CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS

8 Lays hard order to flag ropes (8)

9 Writer, a universal god (6)

10 What she knew is novel, but in France that is sequential (6)

11 Loosens unopened covers on most northerly island (8)

12 In the grip of sin? (4)

13 A top girl he performed with in The Desert Song, say (5,5)

15 Have a break, get older, and get put on again in ... (7)

17 ... rehearsals that are not sweet places for chickens (3,4)

20 Relaxed manner displayed although this paper is incendiary! (5,5)

22 Sleeps over bridge (4)

24 Reckon Norse CID solved it (8) 26 Not seriously on pitch (2,4) 27 Having only two options to dispose of a railway, so ... (6)

28 ... split when assembly gave hols (2,6)

DOWN

1 I slam a serving of cold meat (6) 2 Command to salute while marching, yet feels disorderly (4,4)

3 Go for naive featherweight (5,5)

4 Ease the ill effects of idiot to make war, we hear (7)

5 Draught in Soviet news agency (4) 6 You put your foot in it, not to start riot, but to incite it, perhaps (4,2) 7 Composer takes part in violent seizure of Ireland (8)

14 To Catholic with heaven’s first dawn, this may throw eerie shadows (10)

16 Is epic do organised in stop-go fashion? (8) 18 Can sort phone attraction (8) 19 Saharan people are accommodated in small boats (7)

21 Plants enemy anti-submarine measure (6) 23 Child psychologist who studied age in depth (6)

25 Time to depart, say, in a roundabout way (4)