CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 This Frenchman may find I’m a cure in sickness (7) 5 Grass on shrink’s furniture? (5) 11 Talks having value with head office, leading to employment at stately home (10,5) 12 Original baby oil used for abscess (4) 13 and 14 Give idiot the sack for lamb cut (5,4) 17 Hesitates about mentioning abrogations (6) 18 Extract essence from American detective who’s unmoving (7) 20 Foreign plants from east and south include toxic mix (7) 22 Complaints from lambs about their indoor accommodation (6) 24 and 25 Abandoned pitch in unconventional style (4,5) 26 Smile! Be a man! (4) 29 They say K9 paint can be applied for dog virus (6,9) 30 Confers power with minimal garments (5) 31 Modifying behaviour at musical by not being gutted (7)

DOWN

2 Berlin? No, that was a wall – you could hang for it (1,7,7) 3 Believe in heading off decay (4) 4 Closet rebuilt outside hotel to accommodate garments (7) 6 Scottish exclamations at Scottish water features not opening (4) 7 With nowhere to hide, having been dismissed at cricket from golf tournament (6,2,3,4) 8 Diving in sea initially off Caribbean island (5) 9 Made a note of contents of favourite medicine (6) 10 The French operation overcame elderly Belgian king (7) 15 Suit the north-east to be left out of government handout (5) 16 Enquired whether man was removed, being unidentifiable (5) 19 I parcel up exact copy (7) 21 Row kicked up by quiet independent unknown (6) 22 Clunk-clicks with subtle movement before parking (5,2) 23 Quick to feel pain (5) 27 Biting insect _ it goes down with sharp taste (4) 28 The pair missed out even in rush (4)