African writer’s good fortune (9) 26 Brave person holding ace is gobetween (7) 27 California wine for an Italian novelist (7) 28 Add grass to a drink from a fountain (4) 29 Bugs on Grandpa’s flower (10) DOWN 1 Shorten segment of The Muppets (3,2) 2 Show that you know about crossing place in Kentucky (9) 3 Energy reading from a broken speedometer? (5) 4 Breaking ice, miners talk about the old days (9) 5 English diarist chirps out loud (5) 7 Dawn spun out of control around horseshoe curve (3-2) 8 Everything is interrupted by Mary’s blooming plant (9) 11 Dirt spot ruined painting (7) 14 Go for it—boxing champ’s gloveshaped flower (9) 15 Wilderness trips to a distant place taken by member of the fam (7) 17 Flower is flatter when getting cold (9) 18 Sort of bean, including very small one, rising up (9) 22 Carry down feature of some irises (5) 23 Kingsley in West African land (5) 24 Sort of energy loss in skyrocket (5) 25 Disdain second lame attempt at humour (5)

Last Saturday’s Puzzle Solved