CRYP TIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Senior officer and I hail RAF

marches on manoeuvres (3,5,7) 9 South American doctor’s put by pass needed by old Scotsman (9)

10 Get up with cold leg? (5) 11 Combined chant after

time passes (2,3)

12 This writer pronounced batsman to be startling phenomenon (3-6)

13 Greek character gets

straw matting for bird (8) 14 Firearm recoiled many times,

used by investigator (6)

16 Stay with two bridge

players in trip (6)

18 Fantastic tenor and another briefly entering company, source of music (8) 22 Playwright encapsulating

rogue fence (9)

23 Place in military unit

journalist holding award (5) 24 Modify introduction

to text lacking force (5)

25 An early form of fuel? (9) 26 None conceived of new-fangled

burger, say (11,4)

DOWN

1 A dispute right off

in public sale (7)

2 Launch posh car with final

part not seen in public (4,3) 3 Slam troubled land embracing distasteful and ultimately obsolete emblem (6,3,6) 4 Grounds for believing study going into European depravity (8)

5 Lord’s house that’s

said to show style (6) 6 Precinct with one tree adapted

for emergency facility? (9,6) 7 Shock coverage? (7) 8 Lavish bill to be settled

— about time (7)

15 Flat, perhaps — small verbal joke that’s unsophisticated (8) 16 Mechanical corrosion overwhelms old boy in charge (7)

17 Lad must limit desire to

be performer in theatre (7) 19 Bill with a cost largely

obscured for sauce (7) 20 Given command, soldiers

act to overcome resistance (7) 21 Seasoned food served up

in Lima — lashings! (6)