DAILY MAIL CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Mike seems to be avoiding a group of plotters (7) 5 Gold couple’s livein help (2,4) 9 Jelly can be exhilarating if top’s left until last (7) 10 Tea and chat disturbed embassy employee (7) 11 Shade odd parts of house (3) 12 Clean church inspiring Tracey’s prestige (3-8) 13 View men leaving block of flats (5) 14 Find record surplus by end of May (9) 16 Secure lights for uncultivated countryside (9) 17 Good time to adopt polite measure (5) 19 Help county surgery (11) 22 Coin a phrase describing pile (3) 23 Warning signal when crossing road (7) 24 Do states back leaderless post? (7) 26 Shock during American policy reversals (1-5) 27 Rose may climb over this river in ‘Brief Lives’ (7)

DOWN

1 ‘The Magi’ amazingly becomes a blockbuster (7) 2 Boney student friend takes a long time to record one street (15) 3 Regularly travel northwards to dine (3) 4 Char or stunted bass perhaps (5) 5 Those raising concern in letter before member added to rolls (9) 6 Nearly clear plate (5) 7 Minor Latin icons arranged to overwhelm ailing queen (15) 8 Shout to obtain jellied eel and vegetable (6) 12 Part of blossom, soft, delayed coming up (5) 14 Working clothes universal among grandees abroad (9) 15 German appears in Algerian port publication (5) 16 Colourful birds’ mother makes sound of crow (6) 18 Tsarina starts to entertain many journalists (7) 20 Take part in European Theatre Royal (5) 21 Elected group’s leaflet delivered with magazine (5) 25 Opponents of revolutionary English (3)

PRIZES of £20 will be awarded to the senders of the first three correct solutions checked. Solutions to: Daily Mail Prize Crossword No. 16,002, PO BOX 3451, Norwich NR7 7NR. Entries may be submitted by second-class post. Envelopes must be postmarked no later than tomorrow. Please make sure you enclose your name and address. No. 16,002