Daily Answers

1-across – Footballer crossing road to get pound : PESTLE

4-across – Poor shots from Spain’s No.1 player in Philadelphia : SHANKS

9-across – Italian dignitary delivers Elon Musk’s baby? : DOGE

10-across – Ring with number for trendsetter : BELLWETHER

11-across – Duck followed by a bird : DIPPER

12-across – Pervert chose ITV2 : CHEVIOTS

13-across – Comic Stewart Lee forgetting line 2 : TEESWATER

15-across – Backing favourites to show pace : STEP

16-across – ‘Dog in the mirror’ is entertaining answer for god : BAAL

17-across – Ambassador’s wife getting tips from Ascension Islander : HEBRIDEAN

21-across – Dear Charlie Dance showing a bit of flesh : LAMBCHOP

22-across – Untidy Womble briefly embracing a form of anarchy : MOBLAW

24-across – 2 drunk cider or beer : CORRIEDALE

25-across – Females take drugs orally : EWES

26-across – South American relations in part of England : SUSSEX

27-across – Declared dead by the entrance of Serpentine Gallery : STATED

1-down – Coat of plaster like a 2-layer : PROVINE

2-down – What’s up with record stock? : SHEEP

3-down – Pianist leaving church to tour one part of Africa : LIBERIA

5-down – Salesman’s wife getting into fish recipe : HAWKER

6-down – Foolish jester made woollen items for Spooner : NITWITTED

7-down – Performed chore and cried into drink : SWEPTUP

8-down – Becks played incredibly to inspire team’s midfield for Fergie’s old outfit : BLACKEYEDPEAS

14-down – Fencing covers problem for 2 poets : SCABBARDS

16-down – Unfinished Monster Munches regularly account for fires : BEACONS

18-down – Male chimney sweep in dance company : RAMBERT

19-down – Spider has distinctive pattern on behind occasionally : ARANEID

20-down – Stuck-up date tucking into revolutionary food : CHEESE

23-down – Club accepting the French complaint : BLEAT

1-across – Hunts persistently? : FORAGES

5-across – Be careful with cat that’s gone wild : WATCHIT

9-across – Treatment centre hosted by Pamela Anderson : AANDE

10-across – Crete: nice,surprisingly – that’s not saying much : RETICENCE

11-across – Literary set gets flowers put in the ground : BLOOMSBURY

12-across – Wolf down sandwich with duck filling : BOLT

14-across – Engineer restores path; it’s very high above us : STRATOSPHERE

18-across – Time-poor French author misinterpreted as nostalgic? : MARCELPROUST

21-across – Where religious crowd congregate to see villain beheaded : NAVE

22-across – It’s more obvious having race later is nonsense : BALDERDASH

25-across – Carnage regularly follows elderly American – and it returns repeatedly : BOOMERANG

26-across – Keep in touch,having stabled horse : PINTO

27-across – Pure quality of German city church : ESSENCE

28-across – Name of female acquired on re-marriage? : STEPHEN

1-down – Inject vitamins into skin that’s loose : FLABBY

2-down – Published party minute – that’s irregular : RANDOM

3-down – Dull count showing some capacity for thinking : GREYMATTER

4-down – Stand-in accepts credit for clean-up : SCRUB

5-down – Game played mostly by those out of their depth : WATERPOLO

6-down – Starts to trudge around coffee outlet providing food : TACO

7-down – Afghan governor hides suffering in the morning? : HANGOVER

8-down – Scores left during games : TWENTIES

13-down – Bananas perhaps too often what’s misplaced by grocers? : APOSTROPHE

15-down – Top guy provides upset pal with meat and drink : ALPHAMALE

16-down – Final word,effective and quite open : AMENABLE

17-down – Vicar delving into religious sins of the past : PREVIOUS

19-down – Open fire! : LAUNCH

20-down – Violent gangster endlessly engages in evil? It’s almost guaranteed : SHOOIN

23-down – Dead,for example,like this old artist : DEGAS

24-down – Stitched up in every direction : SEWN

5-across – Old man’s at home,thus visits for little while : POPSIN

6-across – Recovery vehicles? Some have clocks : TOWERS

9-across – Climb in a second,somehow dropping nothing : ASCEND

10-across – Affected as minutes may be : PRECIOUS

11-across – Lots of the past one’s misrepresented : EONS

12-across – Two-times quiet husband one defames first off : PHILANDERS

13-across – Saying there’s no difference between porridge and bread : TIMEISMONEY

18-across – Starts off by installing one sensible kind of clock : BIOLOGICAL

21-across – Broadcast time for piece of news : ITEM

22-across – Apply pressure about ten to three,say? As long as it takes : DURATION

23-across – Records hits : CLOCKS

24-across – Team’s schedule for tea-break : ELEVEN

25-across – Tiny fellow,see,is punctual : TIMELY

1-down – A smooth king I joined for relaxing stretch after runs : APRESSKI

2-down – Storm increased? Ensure operation of watch : WINDUP

3-down – Guidance on tempo,contemporary inspiration for poets : MODERATO

4-down – Spell as part of school learning : PERIOD

5-down – Minister in bygone days supported by some troops : PASTOR

7-down – Piece of crossword that’s out of date : SQUARE

8-down – Left supporter for very brief moment : SPLITSECOND

14-down – Send up kind of person to begin with that can help one cook breakfast : EGGTIMER

15-down – Is dividing lyric poems – they’re presented on separate occasions : EPISODES

16-down – Extremely small fraction of hour : MINUTE

17-down – Reported with minimal impact in periodical : WEEKLY

19-down – Recluse concealing a source of something for days or more : LOANER

20-down – Part of clock I never restrict the movement of : LOCKIN

1-across – Boutique hotel in Provence? : NICHE

4-across – Our secret repository tapes got interfered with : GATEPOST

8-across – At first,Harry Potter got embroiled with emotion of greater relevance : MORETOTHEPOINT

10-across – Sceptic rogue exposed Philistine : NIHILIST

11-across – Smell and look of a shepherd : BOPEEP

12-across – Strays see plot unravel,keeping quiet : LOSTSHEEP

15-across – Snack shop unwrapped snack : NACHO

17-across – Team swears regularly? That’s a shocker! : TASER

18-across – Sue’s verse lacking charm,then? : PROSECUTE

19-across – Distant memory about author’s return : REMOTE

21-across – Perhaps grandma to some extent dances to relax : ANCESTOR

24-across – Poor governments giving Socrates a kick,I fancy : KAKISTOCRACIES

25-across – Marks floral parts : STIGMATA

26-across – Finally grant requests for jobs : TASKS

1-down – Undersign leaders of climate legislation in environment terminology : NOMENCLATURE

2-down – Disease can be horrific if ignored by family member : CIRRHOSIS

3-down – Wax lyrical about the previous bunch getting a comeback : EXTOL

4-down – Conk out drunk,get up and use loo? Not us! : GOTOSLEEP

5-down – X÷e = 13-19 : TEEN

6-down – You or me on vacation,creative and articulate : PRONOUNCE

7-down – Some fires,in general,burn : SINGE

9-down – Those with charts choose to hide book? Stirs trouble : OPTOMETRISTS

13-down – Of course their guns misfired : SURETHING

14-down – Desperately,I phone agency in old Lebanon : PHOENICIA

16-down – Nations,My Lord,rise in revolution : COUNTRIES

20-down – Cruel treatment essentially deliberate : MEANT

22-down – Precise demand : EXACT

23-down – This erupts frequently in Vietnam : ETNA

9-across – 2 sat wagging tongue : ESPERANTO

10-across – West African rhino has Unitarian retreating : NAIRA

11-across – Material taken from ground from the east : DENIM

12-across – White flower displayed by Wise when playing with Leeds : EDELWEISS

13-across – Extravagantly ornate vessel loaded with cargo at the back : BAROQUE

14-across – Popular sibling without hesitation beginning to suggest demands : INSISTS

17-across – Hat is miserable,lacking will ultimately to inspire : IMBUE

19-across – Regularly offered payment : FEE

20-across – Torture admitted by alien nation : EGYPT

21-across – Quiet country hotel,first-class fish : PIRANHA

22-across – Last slice of Arctic roll for pud : CRUMBLE

24-across – Inexperienced head that’s likely to get chopped : GREENBEAN

26-across – Broad-shouldered bloke getting time off finally : ATLAS

28-across – Former garret,very large area,right? : SOLAR

29-across – Teach cool new Topic? : CHOCOLATE

1-down – Watch over third of Penelope Cruz covers : TEND

2-down – Batter,work Frenchman over : OPENER

3-down – Run out of tent seized by darn crazy hysteric : DRAMAQUEEN

4-down – Military standard unveiled by East Wing : ANNEXE

5-down – The Times: Oysters Turned Up Outside Sam’s Home : YOSEMITE

6-down – A congested city rises again : ANEW

7-down – Judi exhausted,carried by terribly skinny chap in tights : NIJINSKY

8-down – Welshman’s platform : DAIS

13-down – Low character,Liberal,one probing British parliamentarian : BLIMP

15-down – Vegas’s last crook gambler : SPECULATOR

16-down – French barman posed,tied,naked : SATIE

18-down – Nick rolled over,rolled over topless in brothel : BORDELLO

19-down – Corporal perhaps put on fine,shiny material for dance : FLAMENCO

22-down – Republican supporting Tory Party high flier : CONDOR

23-down – £1 filled Chinese bun pintxos sold here : BILBAO

24-down – Stomach punched by second blow : GUST

25-down – Average type,and not married : NORM

27-down – For starters,some marinated eel with duck : SMEW