SIR LANCELOT'S CRYPTIC CLUES

ACROSS

1 Know to take on fifty-six degrees (6) 4 Plagiarise your old description of pickpocket (8) 9 Like one of the little people bringing rock star to hospital (6) 10 One politician travels about and gets better (8) 11 Music came from these illustrations seen around a beastly home (9) 13 Women cultivated rose that is not so good (5) 14 Unexpectedly quite spruce and nice to look at (11) 18 Attack tomb men constructed to contain Shakespeare (11) 21 That is keeping students occupied (2,3) 22 Metal’s twisted and capital’s reduced by 25% in this turmoil (9) 24 Stolen registration number, porridge may result from this (8) 25 Splendour of this unexpected result (6) 26 President certain to experience this (8) 27 Cheats clumsily being highly virtuous (6)

DOWN

1 Keen to discharge small explosive devices in these body parts (8) 2 Locks I’ve unfastened being heartily fed up (8) 3 Child lives with Susan (5) 5 Measures how long fuddy-duddy’s taken with NY landmark (5,6) 6 Exploding warhead or less damaging part of a weapon (9) 7 Pub seen thanks to short writer (6) 8 Sycophants from Sweden found in an Arab country (3-3) 12 What could gauge heat as angry mother encountered the Queen (11) 15 Lumbers stupidly round Los Angeles with wet weather gear (9) 16 Accumulated debris made tidy I trusted (8) 17 Got letter ready to post taking note of rush (8) 19 Developing phobias seen when one’s missing a game piece (6) 20 Bankrupt the French with this activity (6) 23 Quiet about being unfashionable in this direction (5)