CRYPTIC CROSSWORD
WIN £500
ACROSS
1 Rank girl with one fellow within city limits (8) 5 Excellent clue to
start of puzzle (6) 9 Greek character’s hiring Irish out for dodgy net practice (8) 10 Steal the
Spanish coin (6) 12 Contest doesn’t
finish level (4) 13 One dresses team working with two sons (10) 15 Crudely copy ad with licence that’s fully comprehensive (13)
19 I study bird caught in U.S. gardens making passes? (8,5)
23 What may produce ‘qwerty’ tripe, without question? (10) 25 Shells, or first half of a very old shell (4)
28 Regretted enlisting one new bankrupt (6) 29 A foreign student’s terrible, breaking rules (8) 30 Records some plants university’s thrown out (6) 31 Evaluate a 2p increase (8)
DOWN
1 Police officer’s mettle,
by the sound of it (6) 2 Partly organised plant
used in cooking (5) 3 Note old
London area (4) 4 Cool old Greek picked
up nut (7) 6 Dialect is described in old manuscripts originally (5) 7 Cleverly site a desk to indicate one’s preferred group (4,5) 8 Jumper, large one, with blemish on the outside (4,4) 11 Data needs reinforcing
to some extent (4) 14 Perhaps Aberdonian
drunkard tours clubs (4) 15 Former English politician, one in fashion, obtains immunity (9) 16 Secular song (3) 17 Hair arrangement caught up in extractor fan (4) 18 Area of Oz station (8) 20 Follow story on radio (4) 21 Win a lot that’s spare
in contest (5,2) 22 Miner briefly becomes
shepherd’s helper (6) 24 Push with back
of foot (5) 26 Greek character fit to
work in civvies (5) 27 Just one impressed by
fliers turned up (4)