The Herald crosswords
ACROSS
1 Designer, all at sea, to halve Antarctic shift (5,9)
9 Marriage association? (5) 10 Bird on some hilltop (9)
11 Uplift by dancing veleta
with energy (7)
12 Least distant eastern
trip (7)
13 Hearing episode will
unsettle (4)
14 The piano I transported
from Africa (9)
18 Bore carried around real
problems (9)
20 First of the athletes pass
extended finishing line (4) 22 Met punk, perhaps, looking
rough (7)
25 Unpaid, a struggling RU
team (7)
26 Pork skin fantastic absorbing drop of lemon (9)
27 Incompetent, in record
time (5)
28 Dutch general, an outcast, isn't chuckling at the time (6,8)
DOWN
1 In China, use aspirin for queasiness (6)
2 In evil love letters from messaging service (9)
3 Descent by rope over a period (7) 4 Act for Royal Engineers here (9) 5 Feather only protects flyer (5)
6 High wind ripped apart a function (7)
7 Elite group hides in Minorca, dreadfully (5)
8 Having a break while the others mix gin (7)
15 Shrub hopefully emptied before a garden makeover (9)
16 Some simple men taught others to use a tool (9)
17 Loyal chants broadcast around university (7)
19 Dish maker in trouble (7)
20 Mockery of seating arrangement (7)
21 Author of a TV script listens to correct run (6)
23 It's fine to return in the manner of a marsupial (5)
24 A fraction behind the runner-up (5)
ACROSS
1 Slightly nauseous (6)
4 Spice that goes well with egg custards (6)
9 Have as a consequence (7) 10 Trifling (5)
11 Comfortable (5)
12 Canadian Great Lakes port (7) 13 Actor's comment to an audience (5)
15 Disputed region within
China (5)
20 Detecting (7)
22 Male honey-bee (5)
24 Sags (5)
25 Speaks highly of (7)
26 Storage places (6)
27 Julius ___, Roman statesman (6)
DOWN
1 Fruit used for jelly or marmalade (6)
2 Imps (5)
3 Spread out (7)
5 Part of a shoe above the sole (5)
6 Daytime theatrical performance (7)
7 Gloria ___, ‘I Will Survive’ singer (6) 8 Canvas dwellings (5)
14 Edible shellfish (7)
16 ___ Jones, adventurer played by Harrison Ford (7)
17 Simmered (6)
18 Suez Canal's country (5)
19 Tricky problem (6)
21 Added small photo (5)
23 Expels (5)