CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Massive threat of Chinese rulers following world-wide conflict (6,7)

10/18 Prepared for loving, Tory negotiated arrangement (5,2,3,2,2)

11 Varied, balanced diet without bland, nonalcoholic drink (4,3)

12 Used to fence boundaries of estate holding games (4)

13 Consequence of rising acidification levels first signs of ocean distress (5)

14 Boris’s stand-in has a parting retrospective ban (4)

17 Aggressive when it’s tipped over into depression (7)

18 See 10

19 Leading by a short distance round the corner (2,5)

22 Cocktail dress disguises creative skill (7)

24 Cash prize you offer to right-wingers? (4)

25/2 Criminal Leeds warlord at the summit (5,7)

26 A sign of something wrong after house con (4)

29/6 Prepare gleaming net for fishing competition (7,4)

30 Worshipped by left and right? (7)

31 Explosive chemical agent leading to 1Ac (7,6)

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION:

Across: 1/10 Heads of state, 4 Preen, 9/18/14 Conference of the Parties Twenty-six, 11 Isomers, 12 Sec, 13 Lengths, 15 Episode, 16 Ensweep, 19 Outages, 21 Ali, 22 Chanter, 23 Loch Awe, 25 Excessive weight, 26 Texas, 27 Throw

DOWN

2 See 25 Across

3 Lads found on beach or back in town (4)

4 Beethoven’s operatic heroine’s Christmas return with potentially lucrative deposit (7)

5 Without plan, random parasailing on the road to the isles (7)

6 See 29 Across

7 Ineffectively bound to be slow (3,4)

8 Chemical agent such as 9Dn leads to flatulence in hothouse (10,3)

9 Chemical agent one might expire in box - dead ironic strangely (6,7)

15 Middle of forests, cutting trees, causing 1Ac disasters (5)

16 Stalinist or Marxist accepting frequent consequences of 1Ac (5)

20 Lightweight insulation material hidden in recess in leg or ear (7)

21 Unfortunate to be in extremes of debt, result of 1Ac (7)

22 Pleasant-sounding men in command holding benefit up (7)

23 Club in Elgin centre for evening out (7)

27 Coat feature (4)

28 Where photogenic subject is inclined to knock back a little drink. (4)

STAPLETON

Down: 1 Hangs on, 2 Arena, 3 Seeress, 4 Pack ice, 5 Ecologist, 6 Net zero, 7 Schoolteacher, 8 Reassessments, 17 Siam cat, 19 Oil belt, 20 Glasgow, 24 Clear