CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Leave when you wish, not ruled by convention (2,2,3,6)

10 Throw a party to let an intern eat out (9) 11 Received, without hesitation, and turn East. He’s a rascal (5)

12 Appropriate record found in enterprise (7) 13 Distinguished characters standing out. They’re great (7)

14 Surgeon, in short, adopting a little boy had to be checked out (6)

16 Girls have some charm, but could end up in disfavour (8) 18 About to perform with one working to get a response (8)

20 Descriptive term for some who had verbal diarrhoea (6)

23 Two hands work hard to take one prisoner (7)

24 Converted the legal system, going into action (8)

26 Long ballad started to denounce a landowner (5)

27 Hector might add insult to injury, and make things a lot worse (9)

28 Is about to get along with workers, at the end of the construction phase (13)

DOWN

2 Working with 25 down; it’s readily available (2,3)

3 Be of some assistance when supplying health care, for instance (7)

4 Speaks out on an old system of local taxation (6)

5 Criticise Moore caught up in widespread disease (8)

6 Heading off when finding out about making money (7)

7 Agrees to get out, in order to be set apart (9)

8 Everything turned upside down when madly in love (4,4,5)

9 Pampered one with very comfortable support in retirement (7-6)

15 Arrange for a sprinter to come to light? (9) 17 Wont to make one’s mark, within reason (8) 19 Had little time to shuffle along. It’s all nonsense (7)

21 Sound off about medical complications (7) 22 Say goodbye, endlessly, with a little force, slowly (6)

25 After the first downpour, it flowed into the gutter (5)