Daily Answers

1-across – Its leaf on wee statuette? : FIGURINE

5-across – Like many cathedrals, become almost intimate : GOTHIC

9-across – Opera is back in the big house : MANSION

10-across – Cover popular artist’s sound : WRAPPER

11-across – Wine waiters lose half the battle : SOMME

12-across – For one running keep tin of beer? : CASTELLAN

13-across – Bravely handle consequences of awful cafe and what’s piped into it? : FACETHEMUSIC

17-across – Passable property of woman to change, possessing boring name : HEREDITAMENT

20-across – Perhaps chicken wing and leg found on top of Capital Hill : PARTHENON

22-across – Mean to get drunk : TIGHT

23-across – Usually like beer, which sport interferes with : ASARULE

24-across – King left upmarket version of fried fish : TEMPURA

25-across – Hard to impress surrealist with a flower : DAHLIA

26-across – I had existence as a distinct personality : IDENTITY

1-down – Frequency with which US sect starve : FAMISH

2-down – Swiss banker invests energy in complete set of personal make-up : GENOME

3-down – Big beast’s tail bitten off by antelope in demilitarised zone once : RHINELAND

4-down – Dismissal of cop — canteen can go wild : NONACCEPTANCE

6-down – Please speed to airport : OHARE

7-down – Joint request to include fluid in this? : HIPFLASK

8-down – Crown and Church join in dirge : CORONACH

10-down – Point at which inexpert actor joined players : WESTHAMUNITED

14-down – Pygmy militia member? : MINUTEMAN

15-down – Party official meets Leader of House with advantage : WHIPHAND

16-down – Raised support to translate Torah for Scots community : ARBROATH

18-down – A condition causing swelling on one rodent : AGOUTI

19-down – Erotic, like a Turkish bath : STEAMY

21-down – Bird of paradise? : HOURI

5-across – Work hard on a new catchphrase : SLOGAN

6-across – Composition for soprano working with Australian tenor and alto : SONATA

9-across – Heartless publisher to get rid of French author : PROUST

10-across – Oscar trophy found in tin by actor’s third tenant : OCCUPANT

11-across – Buffet always includes dairy product : FETA

12-across – Unpleasant character found by retired cops merrymaking in empty clink : CLEVERDICK

13-across – Beaten miner agreed with the police : GENDARMERIE

18-across – Italian woman cautious about wine : CHARDONNAY

21-across – Juicy drink : LUSH

22-across – Bullets containing iron used by tribal leader in hard-fought battle : SLUGFEST

23-across – Save soldiers with special signal : RESCUE

24-across – Pout about extremely expensive hair product : TOUPEE

25-across – Crafty poet married Iris : MORRIS

1-down – Mate taking money into shelter : COPULATE

2-down – Pole in charge of sticky stuff : MASTIC

3-down – Real centre of democracy on Greek island : CONCRETE

4-down – Minor embracing exercise is not in good shape : WARPED

5-down – Dish found in scenery outside Globe : SORBET

7-down – Setter leaving injured American’s treatment for bruises : ARNICA

8-down – Old German revolutionary tucked into dish of fruit : POMEGRANATE

14-down – Philosopher stops working to get hold of Socrates’ second book : DIOGENES

15-down – Difficult universal and timeless tale is deceptive : ILLUSORY

16-down – Ski lodge in Switzerland rented out after the beginning of April : CHALET

17-down – Problems in editions? : ISSUES

19-down – Cloth covering unacceptable stew : RAGOUT

20-down – Flipping badger eating root of brassica plant : YARROW

9-across – Slowly movin’ to conceal swindle, a part of Asia : INDOCHINA

10-across – Old quarter, newer design : OPART

11-across – A Rolling Stone introduces himself after good trick : GIMMICK

12-across – Parasite not quite attaching to cows, due to motion : KINETIC

13-across – Straight part of routine a triumph : NEAT

14-across – In brief half-light, stop to catch first bit of warbling — like this? : DAWNCHORUS

16-across – See 5 : THEPARK

17-across – With both flanks cleared, swap piece, drawing game : HANGMAN

19-across – Patience perhaps a virtue, having invested time in a girl, foolishly : LIGHTOPERA

22-across – Regularly appearing, exam days when school’s out : XMAS

24-across – Bloke cut metre off plant from Australia : GUMTREE

25-across – US city airport not closing with start of operations : ORLANDO

26-across – Hello — a greeting interpreted the wrong way : ALOHA

27-across – Pharaoh getting back scrubbed, hell amid gross depravity : TURPITUDE

1-down – Tinge out, 0.001kg boxes? Message noted : SINGINGTELEGRAM

2-down – Where, perhaps, to buy a barrier for water : ADAMSALE

3-down – Bitter cold in desert : ACRID

4-down – Punt with second payoff : KICKBACK

5-down – Picnic, outdoor exercise : WALKIN

6-down – Nonsense, such extremes entertained by low figure : MOONSHINE

7-down – Quickish pace from China, knees gone might you say? : CANTER

8-down – Criticism wears down characters — but these really hurt? : STICKSANDSTONES

15-down – Calibrate in a different way regarding micro-organisms : BACTERIAL

17-down – Unprincipled behaviour of women, prince snaffling them all : HARLOTRY

18-down – Force doctor and staff to join corporation : MOMENTUM

20-down – Caper has doctor incarcerated? : GAMBOL

21-down – Quite lovely : PRETTY

23-down – Quite ugly : PLAIN

9-across – Industry for high flyers rapidly embracing lust : AEROSPACE

10-across – Call to reduce phobias : PHONE

11-across – Hypnotised with spots of light instead of softly snoring : DAZZLED

12-across – Without a word of thanks, left in London? : TACITLY

13-across – In bonds, hopes : LONGS

14-across – Fortitude beside explosive device found at highest level on vessel : BOTTLECAP

16-across – They include envy, with idle sadness in some versions : SEVENDEADLYSINS

19-across – Dog sled is worked in shifts : DISLODGES

21-across – Eastern root of many outsiders ornamenting life in capitals : MOOLI

22-across – He employs cowboys with spurs, no nonsense, wiser at last : RANCHER

23-across – Dish sent back, Boatman saying: No meat : BIRYANI

24-across – 22 down’s confused, where victory lies in virtue : FIRST

25-across – Always strong and stable but inside loveless, therefore concerning : EVERGREEN

1-down – Destroyed by devils and a radicalised … : VANDALISED

2-down – … Soviet leader, restoring Ivan the Terrible, last letters of literati lost : BREZHNEV

3-down – Small change to charity creating sacred music : PSALMS

4-down – Slothful doctor gets home help : MAID

5-down – Jesus’ words of comfort for the poor in spirit etc: Go and renegotiate dues! : BEATITUDES

6-down – Heroically, ecstatically proletarian: no hothead, no alternative : EPICALLY

7-down – Looking up to quote work of lyrical quality : POETIC

8-down – Soviet leader on former Axis: It’s hot : SEXY

14-down – Scene of overindulgence and wicked bare greed by name? : BEERGARDEN

15-down – They guide the coach’s team after taking number one with pride : POSTILIONS

17-down – One freshly converted to make war, say : NEOPHYTE

18-down – One unfortunate formerly embraced, then cut off : ISOLATED

20-down – Some tabloid on showing temperance : SUNDRY

21-down – Note: wrath is an illusion : MIRAGE

22-down – Losing some faith finally in prudence, causing split : RIFT

23-down – Raised Soviet leader to become first : BRED

1-across – Rejected leading ladies with issue for Cats : PUMAS

4-across – Deal with gender-fluid performer : TRANSACT

8-across – Bungling subtitles, say, and hurried panning on film : MISTRANSLATING

10-across – Try to block high priest’s self-indulgence : EGOTRIPS

11-across – Hot dog with everything added : INTOTO

12-across – Blow off steam during church services, dull affairs : NONEVENTS

15-across – Groom accepting love causes depression : COOMB

17-across – See circle getting tick for ratio : COSEC

18-across – Terrible evil associated with super criminal : REPULSIVE

19-across – Female with heart of gold in close embrace : ENFOLD

21-across – He’s reserved large seafood sandwiches : COLDFISH

24-across – Scrap elitist exams in philosophy : EXISTENTIALISM

25-across – Work on stage flipping twaddle — a plus or a minus? : OPERATOR

26-across – World traveller back from holiday with bad weather : FOGGY

1-down – Grill US bread, admitting I’m not sure it’s bread : PUMPERNICKEL

2-down – Girl, nobleman’s accepted, fails to get right figure : MISCOUNTS

3-down – Man on board, fellow going to be more confident : SURER

4-down – What cook may use with starter of tempura in batter? : TINOPENER

5-down – Idiot has no wife to join : ALLY

6-down – Honing one’s Catalan? It’s really bad : SATANICAL

7-down – Politician given party lodgings : CONDO

9-down – Sequence of misfortunes would be curiously theatrical : DOUBLEWHAMMY

13-down – Singer roughly covered by Elvis, or with Kinks : VOCALISER

14-down – Champion consumers of alcohol may do so : SUPPORTER

16-down – 1 and 6 doing cartwheels, making elementary combinations : OXIDISING

20-down – Provide header for forward with team back on top : FIXUP

22-down – Sleepy, maybe, getting stuck into Cold War fiction : DWARF

23-down – Explicit message from church employee not on : SEXT