CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1. Bear heads business – a hard, pompous type (4-3)

5. Use perm style to look best of all (7)

9. Equipped with rusty locks? (3-6)

10. The game’s up – right in the middle deck (5)

11. Desmond’s dance frocks? (5)

12. Loaf ready to cook – long drink needed (4,2,3)

14. She is expecting to wear this outfit (9,5) 17. No private pupil to be seen here? (2,3,6,3)

21. Having had a change of heart, chokes songbirds (9)

23. Girl who’s first to be made a fool of? (5)

24. To carry off by force is ever a problem (5)

25. Unhappily in Libya it manifests lack of power (9)

26. Attended by all apparently, but Pat missing somehow (7)

27. Fractions of the highest order (7)

DOWN

1. Innocence of Ruth going round old city (6)

2. Musquash little seen in Italian river on reflection (7)

3. Support small restaurant I discovered earlier (9)

4. Author with regular book for horticultural class (5,6)

5. Unhappy US prosecutors having to withdraw (3)

6. Picture being very warm in the river (5)

7. Elver taking a long time to run back (7)

8. Say nothing about the coffee! (8)

13. Venomous creature alarms nude having day off (11)

15. Revealing that glider can fly (9)

16. Provide pretty good coverage for the present (4-4)

18. Two sailors start to eat – sauce required (7)

19. He sported the white rose (7)

20. Sly old juggling in the world of insurance (6)

22. The old land of the female graduate? (5)

25. Climber – there are eight in the league (3)