SOLUTION TO PRIZE CROSSWORD No 15,691:

ACROSS: 6 Reported speech. 9 Setter. 10 Plumbers. 11 Romantic. 13 Avenue. 15 Curate. 17 Velvet. 19 Alpaca. 20 Illusory. 22 Obituary. 24 Zigzag. 26 General-purpose. DOWN: 1 Irreconcilable. 2 Spot. 3 Dry rot. 4 Osculate. 5 Verb. 7 Expect. 8 Circuit breaker. 12 Aorta. 14 Eaves. 16 Tearaway. 18 Tidy up. 21 Lizard. 23 Teem. 25 Grow.