DAILY MAIL CROSSWORD

No 16,037

ACROSS

1 Ascot ordered to host Home Office league (7) 5 Fill old trophy within county boundaries (6) 9 Ruffled thing that is warmer in bed? (7) 10 Imaginary line not quite identical to radius (7) 11 Group of New Agers brought back wonder (3) 12 Casual friend nervous about providing English books (11) 13 Greek character that managed to conserve energy (5) 14 Relax here and roughly check diary up to end of July (9) 16 Boat line’s starting point (6,3) 17 Musicians withdrawn in concert etc. object (5) 19 Charles cycles with them, wearing this? (5,6) 22 Memory pack (3) 23 I’m soon at odds with union and it’s not looking good (7) 24 Tread on odd parts of tyre adequate (7) 26 Leader abandons European country, not by sea (6) 27 Forty pesetas more than enough for what compositor did (7)

DOWN

1 Touch flex, ignoring power ultimately (7) 2 Upper classes? (6,9) 3 Grass, one of those sown in one’s youth (3) 4 Sow corners initially temperamental horse (5) 5 Honest-looking old writer with account in US bank (4-5) 6 Pair left out dessert in goblet (5) 7 Old man, southern chap, nervously supporting mine (15) 8 Boxer’s depression caused by explosion? (6) 12 Newton, say, is caught stealing articles (5) 14 Legal document probed by newspapers, like 8 (9) 15 Small farm squeezed by market forces given up (5) 16 Voter expels first reader in university (6) 18 European politician comes in to check play . . . (7) 20 . . . who has mostly heard ‘Much Ado About Nothing’? (3-2) 21 Yearly test and French composition in church (5) 25 Aluminium and phosphorous mount (3)

PRIZES of £20 will be awarded to the senders of the first three correct solutions checked. Solutions to: Daily Mail Prize Crossword No. 16,037, 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.