Daily Answers

7-across – City enthralled by playwright, Bunting : ORTOLAN

8-across – Get prepared for publication of Model Scenery : TYPESET

9-across – Clock ready for money down : SPOT

10-across – On edge, having been removed from the bench? : UNSETTLED

12-across – Who took Helen’s capital? : PARIS

13-across – Total being about four pence, finally : ENTIRETY

15-across – See 22 : AWAY

16-across – Tropical aquatic plant’s position : LOTUS

17-across – See 9 : CASH

18-across – Show off crêpe, draped round figure : PRETENCE

20-across – Non-civil English county about to be swept away by lake! : SURLY

21-across – Heir hit gold : SUCCESSOR

22-across – Place a stake by a road retreat : BACK

24-across – Oil dissolved in low temperature state becomes a finely dispersed substance : COLLOID

25-across – Tax haven short of capital — officer set upon : ASSAULT

1-down – Exploited by tennis player Chuck, given vaccination? : DROP

2-down – US city before being taken by British general : MONTEREY

3-down – French underground force formed by quasi-military leader : MAQUIS

4-down – City’s ruination : CYSTITIS

5-down – Mischief-maker shouted ‘fruit tree’ : MEDLAR

6-down – Utter ‘No more!’ : DEAD

11-down – It could accompany light stew? Sense otherwise : SWEETNESS

12-down – Might have an obligation to reside in Puerto Rico : POWER

14-down – Snappy as a game of cricket? : TESTY

16-down – Hang on — One Direction’s pants! : LINGERIE

17-down – Rye, perhaps, welcomes British intellectual : CEREBRAL

19-down – Try to catch a fish, small fish with no head or tail : TICKLE

20-down – Force lock after first sign of sticking : STRESS

21-down – See 1 : SHOT

23-down – Quiet, reticent person has a change of heart : CALM

1-across – Penetrating piece : CUTTING

5-across – Not even super finished this vegetable : SPROUT

9-across – Old lines surround area abroad : OVERSEAS

10-across – 100 + 1 + 10 + 1 in series : CATENA

12-across – Rotten crisis produced bans : RESTRICTIONS

15-across – Rather start to read story about 4, see : RELATIVELY

17-across – Proper moisture on the air : DUE

19-across – Very wide animal : SOW

20-across – Rights of celebrities to collect fare : STARBOARDS

22-across – Conceited, like an out-of-body experience? : ABOVEONESELF

26-across – Nothing in shops is sent back dirty : SOILED

27-across – Sailor pursues war over poisonous plant : MANDRAKE

28-across – Fugitive leader gets news for a pound : RUNNER

29-across – Fox heard ET is grounded : EARTHED

1-down – Somewhat retired MP, or chief whip : CROP

2-down – Makes bonds by losing money : TIES

3-down – Looks at home — time to wear glasses? : INSPECTS

4-down – Initially, greasing roast with cooking fat is hard work : GRAFT

6-down – Apple regularly supported by workers in factories : PLANTS

7-down – Person rode erratically in military formations : OPENORDERS

8-down – Cross stars never get sacked : TRANSVERSE

11-down – Difficult task to drink up measure inside : KILLER

13-down – Criminal in France, very old-fashioned royal : TRESPASSER

14-down – 19 ÷ 50? Poet’s reduced rate : SLOWMOTION

16-down – Choosing French wine, discover­ing lots inside — gallons! : VOTING

18-down – Pass learner with ride’s redesigned accelerator : COLLIDER

21-down – Cardinal saves church with end of steeple in decline : RECEDE

23-down – Spring day with Easter’s first card : SPADE

24-down – Origins of putting: Augusta tournament’s historic course : PATH

25-down – Small starter of duck and shrimp : WEED

1-across – Evil master has drink with leaders of Farc in Columbia : MALEFIC

5-across – Bird chewing a pencil : PELICAN

9-across – One giving fellow at university gold : DONOR

10-across – Teams represented by band getting the upper hand : MASTERING

11-across – Minister put instrument into new ranch : CHANCELLOR

12-across – Container for plant covering large part of garden : PLOT

14-across – Search and rescue by operations leader into nasty gasses across large part of the North Atlantic : SARGASSOSEA

18-across – One end of cake covered in stuff from the dairy : SINGLECREAM

21-across – Pressure to leave friendly colleague : ALLY

22-across – Wealthy professionals drinking super old cocktail : PROSPEROUS

25-across – Second small fib about Democrat’s fall from grace : BACKSLIDE

26-across – Jockey free to meet queen … : RIDER

27-across – … left at home with spouse forming connections : LINKING

28-across – Spaces hosting essential part of repeat performances : ENCORES

1-down – Piece of writing about short official order for health professionals : MEDICS

2-down – Get gold carriage : LANDAU

3-down – American forces let out of living quarters for the ship’s crew : FORECASTLE

4-down – Start to chase unruly male animal : CAMEL

5-down – Piece of music over before spoken introduction to evensong : PASTORALE

6-down – Shelter given to base of weak vegetable : LEEK

7-down – Swindler chosen to play Hooray Henry? : CHINLESS

8-down – Drink close to optic found in bar : NIGHTCAP

13-down – One cart adapted to carry troph­ies returned lacking balance : ASYMMETRIC

15-down – Group covering English cloth in tape? : RECORDING

16-down – Saint broadcast short mass in Turkish city : ISTANBUL

17-down – Articles about German left in charge of the Church of England : ANGLICAN

19-down – See 7 : WONDER

20-down – Egyptian god with large flag : OSIRIS

23-down – Vegetable seed scattered around bottom of hedgerow : SWEDE

24-down – Drink in plastic container : ASTI

1-across – Enjoys drink after chum’s come around : LAPSUP

5-across – Tree choked by parasitic plant in a miserable state : MOPINESS

9-across – Guardian boss goes after officer — factual accounts shouldn’t be this! : COLOURED

10-across – Poor cast includes three from Swedish group : SHABBY

11-across – Food enthusiast gobbles starter for lunch : FLAN

12-across – Chase down weak animal round with heart aflutter : RUNTOEARTH

13-across – A pair of females streak, creating disturbance : AFFRAY

14-across – Make familiar sound of a zany : ACQUAINT

16-across – Bombast from silly rich Tories is to be ignored : RHETORIC

19-across – Home help with a superior manner keeping quiet : AUPAIR

21-across – Publicist with gift for concealing decline : PRESSAGENT

23-across – ‘Little river’ one will present here : RILL

24-across – Simple fellow eating nothing gets wind : SIMOON

25-across – A socialist gets to sit back inside, being detained : ARRESTED

26-across – Idiots given notice — such must face the reckoning : ASSESSEE

27-across – Something handed out for daughters to tuck into — it’s child’s play : DODDLE

2-down – Pleasant life or still life? : ABOWLOFCHERRIES

3-down – Tongue-tied Oxford don to make love with hesitation : SPOONER

4-down – Artist dunking pencil into beer : PORTRAYER

5-down – Mother figure spreading heavenly food around party : MADONNA

6-down – What gives some gripes — tomato sauce : PESTO

7-down – A drop of rain once more elevated river : NIAGARA

8-down – Bizarre ban — all I must eat’s a Scotch egg, some claimed : SUBSTANTIALMEAL

15-down – Put in lodgings right by unusual tree in courtyard : QUARTERED

17-down – Silk suits more crumpled I’m to get rid of : TUSSORE

18-down – Revolutionary with others turning up in compound : CHELATE

20-down – Examined? That’s not new after half-term : PERUSED

22-down – Relations to make trips, heading off : AUNTS

1-across – Old university graduate keeps on penning journal : BOLOGNA

5-across – Problem with a reggae-style drumbeat : RUBADUB

9-across – With some medicine bottles, seek water : DOWSE

10-across – It ensures well-rounded character votes for Boris? : BACKSTORY

11-across – What we get called in explosive contest : TOURNAMENT

12-across – Constituent of Britain, say, lives life on the edge : ISLE

14-across – Fiancé exhibits such intense stress : ACUTEACCENT

18-across – Love to enter race, wanting an achievement : TOURDEFORCE

21-across – Vessel brewery carries back and forth : EWER

22-across – Dog I’m unsure about since barking in pound etc : CURRENCIES

25-across – One jogging without a rest : REMAINDER

26-across – Beater back from reserve overrun by deer : HEART

27-across – Work of satirist failing to secure new agents : DUNCIAD

28-across – It helps climbers in large area with dry rocks : LATTICE

1-down – They clean behind empty drainpipe in segments : BIDETS

2-down – Rough clothing ladies perhaps will be revealing : LOWCUT

3-down – Permits daughter aboard vehicles fit for Greta? : GREENCARDS

4-down – Black-hearted crystalline compound snaps here? : ALBUM

5-down – Err with count badly, needing to engage a teller : RACONTEUR

6-down – Forest’s something eliminated by Brazilian president : BUSH

7-down – Rearing up, tame animals cross threshold : DOORSTEP

8-down – About to dip into novel but Hay Festival’s here : BAYREUTH

13-down – PC still checks on description of stolen goods : SCREENSHOT

15-down – Spotted in nude, wrong is only alleged : UNFOUNDED

16-down – Old king of Spain left in debt-ridden state : ETHELRED

17-down – Star’s welcoming wave in Barnet, meeting a hero : SUPERMAN

19-down – Celebration: a wild, crazy one : DIWALI

20-down – Fly east over the Channel, then again northwards : TSETSE

23-down – Game with two sides touring a country : RURAL

24-down – Curtailed ape’s role in Italian opera : MIMI