CROSSWORD

ACROSS 1. Powerful cocktail keeps sharpness hot (12)

8. Composer crossing six bars ... the extreme ones? (7) 9. Festive food cut by a penny — being this? (7)

11. Leading advocate wanting beer around office (7)

12. Racist I upset with mocking humour (7) 13. Story satisfied with two characters finally killed (5)

14. Sent out signal with call involving extra backing (9)

16. Nameless bird gaining height — a distant point in the sky? (9) 19. Drunk at the end of today? Not on (5) 21. Freezing fine beheaded fish — line caught (3-4)

23. Half rice, half soup, time to make this? (7) 24. Going to miss drive after golf cap’s flying (7)

25. Mineral mass one’s found in a moon, classically (7)

26. Long sweet film (8,4)

DOWN 1. A fool entering shortly — Siegfried, perhaps (7)

2. Letter of key big building across street (7)

3. Subject of experiment needing a piece of gold and a piece of iron (6,3)

4. Cuts a number of bad journalists? (5)

5. Great leader, a Chinese one imprisons rest, unfortunately (7) 6. Material used for ropes seaport’s replaced (7) 7. Announcing process of selecting actor for woman in Chicago? (12)

10. Thinking about inner secret can be diverting (12)

15. Running Internet without a host (9) 17. Artist’s place lately stripped, odd pieces of fine art removed (7) 18. Appearing very good in getting into record book (7)

19. Note boss on round shield for centurions (7)

20. Where some take off label turning up strip of material (7)

22. What green-fingered person of course has something to do with flower bed (5)