THE CROSSWORD

CRYPTIC CLUES ACROSS

1 Stop, having a right to a break (6)

4 Fine at first, then harsh and cold (6)

9 A man in love may well get married (7) 10 We object in middle age to exercising (5) 11 Fitting end for a piece of wood (5)

12 Invest capital perhaps (7)

13 One who thinks of things first? (11)

18 It may mean the sack to postal workers (7) 20 At the side of a supporter (5)

22 Meal not starting to satisfy this man (5) 23 Term that’s musical or legal possibly (7) 24 Describing one with most experience of life (6)

25 Make fast? (6)

DOWN

1 Stays will alter a waist (6)

2 Capitalist of upright type (5)

3 Odd way to go over the hills (7)

5 In depressed areas love conquers all (5) 6 Coins no longer used, e.g. in USA (7)

7 One who turns up in Australia (6) 8 Literally it had a very large population (11) 14 Crooked dealing straightened out (7) 15 Tract of grassland left out (7)

16 Power of a politician in Ireland (6)

17 I’m taking a certain attitude for tax (6) 19 Prohibits right to enter country stores (5) 21 He starts driving in wrong gear (5)

QUICK CLUES ACROSS

1 Grow less (6)

4 Unvarying (6)

9 Sportive (7)

10 A stretch of land (5) 11 Passive form of protest (3-2) 12 Tropical cyclone (7)

13 Repay in kind (3,4,4) 18 Exultation (7) 20 Disproportionate (5) 22 Immediate danger (5) 23 Accommodation (7)

24 Lessen the effect of (6) 25 Natural ardour (6)

DOWN

1 Meal (6)

2 To progress without effort (5) 3 Argument in justification (7) 5 Add together (3,2) 6 Substantiate (4,3)

7 Scope (6)

8 During the whole period (3,3,5) 14 A witty saying (7) 15 Aspiring (5-2) 16 Slow-witted (6)

17 Deficient in quantity (6) 19 A scuffle (5)

21 Underlying meaning (5)