LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

ACROSS 1 Witches attempt to follow a League One team in England (8) 8 Send off when the match finishes (4) 10 Keep pace on the river to be on target (5) 11 Defeat for the captain, but it may bring in extra customers (4-6) 15 One artist returned in a ship, wearing Indian garments ... (5) 16 ... and another artist took on one old Brazil star (3) 17 Man takes bets about cricketers scoring runs (7) 18 Second team-mate comes back to do some circuits on the track (4) 20 Protection needed for some

backs on the pitch (7) 22 Get up near a sports stadium (5) 23 Row in cup match, right at the

end (4) 24 Players involved in trip by

steamer (4) 25 Sent off with excellent medicinal drink, in the interval at Lords maybe (6) 26 Holiday resort used by a top

European team, at first (3) 27 Have a strong desire to finish off

(4,2) 29 Small number working in the

middle of the day (4) 30 Chart designed by a Greek maid,

perhaps (7) 31 Valuable instrument recalls the 2015 Derby winner (6.4)

DOWN 1 Painting the town red after Liverpool success, as it were (11) 3 Put in the picture, from the start (5) 4 Coaches decided to rent out 16 across before his first season (8) 5 Left-wingers turning out with the Aberdeen players, for instance (4) 6 Fight for a bit, no doubt (5) 7 He led Sky to victory in France, Spain and Italy on the road (5,6) 9 It’s commonplace to be in the same recreation ground (4) 12 Might Stranraer and Stenhousemuir start on board ship? (2) 13 Felt sorry for men having to lead

off, at the end (8) 14 Have a smoke back there. It’s a

long story (4) 16 Failing to start drawing when

competing on the track (6) 19 Catch the ball in the bunker, of

course (4) 20 Claim as a right, by decree,

perhaps (6) 21 Fall short, on the track, so miss

the bus (4) 23 Got a new outlook on a ballroom

dance (5) 28 Brown started out at 23 down (3)