CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Meat Kate’s cooked (5)

4 I’d seven pickled salad plants (7)

8 Mr Kelly’s is the first book (7) 9 Girl who could be Roman (5) 10 A top London orchestra too (4)

11 Passionate love for a bird (8) 13 Drink put right into the container (4)

14 Volcano in Vietnam? (4) 16 Suggest it’s close (8)

17 Copy a baby’s bed (4) 20 Untie badly and join together (5)

21 I managed to take a man from the Middle East (7) 22 Minehead and Exeter merging is drastic (7) 23 Highly-skilled, but taped up (5)

DOWN

1 An obvious lack of success on the railways (6,7)

2 Sinner has no right to return to Irish town (5)

3 Show love for a touch of snooker (4)

4 Leases out artists’ equipment (6)

5 Edit many letters about an explosive (8)

6 Dave ran around the porch (7)

7 Was the bad coin given by opposition front-benchers? (6,7)

12 Prime minister going to the east for first performance (8) 13 Tap trio upset nationalist (7) 15 Make an effort to get rivets out (6)

18 River you’ll find her in? (5) 19 Celebration for silver over at Los Angeles (4) Friday’s solutions: Across: 1 Duck. 3 All clear. 8 Junk. 9 Dovetail. 11 Cheap edition. 13 Endear. 14 Tender. 17 Streets ahead. 20 Eventual. 21 Omit. 22 Everyone. 23 Oder. Down: 1 Dejected. 2 Contend. 4 Lloyds. 5 Chew the fat. 6 Erato. 7 Rely. 10 Apparently. 12 Creditor. 15 Dreamed. 16 Strain. 18 There. 19 Cede.