THE GIANT CROSSWORD
CRYPTIC CLUES ACROSS
12 A question, nevertheless, of money (11) 13 Agrees the English are reluctant to (6) 14 He bets it’s a vessel. The Queen Elizabeth (6) 16 Sang out ‘Catch!’ (4) 17 Last competitor is sore, having caught good left (4-5) 18 ‘Funny being joint master of ceremonies,’ I interposed (5) 19 Cushions for homes (4) 20 Picnic fare frowned on by AA? (6,3) 22 Drat! The key fits in further down (5) 23 All in all, where good marks are given to gymnast (2,7) 27 Home where tot is playing in pen (7) 30 Line of fat, perhaps, right through meat (6) 31 Not lacking sense, going to hotel (4) 32 Fought against being put into a container (5) 35 Carry from Paddington? (4) 36 Mad to have laid a finger on? (7) 38 Matt is uninteresting (4) 39 Determine again to find the answer to (7) 42 Jack, told to go, is not there (6) 45 Show door, surprisingly, to European admitted (5) 46 Here for the time being (7) 47 Single — and a catch (4) 48 For each one entering the jetty (4) 50 Views as right (Edgar’s wrong, actually) (7) 52 Name the bird, male, that’s been abandoned by its mother (5) 54 Car’s write-off. Alan is a scoundrel (6) 56 One of the reasons one keeps falling in the bedroom (7) 57 A planet in ruins (4) 59 Game that Ben, tall, may be fitted for (7) 61 The child in me, is it? (4) 64 A day last month he had his 18th birthday (5) 66 Until one left work (4) 67 Weaken again before forty days have gone by (6) 69 I take a stroll outside. Pleasant (7) 72 Faces the bowling and assumes control (5,4) 73 Cross street, yet dithers about (5) 74 Will try to get at people trapped inside (9) 79 Steal article from ladies’ lingerie department (4) 81 Row one is in the front (5) 82 Because it’s included in the bill (2,7) 83 State prison (4) 85 The whole ten are seething with anger (6) 86 As show of respect, given a good home to accommodate (6) 87 Symbolising by observing the national anthem (8,3)
DOWN
1 Climb in after mum (4) 2 Smart, anchoring right in the bay (6) 3 Tease the child, being a jerk (6) 4 By the way, ‘items of jewellery’ could be pearls (7) 5 Less punctual subsequently (5) 6 Had a view of that one turned a blind eye to (10) 7 Charge for the pudding, a penny over (5) 8 After a while, I get neat twist to end with (9) 9 The pals ice skating, in particular (7) 10 In break, having card game (4) 11 Laugh about ‘a terrible cad’ and ‘a pain’ (8) 15 Had fused with before, to form a bond (6) 21 Stuck to something in the spice cabinet (5) 24 Loving, after a short time turned sour (7) 25 Longed to change diet child tucked in to (6) 26 When you have to wait an hour for one to arrive (6) 28 In short, steer erratically (5) 29 Procured to dress up in (3) 33 Fury felt at awful rout time after (7) 34 Not as bad as being a gambler (6) 37 Doctors work in very small quantities, for prescriptions (5) 40 Taking all four back home (5) 41 No particular member of the Forces (7) 43 Fish from British stream (5) 44 He painted ‘The Revolver’ (6) 46 Assume to be standing down? (3,2) 49 Put off again by the lentils, etc (7) 51 Actually join forces with again (6) 53 Carrying the can, got upset about (6) 55 Dance held by US ambassador (5) 58 As expected, needing no further convincing (4,6) 60 Backing bad strike (3) 62 See, borne by brown claw (5) 63 Showing perspicacity, battle to restrain rambling rose (9) 65 Limited time for submission and phone kaput! (8) 68 Toxic for all swimming round the cascade (6) 70 He reckons it’s a token of some sort (7) 71 Comes back and goes for another spin (7) 75 For a bird, a little tasty morsel (6) 76 Mean to melt silver in and contrive to (6) 77 ‘British’ gets same wry smiles (5) 78 Perceptive in identifying the accent (5) 80 The bucket is one a friend carried (4) 84 Dog food (4)