CRYP tIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Nets last of halibut in hiding places (7) 5 Faces six wise guys? (7) 9 Making fun of angler’s equipment in settling up (9) 10 Shopping centre in La Paz remodeled (5) 11 Tedious cuckoo goes extinct (4,3) 12 Hide article wrapped by Shakespearean king (7) 13 Temporarily take around Wanda’s hunting gear (3,3,5) 18 To a wary deer, crackpot is of a standard cut (5-2-4) 21 Various swimmers going underwater with energy (7) 23 Story about alien pod and young swimmer (7) 24 Old garments to air, e.g. (5) 25 Colonist runs off pronghorns (9) 26 Author hides out after mid-February (7) 27 Work in stone showing the Virgin holding child (7)

DOWN

1 Name inscribed in trophies for archers (6) 2 Led by sailor, achieve object of pursuit (6) 3 Excited hounds howl in northern region of Canada (6,3) 4 Hunt around West for bird (5) 5 Caution country singer Gill about kind of monster (9) 6 Brownish letter from Greece found in ocean (5) 7 Pastoral sort of nomadic dog-hater (8) 8 Birds fight in boxes (8) 14 Cheers, gripped by large animal’s mass (9) 15 Dogs shown on TV with beers (9) 16 Teardrop disturbed hunter (8) 17 Rescues fifty caught in attacks (8) 19 Furry critter eating up certificate (6) 20 Trifling with me, one like a fox (6) 22 Patch up a green and red stocking like this (5) 23 Carry male symbol (5)