WEEKEND CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Avoid responsibility in the absence of a policeman (3,3) 4 Included hug before first date (8) 9 One in Germany accepting Lee is a lady’s name (6) 10 Coming from bar German went first and got into a comfortable position (8) 12 On the decline despite having broken a personal record (4,4,4) 15 I’m ready to go with you, it appears, despite it being unrehearsed (9) 17 Polish to improve (3,2) 18 Tree left by bend (5) 19 Verdict of non-voter excited about Penny (3,6) 20 GI’S swear-word bothered one temporarily separated (5,7) 24 Ancient clock? (3-5) 25 Caught us with cat playing inside plant (6) 26 Had a nice arrangement in the Spanish estate (8) 27 Benefactor found it was just right and wrong in the middle (6)

DOWN

1 Cheese that’s pale, richly mixed (10) 2 Very different Europeans have separated (5,5) 3 Inside pasture doesn’t include rust in plants (5) 5 Chap connected with urban area is frequenter of clubs (3-5-4) 6 Doctor to rig Sartre novel (9) 7 Telephone leading lady in California (4) 8 Cooks an old bird (4) 11 and 13 Do not let principal down (4,4,4,5,5) 14 Are convicts generally accessible here? (4,6) 16 How I steer a different way _ or else (9) 21 Drink before a play (5) 22 In Portobello, chapel overlooked lake (4) 23 Old pupil left 99 of the poems (4)