THE PAGE’S QUICK CLUES

ACROSS

8 Sad and lonely (6) 9 Vehement (8) 10 Unwavering (8) 11 Middle Eastern country (6) 12 Allow in (5) 13 A join in a piece of string (4) 14 Condemn (4) 16 Priest’s assistant (7) 18 Competitor (7) 20 Go by (4) 21 Open upland (4) 22 Spirit of the air (5) 25 Lacking intelligence (6) 27 British queen (8) 28 Female relative (8) 29 Fondness (6)

DOWN

1 Period of time (6) 2 French palace (10) 3 Weasel-like mammal (5) 4 Fate (7) 5 Dividing (9) 6 Brace (4) 7 Football official (8) 14 Angry expressions (5,5) 15 Tax paid when one buys a house (5,4) 17 Nonsense (8) 19 Transform (7) 23 Easily influenced (6) 24 Weighing instrument (5) 26 Errand boy (4)