CRUSADER CROSSWORD

FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN £100 CASH read down the letters in the highlighted squares to reveal the mystery word

ACROSS

1 Army unit’s payment keeping US soldier and me (8) 5 Tell popular class (6) 10 Excellent piano used by Conservative greeting lord’s relative (5-10) 11 Dull male, French one, with Scandinavian (7) 12 Marine with new canoe in charge (7) 13 Joke by one in raincoat, dignified (8) 15 Material, popular, supplied after a day (5) 18 One business transaction that’s perfect (5) 20 Boy, unknown before prison sentence, identifying insect (8) 23 Talk tediously about old spear (7) 25 Bunch of flowers makes us question European during boxing match (7) 26 He washes a seat – it’s unusually pale (2,5,2,1,5) 27 Listener with new man being brought in (6) 28 Releases ship to go round European island (8)

DOWN

1 Government shortening course of exercise and diet (6) 2 Inexperienced entertainer initially including joke involving fruit (9) 3 Perhaps he meant to use gas (7) 4 Norwegian seen in minor series (5) 6 Uncle out with us finds centre (7) 7 Bulb used in cannelloni once (5) 8 Man in charge in pit finding drug (8) 9 Insisted on body of police being in finale (8) 14 Gifted volunteers, advanced, meeting journalist (8) 16 Disorderly drunk burnt lute (9) 17 Food for a king eaten by corrupt chiefs (4,4) 19 Like big cat, popular, caught by the French one (7) 21 Tough guy has contusion, right? (7) 22 Social position of volunteers seen in street with us (6) 24 Person arguing with oarsman? (5) 25 In pub, a steak to moisten during cooking (5)