£50 PRIZE CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Brief statistics from the scientist at sea (5) 4 Playing with a harp? Oh, it’s maybe King Tut (7) 8 A carpenter in the fish-and-chip shop (7) 9 Rob returns to get an automaton (5) 10 Restaurant cubicle for Salvation Army founder William (5) 11 Listen, settle your differences with cosmetics (4-2) 14 A Dunfermline FC fan perhaps – a ref, if retired (5) 16 Submariner Terry reveals it’s motionless (5) 18 Fred and Al annoyed the king who burnt the cakes (6) 21 Cat-o’-nine-tails and lash for the political party enforcers (5) 24 Performing a task with little Bernardo in Greenock (5) 25 Break up if wee Sidney goes back to the group (7) 26 Returns the gun and gets chicken for the kids (7) 27 Wise guy has a part in the Western, I explained (5)

DOWN

1 Characters in a subsection of a splinter group (4) 2 Out of sorts? Yes, and not in good taste (1,3,3) 3 Gatekeeper at the Pearly Gates to test rep somehow (2,5) 4 Look, a lord (4) 5 The main artery connecting Atlanta or Tallahassee (5) 6 A surprise MBE, Al? Walk at an easy pace (5) 7 A new host opts for areas where Wi-Fi is available (8) 12 Scots know Bruce of Radio 2 (3) 13 Off with daft Donna, like a hot-and-cold romance (3,3,2) 15 Listener upsets part of an orchestra eventually (3) 16 Little Benjamin has tequila hurriedly, without pausing to think (2,5) 17 Alex! Nip off and give a reason for what you’ve done (7) 19 A lively dance in Scotland – a brief affair (5) 20 Gee! Alastair briefly disturbed a large bird of prey (5) 22 The mid-March day when Julius died in a landslide sadly (4) 23 Inactive and lazy? Yes, some avoid Lenny (4)