CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS 1 Paper money at last sent using this medium? (10) 6 Spirit bar winos regularly ignored (4) 10 Shopping centre drama mostly with extreme characters (5) 11 Busker perhaps replaced gratuities left by English (9) 12 Deputise, having status reduced (5,2) 13 Story about court one is touching (7) 14 Easy progress, but suffering on grasslands (5,7) 18 Teasing drunk about responsibilities (12) 21 Craft needing brass with age (7) 23 Copper embraced by slightly drunk element (7) 24 Optical device protecting first home for earwigs (7,2) 25 Use professional parking to drop off (5) 26 Clean what’s left by cutter, say (4) 27 Lucky escape of plane by dead-end street (5,5)

DOWN 1 Temporarily having vacancy, tips off office worker (6) 2 Climbers fix up South African climbing (6) 3 Infection making revolutionary unravel red flag? (9,5) 4 Country cooking range with metal base from China (9) 5 Raise army to protect island (5) 7 Large creature with no tail – it’s properly a 22 problem (8) 8 Compensate for broadcast method supporting public (8) 9 Notice they’re given to soldiers on the move? (8,6) 15 Hemp isn’t assembled on small payloads (9) 16 Cork has a blue house (8) 17 Loves fresh doilies on top of sideboard (8) 19 European nation capturing soldiers with a cry of discovery (6) 20 Go into wood after climbing plant (6) 22 A bit of passion as a lady shows such a tone (5)

Thursday’s Puzzle Solved