Daily Answers

1-across – Singer, perhaps from Spain, into big-band music, its leader adding a sparkle, they say : SEWING

4-across – Sing softly, lazily, steamily : HUMIDLY

9-across – Shows clue to news : POINTSOUT

10-across – Without help at first, is unable to sing : CHANT

11-across – They sing in a lot of variety shows, chiefly : ALTOS

12-across – A show of pride? : LIONSMANE

13-across – The Dickens Baritone art house showing : ONEARTH

15-across – Singer, fantastic belter : TREBLE

17-across – Perhaps Amy was a mythical woman, a Greek character in times past : BIOPIC

19-across – Conflict with British over shortly, retreating unprepared : BOERWAR

22-across – Spice extract unaltered by hard work overwhelming small girl : NUTMEGOIL

24-across – Sing rap: hold tight! : GRASP

26-across – Jealous man losing love, heading for tragedy that’s unexpected : HELLO

27-across – Inconsistencies in Leonardo’s work: first half is back to front; second half reportedly so : ANOMALIES

28-across – See 1 : MACHINE

29-across – Singer, collapsing, to bow out : RESIGN

1-down – One sings a note softly, Queen taking one’s place : SOPRANO

2-down – Origins of wassailing at inn swelling the belly : WAIST

3-down – Nil — no contest : NOTASCRAP

4-down – Falsetto? Oh, of course: like a bat out of hell! : HOTFOOT

5-down – Apes dress top-down : MOCKS

6-down – Sad ballad : DEALABLOW

7-down – Constant talking puts treaty under strain : YATTER

8-down – Tenor with no depth on top note for cash : MOOLAH

14-down – Expressed in letters, Cage’s last piece, on margins in italic : EPISTOLIC

16-down – Leveraged restructuring for Slough? : EVERGLADE

18-down – Bach’s music? It was sung in church or it was enjoyed in taverns : CHORALE

19-down – Sing out from the depths: Dylan’s heart’s in it : BELLOW

20-down – Enlists guys, perhaps Boatman, by name : ROPESIN

21-down – Two articles covering Mahler’s first song : ANTHEM

23-down – Green at heart? Jealous ego? It could make you ill : ECOLI

25-down – A crooner’s opening with popular number one in concert — they get raspberries! : ACINI

7-across – A nameless sentimentalist — like Basil? : AROMATIC

9-across – What astronomers must do to improve : LOOKUP

10-across – 22 down set the ball rolling : OPEN

11-across – Small mammal with horn, active at sea : CHEVROTAIN

12-across – Specialist in the Middle East has no time for rockery plant : ARABIS

14-across – Preserve core for Curie in French-Polish setting … : ENSHRINE

15-across – … college VIP retaining a core here? : REACTOR

17-across – Credit for 22 down, say : ANAGRAM

20-across – Salt can’t stand and is back first : SULPHATE

22-across – When small, I should be with short people : DOTTED

23-across – One’s out to make reductions : DISCOUNTER

24-across – Predator about to move freely : FLOW

25-across – Chap, say, with a wine store : BODEGA

26-across – French dramatist’s singular Rabelaisian quality : RACINESS

1-down – Ripe bananas in an American restaurant : CREPERIE

2-down – Sign captain up : OMEN

3-down – River heard in wood : STICKS

4-down – Downtown, say, having dismissed last presenter : CLARKSON

5-down – 22 down river, OK? : FORTHRIGHT

6-down – African member of order importing skirts from Burundi area : NUBIAN

8-down – Smart card’s first used by machine operator : CLEVER

13-down – Angel holding stuff for traveller : BACKPACKER

16-down – Visual artist’s taken in — like Sibyl? : ORACULAR

18-down – What stops a good-for-nothing boozer? : ALEHOUSE

19-down – Safe container for tungsten alloy : PEWTER

21-down – Workers collectively embracing socialist leader to show solid­arity : UNISON

22-down – Frank’s guide : DIRECT

24-down – Discover stuff in detached houses : FIND

1-across – Put up in church but it may be loose : CHANGE

4-across – Talk in backroom of pub was effective : RABBIT

9-across – Getting on to police — pinching conkers! : NOSPRINGCHICKEN

10-across – Sell right Yorkshire bitter, I’d say : RETAIL

11-across – Stopped one looking embarrassed about lie : ARRESTED

12-across – State cover up these outrageous criminal charges : RAPSHEET

14-across – Performed valiantly in the old country : YEOMAN

15-across – Charm shown by Nicola Sturgeon, perhaps, to a degree : MASCOT

18-across – Criticising what solvers are doing? No point : DECRYING

21-across – Old barrister: Men have spoken about scene of fatal shootings : OKCORRAL

22-across – Men are set to put a new handle on : RENAME

24-across – To be the boss’s squeeze was sheer torture : WEARTHETROUSERS

25-across – Grey, maybe, or blue? It’s tricky : SADIST

26-across – A weave whenever you fancy it : ATWILL

1-down – Infection around spot needs cream applied regularly : CHOLERA

2-down – A mountain that’s good to climb : ALPHA

3-down – Say, John Brown lying in his grave starts to rise! It’s not true : GHILLIE

5-down – Lost drunk butts in here : ASHTRAY

6-down – Supports politician — it’s happened before now : BACKSTORY

7-down – Lady sat round wrapping present : THERESA

8-down – Keeps stopping a performance car — stunned : AGHAST

13-down – Comforted, having been duped by The Voice : SUCCOURED

16-down – Rings low down financial advisers after head vanishes : ANKLETS

17-down – Guides through dark hills, guerilla-infested : TORCHES

18-down – Cancel date set up online : DELETE

19-down – Focus here on nothing, right? Complain! : CARPORT

20-down – Maureen left for Spain after bust-up, as I was in Rome : NUMERAL

23-down – Japanese-American in thirties interviewed for promotion : NISEI

9-across – When retired, managed share account : NARRATION

10-across – Avoids spending reserves : SAVES

11-across – The mace may be used as a weapon : MACHETE

12-across – Increase in general disorder : ENLARGE

13-across – Be in the dock? : LIEUP

14-across – Allowance for home-grown food provider : ALLOTMENT

16-across – When it’s rough, choice of wine is un­important : ANYPORTINASTORM

19-across – Wandered, heading Middle East instead of West : MEANDERED

21-across – Find the answer to love’s torment : SOLVE

22-across – State of a student gaining a couple of degrees : ALABAMA

23-across – Ancient lock-keeper : TURNKEY

24-across – Press gang : CROWD

25-across – Can a beginner operate this kitchen equipment? : TINOPENER

1-down – Napoleon’s novel home : ANIMALFARM

2-down – Note garden feature in China : CROCKERY

3-down – Used cosmetics? That’s untrue : MADEUP

4-down – March price increase : HIKE

5-down – Stressed junior was untruthful about one point : UNDERLINED

6-down – Cuts off and, also, ties off : ISOLATES

7-down – Opposed states open engagement : AVERSE

8-down – Land in the water : ISLE

14-down – Behind gets a smack, leaving a lingering sensation : AFTERTASTE

15-down – A good deal may come from it : TIMBERYARD

17-down – Elderly crew of experienced campaigners : OLDHANDS

18-down – No silk is used in these protective garments : OILSKINS

20-down – Aggressive female goes to sea : AMAZON

21-down – A close shave? : SCRAPE

22-down – Cunning chief : ARCH

23-down – A picking-up point : TINE

1-across – Sore head from booze, drunk and awake — what now? : SOBERUP

5-across – Deviant can keep showing a bit of leg : KNEECAP

9-across – FA cross with U-turn that’s a gas : XENON

10-across – Showing pain to me, clear suffering : LATECOMER

11-across – Permanently assign rating to boot : FORGOODMEASURE

13-across – Resistance from houses picked up in E1? : OHMS

14-across – Bound for empty line, about to get in it : FRONTIER

17-across – Kitty/bank for the future : TOMORROW

18-across – Growth in tootsy came back : CYST

21-across – Joe Bloggs’s description of throne row? : MANINTHESTREET

23-across – Lack of zip in cold ENE winds : INDOLENCE

24-across – Fish hate trawler nets : TETRA

25-across – Champion’s snookered, shot not OK : ENDORSE

26-across – Need to capture blight for naturalist : LAMARCK

1-down – Hot kiss sure to keep it up : SEXY

2-down – Finance issue might need to be sorted : BANKOFMUMANDDAD

3-down – Reverse decision from flankers to referee novice game : RENEGE

4-down – Post-it notes discussion? : PILLOW

5-down – Clothes, say, missing first standard symbol : KITEMARK

6-down – Is binding since NHS contracted a quack : ENCHAINS

7-down – Active NYC committee run here, according to them! : COMMUNITYCENTER

8-down – How much a cat, say, is to do : PERPETRATE

12-down – Boxers possibly profit : BOTTOMLINE

15-down – One disagreeing with R&R taking point : WRANGLER

16-down – You must be joking why Monopoly’s out? : NOCHANCE

19-down – Too wonderful, absolute tops! : ASWELL

20-down – Publicists individually turning to me for now : PROTEM

22-down – See 4 : TALK