CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 It’s rough when a raw beginner gets in a mess (5) 6 Because a gloss finish can be nice (5)

9 Maybe one has gasped about such a lady! (7) 10 What a couple can do when, again, there’s an R in the month (5)

11 Highly disagreeable to be humble? (5)

12 Stop running some installation (5)

13 Million to one, to bet is an error! (7)

15 Keep the eggs warm, perhaps (3) 17 Complaint said to be a bit hackneyed (4)

18 Horse maybe born to give a cowboy a start? (6) 19 Essays by one in a state of rest (5)

20 Cried distractedly on finishing last, we believe (6) 22 Just what the doctor ordered (4) 24 Warm-hearted love for a sweep, perhaps (3) 25 Being drunk, sounded sloshed! (7)

26 Is she an enthusiast for New York? (5)

27 Bad mark for a boy getting out of line (5)

28 Not ignorant of a place in Herts (5)

29 They may well be keepers (7) 30 A reminder about the figures (5)

31 Stories ought to be out of my thoughts (5)

DOWN

2 Such figures are not Roman (6)

3 Fairy showing malice outright! (6)

4 There’s a street market for it in London (3)

5 Bind or untie, possibly (5) 6 Vendors holding twice the cash as prophets (7) 7 One much admired though said to be idle (4)

8 One side of Glasgow (6) 12 As worn by the runner on the right? (5)

13 Another name for polo? (5) 14 Poles always scoff, it seems! (5)

15 Enquire about a non-starter said to be in the soup (5) 16 Drawn to matrimony? (5) 18 Sort of laugh when you flop as a diver? (5)

19 She was a colossal disaster (7)

21 Hardly a thing to keep baby quiet? (6)

22 Under the influence of Morpheus? (6)

23 As you hunt, the wild chase is about never-ending! (6) 25 Like the insinuation that there’s a nepotistic leader in the team (5)

26 If wrong again, she’s probably French (4)

28 Dear me, there’s this branch in the river! (3)