CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Pounding beat from loudspeaker system giving offence electronically (10) 6 Spots odd characters dropping from balconies (4)

9 Jazz instrument playing in old English style (5)

10 Reckon car damaged kind of rail (9)

12 Vintage rioter brawling, raising questions (13)

14 Make slow progress over a note at an early stage (8) 15 Six-footer belonging to religious group (6)

17 Dashing, picked up cab (6) 19 One tries to make contract more expensive, collecting 100 pounds (8) 21 Avoiding buying everyone a drink (7,6)

24 A failure to hold club right, something few golfers achieve (9)

25 Elegant hotel in Welsh town (5) 26 Rogue that may be Cuban (4) 27 Accident producing return of scarlet fever? (10) 1 Exercises to such an extent to be ready for Mexican (4)

2 It no longer shows a motorist has rendered his duty (3,4) 3 Bird-watcher right into solo

twitching? (13)

4 Doctor to assess wound (8) 5 Member of US drugs squad managed to turn over company (5)

7 Bugs found under tea cup used

in company with host (7) 8 Three consecutive characters spelt out attempt to accept American in his kind of school (10)

DOWN

11 TV station with boring link to Europe (7,6) 13 Fifty-one people initially depicted in forged Hogarth print (10) 16 Exotic breaks in North American state (8)

18 Famous incompetent (7) 20 Opera served up in Irish TV company’s broadcast (7)

22 All the World’s a stage for Shakespeare (5) 23 Latest of models in fashion photograph (4)