CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Peel of lime added to unfinished

fruit crush (6)

5 Place for cowboys that might

provide stew? (4,4) 9 Unscrupulous behaviour in

music rehearsal? (5,8)

10 Sunlit ground across river, not

marred by development (8) 11 Fears medic will encounter

cases of extra drunkenness (6) 12 Enthralled by canals, a celebrity somewhere in Eastern

France (6)

14 Retiring peer left oddly early for

comic show (8)

16 Work covered by girl I’d backed

for management (8) 19 Pressures to drop women’s

rowing race (6)

21 More unfortunate choice of

wedding vows? (6)

23 Remove sketch after humour

shown by husband (8)

25 Doctor asks Fred to bag mess

(4,9)

26 Activist comparatively unprepared touring South Africa (8) 27 Second asteroid’s heading

direct for planet (6)

DOWN

2 Football club magazine (7) 3 Reach conclusion from reading

file (5)

4 Vacancy in M & S filled by chap

ultimately needing money (9) 5 Fabric displayed by wife over

Irish tweed regularly (7)

6 In conversation relaxed aspect

of personality is transparent (5) 7 Chess player weary, showing

sign of defeat (5,4)

8 Small bank carrying little

weight (7) 13 Tips for cooking in American resort? Serve up something sweet (9)

15 Leaves behind apparent painful

discomforts, we hear (9) 17 Drone flying one Republican assumes to be properly organised (2,5)

18 Poor clothing that’s selected for

climbing (3,4)

20 Renegade right to support crazed patriot wanting power (7)

22 Fanatical bishop at centre of

attack (5)

24 Plan beginning to disappoint

large number (5)