DAILY MAIL CROSSWORD

PRIZES of £20 will be awarded to the senders of the first three correct solutions checked. Solutions to: Daily Mail Prize Crossword No. 15,816, PO BOX 3451, Norwich, NR7 7NR. Entries may be submitted by second-class post. Envelopes must be postmarked no later than tomorrow. Please make sure you enclose your name and address.

SOLUTION TO PRIZE CROSSWORD No 15,813: ACROSS: 1 Seaweed. 5 Plucky. 9 Estuary. 10 Romance. 11 Pie. 12 Workmanship. 13 Erred. 14 Sound wave. 16 Top secret. 17 Aitch. 19 Coffee table. 22 Day. 23 Echoing. 24 Israeli. 26 Stream. 27 Demesne. DOWN: 1 Steeple. 2 At the drop of a hat. 3 Era. 4 Dryer. 5 Paramount. 6 Unman. 7 Kind-heartedness. 8 Temple. 12 Wedge. 14 Stratagem. 15 Drake. 16 Ticker. 18 Haywire. 20 Elite. 21 Blind. 25 Rum. DAILY MAIL New Cryptic Crosswords — pit your wits against 100 of the trickiest cryptic puzzles ever to appear in your favourite paper. This book provides the ideal way to warm up your grey matter for a day’s work, or wind down and relax during those rare spare moments. Available from the Daily Mail Book Shop, call 0844 571 0640 or visit www.mailbookshop.co.uk. P&P free on orders over £15.

ACROSS

1 He thinks he’s clever, i.e. a screw’s loose (8) 5 Like works by Pound, U.S. writer with twitch (6) 9 5 word for 12 (8) 10 Ugly creature’s old jewellery good on head (6) 12 Take away the French ship (4) 13 Canal attendant’s Alice band? (4-6) 15 Garden draught unsettled family member (13) 19 Pay author with big novel about love for ‘My Life’ (13) 23 Pupils here in special calm space around harbour (10) 25 Long work, possibly 5, not Old Testament (4) 28 Commercial about Clio, for instance, was entertaining (6) 29 Inspector General leaves duty to make church offering (8) 30 Note rotten tree’s sway (6) 31 Obscure drunkard, European, appearing in Morecambe (8)

DOWN

1 Extract drink, about 1000 litres (6) 2 Female’s nursing old mules perhaps (5) 3 Singer included in loyal toast (4) 4 Word OED misinterpreted as ‘sequoia’ (7) 6 Australian sole produces toxic gas (5) 7 They leapt about, communicating by ESP? (9) 8 Prisoner at liberty to welcome Republican colleague (8) 11 Seabird puts up others (4) 14 Books about Arab’s insulting remark (4) 15 He got free employment defending a fortified entrance (9) 16 Delved under ground primarily (3) 17 Ogle grand piano installed in hospital department (4) 18 Engine part arrived incomplete, with small handle (8) 20 Fine painter’s gumbo (4) 21 Old doctor stops mad rush for lozenge (7) 22 Nice changes in South Carolina offering good views (6) 24 Some of these boys brought up overweight (5) 26 Earlier voting system covered big port (5) 27 Ultimate piece of equipment for cobbler (4)