the crosswords
CRYPTIC CLUES ACROSS
1 District that provides a capital start to the holiday (6) 4 A 16 Down outbreak of herpes (6) 9 Pelican tidily situated (2,5) 10 A better supplier of eggs (5) 11 Foreign tongue somewhat rich in dialects (5) 12 Bird with no head for danger? (7) 13 Only a personal impression, but admissible as evidence (11) 18 Conical shape in a manner of speaking (7) 20 Where the goat goes without corn (5) 22 Riverside depositories (5) 23 Tail one wags in delight (7) 24 You’ve not been going straight if you have to make this up (6) 25 Coming for a time before Christmas (6)
DOWN
1 A sorry state, but showing promise (6) 2 Mature, or just mature over one point (5) 3 Wide-eyed sailor coming in to sing (7) 5 Flier is one in a conspiracy (5) 6 Delightful as any isle could be (7) 7 Unrefined and hearty perhaps (6) 8 Their governments are popular (11) 14 Smouldering anger? (7) 15 Being a king is a way to end wealthy (7) 16 Going round the world is a smashing opportunity for a girl to take in (6) 17 Bird left in a snare (6) 19 She’s among the meanest and greediest of women (5) 21 First to get the gun ready (5)
QUICK CLUES ACROSS
1 Withstand (6) 4 Advantageous (6) 9 Justify (7) 10 Concede (5) 11 Inflexible (5) 12 Abnormally large (7) 13 Having suffered financial loss (3,2,6) 18 Permanent (7) 20 Capital of Tibet (5) 22 Lustre (5) 23 Enthusiastic reception (7) 24 To moderate (6) 25 Young swan (6)
DOWN
1 Recompense (6) 2 Gesture of indifference (5) 3 Contemptible person (2-3-2) 5 Spectacle (5) 6 Easily broken (7) 7 Scattered rubbish (6) 8 Police informer (5,6) 14 Alike all over (7) 15 Canadian city (7) 16 Object aimed at (6) 17 Hard, richly figured wood (6) 19 Publication (5) 21 Foreign (5)