CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Final bid to draw things together, by agreement (8) 5 Leads off with diamond. It’s a handicap (6) 10 was popular book put aside in store? (2,7) 11 A top secret group must be something worth having (5) 12 At the end, makes a mistake, as time goes by (7) 13 Ring me, on line, about a mischievous sprite (7) 14 Photo taken later on as an instant record of an event ... (8) 17 ... and hear a married couple started to compere the event (5) 19 Left old tank on the green (5) 21 Did a turncoat weasel out of it, at short notice, near the end? (8) 24 Certain fellow got in, at one time, but it was too much ... (7) 25 ... and is too much expected of one who’s in arrears? (7) 27 Declaims against birds on 29 across, for instance (5) 28 Poles, eg, have to manage to get 40 winks (2,2,5) 29 Favouring one of the teams on a short track (6) 30 Ernest, commonly was in a premium position as a slave (8)

DOWN

1 Harmonises with peels of bells (6) 2 She appears to be quite conventional, but was left out (5) 3 Gets out of bed, and takes to the streets (5,2) 4 Tends to have plenty of problems (5) 6 An engineer made up, inside the world of scholarship (7) 7 Girls were in position, but were removed from there (9) 8 At one time, was inclined to get a bit stretched (8) 9 May have to fill out supplement, like 23 down (8) 15 On no account care for others, but it doesn’t matter (5,4) 16 He took an educated woman, say, back to trace her ancestry? (8) 18 Copper taking losers out, involved in stoppages (8) 20 At the end, had grounds for believing it was sedition (7) 22 Was told about visitor coming, but it was only surmise (7) 23 Intensify rivalry between runner and writer (6) 25 Go one better at an alfresco party (5) 26 Was first daughter about to get man, or was

it all an illusion? (5)