CRYPTIC CLUES

ACROSS

3 Plaster used as office equipment (7) 7 Excellent selection (6) 8 Sportsman depicted as Roman (7) 9 Petrol store for vehicle (4) 11 Bore about dress (4) 12 Rota devised by a vital supplier (5) 15 Both arduous and difficult inside (4) 16 Revealing about steak (4) 17 Dispenser to cop it, sadly (5) 18 Wager has a pulse (4) 19 Eccentric message (4) 21 Widow has bet after party (7) 22 Note proprietor takes depressant (6) 23 Improve dessert with directions (7) DOWN

1 Bachelor’s pain (4) 2 Prisoner wrong to bend (7) 3 Small ice cream or cake (5) 4 Take out some timber (4) 5 Disregard holiday (8) 6 Learnt about regular payment (6) 10 Resign in royal fashion? (8) 11 Knock a style of music (3) 13 Scanning a Berkshire town (7) 14 Rubbish in statistics (3) 15 Large groups horsed around (6) 18 Aristocrat in pub — nothing new (5) 19 Yield a plant ovule, say (4) 20 Fellow member in smallholding (4)