CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Strut around showing confidence (5)

6 The snag in quoting bits from the catechism (5)

9 The officer spoils Henry (7)

10 Canned beef, it seems, is not good for you (5)

11 Cleo’s the one in the middle of the road (5) 12 So Sep’s in the money! (5)

13 A brook of national interest (7)

15 Hack out of the way (3)

17 How to spend a solidly sunless day off work (4)

18 Only one pass for a number of soldiers (6) 19 Look unhappy when a female breaks Leslie’s heart (5)

20 Like that old eccentric who starts his car by hand? (6)

22 Light as a soft drink (4)

24 Athenian female? (3)

25 Baker’s blunder? (7)

26 To deprive a chap of a companion, mate, is a horrifying thing to do (5)

27 Cease attacking and allow a fallen opponent to rise (3,2)

28 Ida, we hear, is a duck (5)

29 Such problems as trees can possibly present (7)

30 Figure nothing’s right for a singer (5)

31 Spirit of a grand entertainer? (5)

DOWN

2 Swedes are thus fixed to the spot (6)

3 Make this my place of work (6)

4 Colour of a sheet anchor (3) 5 Though out at sea, there’s a noted road to them (5)

6 There’s nothing for me to call round for but the medicine (7)

7 It’s in Alaska, unfortunately (4)

8 Wash out and see clean, perhaps (6)

12 To be too inquisitive about a medicine ingredient can be costly (5)

13 Complain about a source of litter? (5)

14 Like a hygienic pair of heels (5)

15 Name a bad actor about to end an affair (5)

16 We’re wrong about a bonehead being a composer (5)

18 Live well at the back of beyond (5)

19 Jumpy captain? (7)

21 Look up to Paul, a hero (6)

22 The language for a buff? (6)

23 Is the pressure applied with them measurable in bars? (6)

25 It can be a slab of wood (5)

26 A turn in the direction of an American car (4)

28 Unit of work in the lower grades (3)