Daily Answers

7-across – One in irrational panic or con­cealing the onset of anxiety : PARANOIAC

8-across – Catch girl with boy’s heart : LASSO

9-across – They buy things from menu, cross when order is wrong … : CONSUMERS

10-across – … because the French girl … : CARLA

12-across – … put a whiskey into another drink to catch a boy : GAWAIN

13-across – Game prince left, to be replaced by a democratic leader : CHARADES

16-across – No-fault break-up: it might be what, say, Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth had : NUTLOAF

19-across – Boatman spotted in report: it doesn’t look good : EYESORE

22-across – Leaders of banks accept some economic restrictions, as this effectively is a way to control inflation : BASERATE

25-across – Tuck in before we get growth : CREASE

27-across – Girl to change hotel : EDITH

28-across – Fixed penalty discussed in connection with compromised ideals : FINALISED

29-across – Our queen, looking back to girl as a princess? : REGAL

30-across – Extends merger of tech giants : ELONGATES

1-down – Girl from outskirts of Yokohama not above dancing a lot : LATOYA

2-down – Planet has room for a boy : MARSHALL

3-down – Boy and not adult male : NORMAN

4-down – Boy to prepare for journey with intermittent steroid injection : PATRICK

5-down – Able to take girl into the country : CANADA

6-down – Wagner’s girl is more daring, removing clothes : ISOLDE

11-down – Boy to get surgery at last to become a woman : LADY

14-down – Beast last to be caught by fleece : DZO

15-down – See 17 : SUE

16-down – Catch name? Boatman : NAB

17-down – In time, is girl a soft thing to be discarded? : TIS

18-down – Unconventional, androgynous: a boy coming out : ALAN

20-down – That girl’s free article for boy : SHERIDAN

21-down – Level up, housing sick boy : NEVILLE

23-down – One was even a boy : ANDREW

24-down – Catch spouse getting up, leaving last part of newspaper : ENTRAP

25-down – Shed a tear about girl’s cleavage : CRANNY

26-down – A good person, just a boy : STEVEN

1-across – To feed starving mutt, this woman’s focus — there’s nothing from table : MOTHERHUBBARD

10-across – Notice accepted by Italian who has work on the way? : ROADMAN

11-across – One entering time that’s competitive — not this? : TRIVIAL

12-across – I’ve strict diet for one apparently leading pack? : VEGAN

13-across – The air crew produces witness caught by shed : SEASHANTY

14-across – Queen ruled out Observer? : NOTER

16-across – An afternoon brew, when chap’s opening the drink down under : TASMANSEA

18-across – Work like ‘The Raven’? Put in ‘Always’ and ‘Nevermore’, say : OPPOSITES

19-across – Trained soldiers repeatedly left deserts arid : DRIED

20-across – You shouldn’t have eg Yankees bagging our seats : TABOURETS

23-across – Sort of inspiration needed to fill guest rooms : ESTRO

24-across – Gather ‘frisky’ college dons do one! : GERTCHA

25-across – Doing one’s nut up? : AIRRAGE

26-across – Mess duty — my troops ordered to keep volume at a minimum : TOPSYTURVYDOM

2-down – Fiddle operating, I may have a flutter : ORANGETIP

3-down – Secure hours at work including staff here? : HUMAN

4-down – Gymnastic exercise gives a person a buzz : RINGS

5-down – Extreme beliefs upset moralist — nothing’s left between us : ULTRAISMS

6-down – Prohibition restricting entitlement a lot at sunrise? : BRIGHTAND

7-down – 62.5% turn back on time as Queen : REIGN

8-down – Ground chicken pie, of sorts? : CRAVENCOTTAGE

9-down – Pretend not to care about stage work that’s pretty incomprehensible : PLAYHARDTOGET

15-down – See 3 : RESOURCES

16-down – Lifelong shoemaker, so devoted? : TOTHELAST

17-down – Something to excite a fan of necking bad French port : SAINTMALO

21-down – Donkey women pulled out of hole : BURRO

22-down – Movement to adopt the first step : STAIR

23-down – See 6 : EARLY

9-across – Cheapo larch houses extremely cold : POLAR

10-across – English old gold coin one has for giving a lesson : EDUCATIVE

11-across – Block A, location of Paul’s dramatic transformation : DAMASCENE

12-across – Limits of expansion in dull material : DENIM

13-across – Observe drinks holding temperature with sun : WITNESS

15-across – Head of the hospital department, Margaret, is a help in securing temporary accommodation : TENTPEG

17-across – One sat out after taking top from pot noodle? : PASTA

18-across – What cows do with Mark is not nice : LOW

20-across – Drug to be taken after meals — bother! : TEASE

22-across – Holding back name for male leads to cursing : DAMNING

25-across – Rave organised by North American port stuck in routine : RUNRIOT

26-across – Lawyers next to God, here in Scotland! : BARRA

27-across – Get touchy again, bringing rook into centre play : RECONNECT

30-across – Skill in wangling ten spades? : ADEPTNESS

31-across – Time to cuddle up to current bedtime companion : TEDDY

1-down – Small sweet tuber : SPUD

2-down – Climber’s cleat is abandoned around mountain top : CLEMATIS

3-down – Mars is missing hydrogen supplies : ARMS

4-down – Poetry virtually set in concrete — a change for the worse : REVERSAL

5-down – Brooke, rugby union forward? : RUPERT

6-down – Hot air added to temperature above station : PADDINGTON

7-down – Snatch some sleep after Josh : KIDNAP

8-down – In short, ‘ermine’ is an expression : TERM

13-down – Did sponge with fancy pie and date? : WIPED

14-down – Man in Texas making testers : EXAMINANTS

16-down – Really important to get on someone’s nerves on air : GREAT

19-down – About to break two arms badly, making a heap of soil : WORMCAST

21-down – They produce flavouring aids, seen in a different light : ANISEEDS

23-down – Formation of timeless dark matter, eg on new area of productive land : MARKET

24-down – See 23 : GARDEN

26-down – Support end of pipe in watering-hole : BEAR

28-down – See 18 : NOTE

29-down – Tolstoy’s lost, wilfully abandoned plays : TOYS

1-across – Tired wife prepared cake to be eaten by husband and daughter : WHACKED

5-across – Footballer’s out wide after fine touches : FINGERS

10-across – Damn rodents! : RATS

11-across – Attendant to cook sardines : STEWARDESS

12-across – Back in the past I had successful records : HITS

13-across – Sang like a pig? : SQUEALED

14-across – County ignoring Number 10 about Latin being basic : ESSENTIAL

16-across – Photographs stolen in seconds : SHOTS

17-across – Pick up metal for a bargain : STEAL

19-across – Work hard in America after start of exam, worried it’s complex : ELABORATE

23-across – Overconfident people — Ernie, Ritchie and Fawkes? : WISEGUYS

24-across – Wears DayGlo necklaces on vacation : DONS

25-across – Sportsmen untroubled by heat? : QUALIFIERS

26-across – Arranged for servant’s delivery : MADE

27-across – Victor learned to extract uranium for green stones : VERDITE

28-across – It’s on the captain to equip team : ARMBAND

2-down – Male’s acting struggles with screen villains : HEAVIES

3-down – Conservative fool stopped by European lawsuits : CASES

4-down – Most convenient direction around? That’s south : EASIEST

6-down – High flyer is buying limousine, say, for all : ICARUS

7-down – Grandpa entertaining party over sponsor? : GODFATHER

8-down – Consider secret plan to conceal some money : RESPECT

9-down – Her best lead is lost then found again : REESTABLISHED

15-down – Celebrity in magazine with diamonds like teeth? : ENAMELLED

18-down – Words of praise for butter I spread : TRIBUTE

20-down – Prizefighter is sure rib is cracked : BRUISER

21-down – Aware of melody above noise : TUNEDIN

22-down – Dismissed one putting on paper clothes : OUTFIT

24-down – March 2nd: class to retire from military service : DEMOB

1-across – Boulder’s smaller than this state capital, paradoxically : LITTLE

4-across – Removes edge or edges of blueprints : BLUNTS

9-across – See 1 : ROCK

10-across – Taking object, servant I mistreated hides it : TRANSITIVE

11-across – Wrapping material is secured by super tape after repacking : TISSUE

12-across – Carbon I found in vessel, likewise gold, in hold : SCISSORS

13-across – Configuration of two digits, fraction and trig function, we hear : PEACESIGN

15-across – Doesn’t acknowledge courtesy, oddly enough : CUTS

16-across – This symbolically and literally is wrapped in 23 : FIST

17-across – Shrub with white, not red, flower : HOLLYHOCK

21-across – Presents what players of a certain game finally have : HANDSOUT

22-across – Finishes off duck hidden by person in party to eat later on : MOPSUP

24-across – Novice at wheel ex-students call a name: ‘he who works with pots’ : LOBSTERMAN

25-across – Sort of oil in sort of lamp : PALM

26-across – Lives protected by others in combat : RESIST

27-across – Cryptic from some clever expert, being extremely selective : SECRET

1-down – In Pygmalion, is Eliza put on pedestal? : LIONISE

2-down – Accepts parts in films : TAKES

3-down – Correspondence excluding girl and mother from legal matters : LETTERS

5-down – Jenny, perhaps, appearing in fiction as young woman : LASSIE

6-down – New indication of discomfort about news agency other than supposed : NOTASSUCH

7-down – Emperor, you heard, in 15 : SEVERUS

8-down – What’s shown by changing positions of hands? Different poses fit a game : PASSAGEOFTIME

14-down – Diamonds hidden by female in barrels — they’re for buyers : CASHDESKS

16-down – Line used in good books showing taste : FLAVOUR

18-down – Something disappointing leading journalist’s written up in daily : LEMONDE

19-down – After hostile takeover, call for better service lines : COUPLET

20-down – Reports on uninformative parts of books? : COVERS

23-down – See 11 : PAPER