CRYPTIC CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1 Exercising, thee and me in middle of night? (5) 4 Moneylender’s overtures? (8) 8 Furious ace fined for open disobedience (8) 9 Room for investment? (8) 11 Trade vehicles (7) 13 Totaliser at odds makes one philosophical (9) 15 Got back to front (8,3,4) 18 Areas of study lacking in followers (9) 21 Effective narration (7) 22 He favours dictation above all his subjects (8) 24 After the raid it’s heard nobody found guilty (3,5) 25 Yields affected TV shares (8) 26 Weary, tried anyway (5)
DOWN
1 Render duet badly but not
intimidated (10) 2 It could be daring, if demeaning (5,3) 3 You may read these at your
convenience (8) 4 Purchases made at a local
jumble sale (4) 5 A company that was floated to avoid liquidation ended up here (6) 6 Stays in my group (6) 7 Erotic reply to proposal put up, a
case for a kiss (4) 10 Exacting examination — the
paper’s marked in red (4,4) 12 Order me a lilac — or another shrub (8) 14 Put in a difficult position and finished full of rage (10) 16 Frank to leave, taking broken clip (8) 17 Contact one where motor starts with hesitation (8) 19 It’s me dog! (6) 20 Packed as a precaution? (2,4) 22 A way through on foot (4) 23 Sends Morse but intercepts call (4)