THE CROSSWORDS

CRYPTIC CLUES ACROSS

1 Indications of cover-up in monastic habits (5) 4 Sign on the railway provides something to read (7)

8 Got together inside sometimes (3)

9 A list of articles in not very bad shape (9) 10 Speak to one’s home (7)

11 He’s put in little work yet has expectations (5)

13 They may turn up trumps sometimes (6) 15 Feel in form like a cat (6)

18 Pound piece (5)

19 Fair weather saint? (7)

21 An item in a lifeless form (9)

23 And the rest appears in brief (3)

24 How time flies (7)

25 The first letter requests jobs to do (5)

DOWN

1 Drawing instrument traditionally boxed (7) 2 Taken back though retired (9)

3 Shoot a bird (5)

4 Pointlessly subject to being extravagant (6) 5 Has been changed in spirit (7)

6 Central Lagos in the past (3)

7 They have their ups and downs as playthings (2-3)

12 Invaluable? Absurd! (9)

14 They are raised up for anyone to see (7) 16 Draws dissected Eastern insect (7)

17 Fights for food left over (6)

18 Green fruit (5)

20 Not inclined to build (5)

22 She’s partly Javanese (3)

QUICK CLUES ACROSS

1 Offspring (5)

4 An elaborate spectacle (7) 8 A social insect (3) 9 Unreasonable demand (4,5) 10 Meagre (7)

11 Juice of cooked meats (5) 13 Uncertain in prospect (6) 15 Rabbit colony (6) 18 Pretentious nonsense (5) 19 Prolonged lack of rain (7) 21 Prominent (2,3,4)

23 Steal from, forcibly (3) 24 Unfortunate (7)

25 Irritable (5)

DOWN

1 Remarkably typical (7) 2 Lacking information (2,3,4) 3 Outmoded (5)

4 Contemptible (6)

5 Southeast European country (7) 6 Assistance (3)

7 Slow to act (5)

12 With respect to (2,7)

14 Strive for supremacy (7)

16 In particular (7)

17 Hateful (6)

18 Unforeseen difficulty (5) 20 Done openly (5)

22 Useful hint (3)