THE CROSSWORD

PUZZLE 15148

CRYPTIC CLUES ACROSS

1 Require in stronghold to be very much involved (4-4) 5 Three-foot square? (4) 9 Items edited for a newspaper (5) 10 Trust company wrongly fined (7) 11 Exhilarating, as some drinks are (12) 13 Fraternities popular with salesmen (6) 14 He composed a feature about work (6) 17 Many meetings are disrupted by strife (12) 20 Concentrated on treating tennis elbow initially (7) 21 Put out of sight (5) 22 Business policy? (4) 23 Usurer’s great concern (8)

Down

1 Take out a girl - a bit of a shrew? (4) 2 Men ride out, dressed in fur (7) 3 The record of our growing old is depressing (12) 4 Il Duce turns out to be a mathematician (6) 6 An out-of-the-way plea (5) 7 Removing the sediment from port (8) 8 A humble fan to be moved, too deep for words (12) 12 Christmas feeling shown by worthy Shakespeare (8) 15 Writers I’ve assumed to be serious (7) 16 Humble cleric taking me to heart (6) 18 The enemy the Salvation Army has to beat (5) 19 Prepare for a change of diet (4)

QUICK CLUES ACROSS

1 Certain to succeed (4-4) 5 Cruel Roman emperor (4) 9 To deposit (5) 10 Get in touch with (7) 11 Not readily available (4,2,4,2) 13 Unconvincing (6) 14 Capital of Portugal (6) 17 Obvious (12) 20 Have strong influence on (7) 21 Clumsy (5) 22 Level (4) 23 Magnificence (8)

DOWN

1 Be in resentful mood (4) 2 Spread out from centre (7) 3 Binoculars (5,7) 4 To estimate (6) 6 Rub out (5) 7 Peripheral (8) 8 Drunkenness (12) 12 Gushing (8) 15 Accept as true (7) 16 Large heavy rope (6) 18 Wood used for flooring (5) 19 Strong reaction (4)