THE CROSSWORDS
CRYPTIC CLUES
ACROSS
1 Asians start taking heart as Italians sing Massenet opera (5)
8 and 20 Down: They normally complete written enquiries (8,5)
9 Falls short of a pound note - forged perhaps (5) 10 Place of fancy? (5,3)
11 A light across the ship (5)
12 Animal found in decreasing numbers (3)
16 Cuts back half the corn plaster (6)
17 Still a cause of poor reception (6)
18 Beer to go bad, we hear (3)
23 They may be used to secure strings of pearls (5) 24 A bit over-developed and not at all successful (8) 25 Stick no label on backwards (5)
26 Arch supporter of comic policemen (8)
27 The first mate goes from left to right in the bar (5)
DOWN
2 and 6 Down: What a judge should do to assess the whole record (4,4,5)
3 Conceivably isn’t acne in this case (8)
4 Footsore group of workers led by a blockhead (6)
5 We hear a sighed utterance (5)
6 See 2 Down
7 French and German articles appear below (5) 12 Proceed to a port in India (3)
13 Spend that American note (3)
14 A base got destroyed - by this? (8)
15 It’s tedious, but apparently won’t fatigue everyone (8)
19 Being affectionate, yearn to hold a number (6) 20 See 8 Across
21 Youth leader took out foreign capital (5)
22 A condition in which royalty may lie in public (5)
QUICK CLUES
ACROSS
1 Expert (5)
8 Racing test of stamina (8) 9 Distort (5)
10 Contest of physical strength (3,2,3) 11 Detest (5)
12 A corded cloth (3) 16 Merrymaking (6) 17 Nervous (2,4) 18 Conclusion (3)
23 Dowdy woman (5) 24 Weaken physically (8) 25 Abnormally large (5)
26 To curb (8)
27 Customary (5)
DOWN
2 Depressed (8) 3 Something easily done (8) 4 Disposition (6) 5 Accepted principle (5) 6 Demonstrated (5)
7 A trap for animals (5)
12 A cereal plant (3) 13 Legume (3)
14 Close call (4,4) 15 Obsessive self-centredness (8) 19 Stupid person (6) 20 Disparage (5)
21 Thickly crowded (5) 22 Prevent from happening (5)