CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

Across

1. VIP, unwell, eats a mint designed as pick-me-up (7,4) 9. E for expert? (7) 10. You and I linger, keeping still (7) 11. Foreign money certain to be axed from leisure (3) 12. Crime series (7) 13. Alluring woman on the Rhine learning 11 (7) 14. Throw lots of balls at the start (3) 15. Zones unnamed venues for public events (5) 17. Part of act understood by the audience (5) 18. Leading American deceived about European (5) 20. Stirling welcomes eastern prophet (5) 22. Dutch writer’s not smart (3) 24. Cecilia is online, admitting affair (7) 25. Cowherd overhauled starter (7) 26. Leaves the van in odd places (3) 27. Maroon girl somewhere in Cornwall (7) 28. McIlroy collects books on English crime (7) 29. No Central American state’s accepting publicity awards (5,6)

Down

1. Daughter cuts large vegan beet cultivated here (9,6) 2. Article about South Africa in May, perhaps (7) 3. 2 tours outskirts of Deal with passion (5) 4. Ulster Bank invested in his revolutionaries (9) 5. Where patients are privately directed? (7) 6. Even he needs ads to be edited for balance (5-10) 7. Larger billet housed one of the Desert Rats (6) 8. On which passengers chatted and deckhands overheard? (6) 16. People in hamlet processed cheese (9) 18. A couple of lines on river attraction (6) 19. Unsettle birds flying around you in France (7) 21. Entertainment industry proves how Bizet inspires (7) 23. Tolpuddle man: ‘It’s my right to retain skill’ (6) 25. Nurse’s profession lacking energy (5)