THE QUICKIE

ACROSS

1 Synthetic material (7) 5 Compass point (4) 7 Short light sleep (3) 8 Definite (5-3) 9 Of kings, queens, etc (5) 10 Walkway (4) 13 Period of time (4) 14 Very keen (4) 18 Assistant (4) 19 Foremost (5) 21 City in eastern Spain (8) 22 Rubbish receptacle (3) 23 Conspiracy (4) 24 Large sieves or riddles (7)

DOWN

1 Gland behind the stomach (8) 2 Suffocation (8) 3 Fishing equipment (6) 4 Chirps (6) 5 Heat or friendliness (6) 6 Slimy garden creature (4) 11 Dreadful (8) 12 Play-acts (8) 15 Straightforward (6) 16 Responds (6) 17 Amorous relationship (6) 20 Amount of fish caught (4)

Yesterday’s solutions:

Across: 1 Permitted. 6 Ewe. 8 Claret. 9 Drift. 10 Violin. 11 Strange. 13 Leather. 16 Accuse. 18 Aglow. 19 Friday. 21 See. 22 Principal. Down: 1 Pal. 2 Rural. 3 Intense. 4 Tender. 5 Design. 7 Extremely. 8 Civilians. 12 Traffic. 14 Asleep. 15 Hawaii. 17 Crisp. 20 All.