{ THE CROSSWORDS }
CRYPTIC CLUES ACROSS
1 Amazed, and so is the organisation (10) 8 Clear the area (5)
9 Agreement for a tail-less supersonic aircraft (7)
10 Scholar of French in a spectacular trick (7) 11 Stand a rough sea and a bit of a swell (5) 12 Hamlet has to be rewritten for her (6) 14 A ship holds fixed advantages (6)
17 The prospects for battered wives (5) 19 A shade of grievance (7)
21 They’re not often miscast in Westerns (7) 22 It enables one to turn one’s hand to many things (5)
23 Obstinate but brainy? (10)
DOWN
2 Height of a piece of sculpture is about right (7)
3 Cat required - there are quite a few in the pound (5)
4 Encourage a sound location for a pub (6) 5 He turns, scattering the pursuers (7) 6 Declines to have minor operations under a doctor (5)
7 Rise includes unemployment benefit for a youngster (10)
8 Perhaps pity is love, really (10) 13 Mother hides a blemish with make-up (7) 15 Such subterfuge may be so naive (7) 16 Patient caretakers (6)
18 Ground for a broken heart (5)
20 Shady place for one on the fiddle? (5)
QUICK CLUES ACROSS
1 Tensely exciting (4-6) 8 Power (5)
9 Full of mischief (7) 10 State of freezing cold (7) 11 The Muslim world (5) 12 Urge strongly (6) 14 Messenger of Greek gods (6) 17 Criminal (5)
19 Spanish painter/sculptor (7) 21 Dickensian miser (7) 22 To lament (5) 23 Carefully chosen (4-6)
DOWN
2 Mental agony (7) 3 Supple (5)
4 A customs duty (6) 5 Slope (7) 6 Question harassingly (5) 7 Sign of disapproval (6,4) 8 Military force (6,4) 13 Disparage (3,4)
15 Bad government (7) 16 Maintenance (6) 18 To stagger (5) 20 Funny (5)