CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1. Get the paper up and give one a medal (8)

7. So pro gets upset by an animal track (5)

8. Wander aimlessly about with men, dear, and get upset (7)

9. Waist-belts as used by cooks in Scotland (7)

10. Simple arithmetic revealed him to be a tragic figure (4)

12. With endless aplomb, I’d arranged a certificate of honour (7)

14. I’d gone back to the employees on the female side (7)

17. Snatch something possibly after a smash (4)

18. Make out how to riddle the cinders (7)

21. In the main, he was godly (7)

22. Part of house one quits without having begun (5)

23. Maybe Burns led to mistakes being made (8)

DOWN

1. Give a hollow laugh? Smile, rather (6)

2. Case hard to work out, but it’s only a game (8)

3. For which one is taken on a wild goose chase (4)

4. Pompous way to turn, almost, and dig it up (6)

5. A right-on amount of money? (4)

6. A run, from the summit to a finish (6)

7. The misadventures one only narrowly gets by (7)

11. Last pen to have written about them was Holst’s (7)

13. Opening bars finished: true, as it turns out (8)

14. Avoided it, not having a dead dog around (6)

15. Feel non-u nun might produce something like dill (6)

16. Could bass be used by an ecclesiastical mother? (6)

19. Except that it is a way to put something by (4)

20. The air as it is outside is difficult to forecast (4) SATURDAY’S SOLUTION

Across: 1. Felines 6. Super 9. Inlay 10. Reclaim 11. Monet

12. Plump 13. Silesia 15. Bolero 16. Grime 18. Teeth

20. Actor 21. Octet 22. Obeyed 25. Piccolo 26. Novel

27. Prune 28. Alleges 29. Sorts 30. Dolls 31. May tree Down: 1. Forestation 2. Locale 3. Near-sightedness

4. Simpatico 5. Flout 6. Symptomatically 7. Penitent 8. Rat

14. Bourgeoisie 17. Ectoplasm 19. Eventual 23. Forger

24. Overt 27. Pad