Clues

8-across – Toast given in port : BRINDISI

9-across – The short answer without capital? : ATHENS

10-across – Flower that has a duplicate existence : ISIS

11-across – One against society as his team lie scattered : ISHMAELITE

12-across – Sailors talked about sea voyage : CRUISE

14-across – Goes on for money : PROCEEDS

15-across – Boy-meets-girl opera : LEONORA

17-across – Understatement used for effect by T.S. Eliot? : LITOTES

20-across – Where sisters study openings? : CONVENTS

22-across – Lays about churchwomen fleeing for shelter : ASYLUM

23-across – Is unable to press ale out of melon? : CANTALOUPE

24-across – Catch some on return : TRAP

25-across – Leading lady deprived of oriental drug : HEROIN

26-across – Great issue, relatively speaking : GRANDSON

1-down – Maintain quiet reticence : PRESERVE

2-down – Objects to odd pieces : ENDS

3-down – Theologian having to eat about six : DIVINE

4-down – Churchmen of limited mobility as board members? : BISHOPS

5-down – In the 18th century, a dandy form of pasta : MACARONI

6-down – Church done over in rough clay or translucent material : CHALCEDONY

7-down – Joined the team : UNITED

13-down – Novelty at pub getting enthusiastic reception : INNOVATION

16-down – Persistently irritating foul-smelling fish : RANKLING

18-down – Teacher being terribly rude about Roman censor : EDUCATOR

19-down – Temper the effects of sausage roll : ASSUAGE

21-down – Equine quadruped – for example roan, perhaps? : ONAGER

22-down – Sour beer – one sort of lager, perhaps? : ALEGAR

24-down – Time for some great idea : TIDE

1-across – State limits of New Hampshire, Virginia and Dakota : NEVADA

5-across – Holt’s letters concealed in tree trunk as a refuge from danger : BOLTHOLE

9-across – Manuscript concealed in tree in Cheshire : WILMSLOW

10-across – Classes an officer does not complete : GENERA

11-across – Gay didn’t push queer dish : HASTYPUDDING

13-across – Live with a socially acceptable boyfriend : BEAU

14-across – Nuts, if over a pound, disturbed rest : FILBERTS

17-across – Battle settled later in court : WATERLOO

18-across – South African pugilist a kiss knocked out : BOER

20-across – London-based artist taking solicitor over river for fish? : RAINBOWTROUT

23-across – African note: this country was formerly French Sudan : SOMALI

24-across – Some politicians were definitely refuted : ANSWERED

25-across – I mention sound and vision : EYESIGHT

26-across – Sleuth resolved to earn money illicitly : HUSTLE

2-down – Prepare to publish current returns : EDIT

3-down – Poor place for new hose – a slum : ALMSHOUSE

4-down – Having the most skill makes ace happy : ABLEST

5-down – And now for something completely different – a minor road frequently occupied by anti-government forces : BYWAYOFCONTRAST

6-down – Jokes, say, pranksters initiated in quiet intervals : LEGPULLS

7-down – Sharpened points in coal-scuttle : HONED

8-down – Tester, long suffering, handled spectacles : LORGNETTES

12-down – Fed up with loving? That’s injurious to reputation : DEFAMATORY

15-down – Beer in German spa causes resentment : EMBITTERS

16-down – Assuming everyone’s to be paid : ALLOWING

19-down – Artist holding recipe for beetroot soup : BORSCH

21-down – Leaders of naval expeditions always raid southern approaches : NEARS

22-down – Be keenly sensible of fisherman’s first fish : FEEL

1-across – See 10 : WEATHER

5-across – Where fighter pilot is to die, holding back old lawyer : COCKPIT

10-across – ,1,12 9 : FAIR

11-across – Savoury for the dinner Elisha blessed : RELISHABLE

12-across – See 10 : FRIEND

13-across – Like Lady 15, a senior civil servant : MANDARIN

14-across – Extraction possibly due to Bond? : EDUCEMENT

16-across – Saint 9 : BELLS

17-across – The baby is a girl : ISSUE

19-across – Spike swallowing wrath, like Lady 15 : TANGERINE

23-across – Keep cannabis in the kitchen? : STOCKPOT

24-across – Assert a member to be in liquor : ALLEGE

26-across – Mentally without help – it’s about making one generous : MUNIFICENT

27-across – ,22 A tide at sea may help to give time : MAIN

28-across – Drawing of a man holding a Unionist prisoner : HAULAGE

29-across – Nothing extends from Lady 15’s big brothers : ORANGES

2-down – Heath’s Australian cousin writing a letter that’s brief and pungent : EPACRID

3-down – Here and there, maybe : THREE

4-down – Make me a lord assigned to 9 but not 15 : EARLDOM

6-down – A greater lord in a play, with other ranks in the circle : ORSINO

7-down – Decisive blow to a party audience native to Australia : KOALABEAR

8-down – I shall make bequests with malice : ILLWILL

9-down – Prime Minister and a hundred people gossip in shelter … : CLEMENTATTLEE

15-down – … one before and after finding Christians unhealthy : CHURCHILL

18-down – Like Lady 15, came off the wheel in Japan : SATSUMA

20-down – Roof beam on top of gable needs hard worker : GRAFTER

21-down – Recovered from the Nile, egg without proper covering? : NEGLIGE

22-down – See 27 : SPRING

25-down – The sole possible answer and it’s no good : LEMON

1-across – Got Sir Andrew to back some thoroughbred : ARISTO

4-across – Mass introduction when work unit enters drill square : ASPERGES

9-across – Native aphrodisiac? : OYSTER

10-across – One can’t miss this farm entrance : BARNDOOR

11-across – Oversupply with little time for lake method, perhaps : FLOODTHEMARKET

13-across – With two sovereigns to pay back, ‘e’s made Primate of the Rock : BARBARYAPE

14-across – Where marriages end in mere nothings : RENO

16-across – Des Anglais promenade here when it’s fine : NICE

18-across – Informer and offspring brought before the beak! : CANARYSEED

21-across – 5’s work of sorcery from ode composition : COMEDYOFERRORS

23-across – The way strength of character is an aid to winter driving : ROADGRIT

24-across – I’m Prince Henry: where’s the battle? : IMPHAL

25-across – Spot cash for Alec Leamas? : SPYMONEY

26-across – Lit up? B-bingo! : BLOTTO

1-down – On which 8 is found with a German 1 across? : AVON

2-down – Man is so narrow-minded : INSULAR

3-down – My plays are here! : THEROYAL

5-down – 8 on 1 down’s raison d’etre? : SHAKESPEARE

6-down – 9 Greek pieces in French and English translation : ENNEAD

7-down – G-Gibraltar rejecting the Spanish tourist : GROCKLE

8-down – Doctor of fallen women elevated on 1 down : STRATFORD

12-down – Parasite killer’s attempt on father: I’d say the game’s up! : TRYPANOCIDE

13-down – Guarantors lean toward eccentrics : BANKCARDS

15-down – My Lord! He brewed mead! : HYDROMEL

17-down – See 3 : COMPANY

19-down – Not a sound out of it : EARSHOT

20-down – Slow passage from a soldier in difficulty : ADAGIO

22-down – Cracked peal from Calliope leaves her sister standing : CLIO

1-across – Drop a note when in difficulty : SCRAPE

4-across – Big run on a famous Swiss bank : CRESTA

9-across – A feature of Sicily and French North Africa : ETNA

10-across – Educational institution where homework comes before discipline? : PREPSCHOOL

11-across – She has pain from one side to the other : RACHEL

12-across – Mean error puts it just off target : NEARMISS

13-across – How seasick people feel on disembarking? : BETTEROFF

15-across – Boss seen in a boiled shirt : STUD

16-across – Boring makers of laws : AWLS

17-across – A cottager going out may wear it : GREATCOAT

21-across – Proposal made by pilots before landing : APPROACH

22-across – Naturally cold state, but sweet when baked : ALASKA

24-across – Made claim that was upheld : MAINTAINED

25-across – Pubs names one’s made a case for : INNS

26-across – Despicable person possibly got time inside : TOERAG

27-across – Put up with being last : ENDURE

1-down – It’s to be found in the estate agent’s brochure : SITUATE

2-down – Make master, finally, a head : REACH

3-down – Turns up in chilly surroundings yet well received : POPULAR

5-down – A car’s crashed and left by villain : RASCAL

6-down – Graphic new form of catechism : SCHEMATIC

7-down – Stimulated to use a rod, perhaps : AROUSED

8-down – Cheap transport : PENNYFARTHING

14-down – But for this, life would be unbearable : TOLERANCE

16-down – Used when a path’s relaid round top of the lane : ASPHALT

18-down – Leave a bar with a university man : ABANDON

19-down – Question one about point that’s not straightforward : ASKANCE

20-down – Capital city – the big smoke? : HAVANA

23-down – Last word to the French about to expire : ADIEU