CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Greek character, lecturer and choirman trained orchestra (12) 8 Lit explosive without gel and died (7) 9 Economist endlessly espouses overtime as a tonic (7) 11 German sees

dreadful scarcity (10) 12 Off peak (4) 14 Playful sketch based

on this novel (8) 16 Disclose what Salome

repeatedly did (6) 17 Low satellite, not

all of it visible (3) 19 Salad ingredient’s excessively dull inside (6) 21 What somehow keeps cold and flu away? Being alert (8) 24 I had kept church

decorated (4) 25 Marconi has drunk

strong liqueur (10) 27 Release scenery at

no cost (3,4) 28 Grandpa is another

welcoming rustic (7) 29 Sane politician besieged by angry economists (6,6)

DOWN

1 One in Lahore plays in a pub entertaining Juliet (7) 2 Highway robbery initially boring without Will (10) 3 Teacher is visiting border in pursuit of pleasure (8) 4 Spots topless runner coming in, dashing (6) 5 Old Norse axes in decorative stone (4) 6 Knitted doilies put on a pedestal (7) 7 Rare deliveries — one in identical place comes first (7,5) 10 Hot going in, they all ordered cool booze basically (5,7) 13 A French group of minor celebs host cool well-balanced rider (10) 15 Doctor Who’s frequently asked question (3) 18 Tree growth, one covered in fine fruit (3,5) 20 A storm bursts around

energy conductor (7) 22 Workers finish on these papers during conflicts (7) 23 Stroke worries swimmer at the start (6) 26 Officer shields Republican grass perhaps (4)