GUARDIAN CRYPTIC CROSSWORD NO. 27,852

ACROSS

7 Blair mobilised to go round overdue, involving both sides (9) 8 Minor role appeared before central character in story (5) 9 Thus a reason not to smoke with a French rogue (3,2,1,3) 10 Nostromo, wrecked on ocean, initially lost in Typhoon (5) 12 A dictator gains European leadership in Suspense (2,4) 13 Model tracks creative work reversing gusset (5,3) 16 Stone slab, incised with record of church construction (7) 19 Losing second fellow, lifeboats sent up maroon (7) 22 Guardian group accepts position of Corbyn, Opposition leader (8) 25 Seafarer who wrote about navy leader in A Winding Road (6) 27 The Inheritors takes on empire’s leader, moving to the left (5) 28 Saying nothing about Chance makes one a fool (4-5) 29 Act as The Informer in part allocated selflessly (3,2) 30 Prepared to attack in hoard with central character in The Nigger of the Narcissus (3,2,4)

DOWN

1 Deny row about broadcast (6) 2 Once old, a changing disposition to share Romance (8) 3 Wipe out revolutionary in The Secret Agent (6) 4 Emptiness shown in Victory with sharpness of vision (7) 5 Garment from Boatman’s back, absent in Heart of Darkness (6) 6 Bit of a revolution in

BA? (6) 11 Under Western Eyes

spoke of manners (4) 14 Deep brown, without

end (3) 15 It is brought up over The End of the Tether (3) 16 Dry in bits — could be halves (3) 17 Foreign character central to The Tale (3) 18 Boatman taken by Youth set (4) 20 Liberal and left wings to allow end to onerous property legislation (4,4) 21 Violent run-in, alas, with An Outcast of the Islands (7) 23 They may laugh at grouchy Ena Sharples’s revelation (6) 24 25 across’s central character is gloomy following wreck (6) 25 Copper with nothing to offer about a typical cell’s shape (6) 26 Very poor conditions for developing cacti, right? (6)