Fiction: Wayne Macaulay The Cryptic: Mungo MacCallum

ACROSS

1. Sheep milk cheese, builders of Cordoba, offered Spooner, suggesting figure of speech ( 9 )

6. Religious scholar catches a half-view of Buonarroti masterpiece ( 5 ) 9. Tanned hide around large capital ( 5 )

10. Reckless nude keeps change, but remains the same ( 9 )

11. Lefty got up with the symbol of Lancaster (3,4)

12. You hear bird call – ring Maurice, painter of cityscapes! ( 7 )

13. Arise, rude brute – find secret stash! (6,8)

17. COMPR – catch the drift, can’t quite get it (4-10)

21. Remove bonds concerning rentals ( 7 )

23. Vivid quote back after Islamic festival ( 7 )

25. Prepare, hasten – he’s going to put away his sword! ( 9 )

26. Cook right with a kiln for hops ( 5 )

27. Lubricated, removed 20’s king and took the pressure off ( 5 )

28. Ticket to leave before the set time for peer, an unknown, gentle idiot (5,4)

DOWN

1. Bum cards rejected for great food! (3,5)

2. Bound over line, covered the roof! ( 5 )

3. Publicity over one man – nothing evil found for writer and Holocaust survivor (5,4)

4. Work – turn fast and rich ( 7 )

5. A law for sculpture, over time ( 7 )

6. Discourage antelopes around territory ( 5 )

7. Wild revel – Gary OS (4,5)

8. Princess dead, no time – say it never happened (3,3)

14. Relaxes over broken line and goes back in the army (2-7)

15. Cunning spread around loan? Hesitation, pretty thinly ( 9 )

16. Teaches cut eased carelessly ( 8 )

18. T, a kind of sandal (4,3)

19. Media over the queen – she helps with the ironing! ( 7 )

20. Mourn over dead king, initially interred with first lady ( 6 )

22. Noon edit? ( 5 )

24. Coronet for Italian aunt – right article ( 5 )