Daily Answers

1-across – VIPs sent back prize money : TOPBRASS

5-across – Slang for a variety of zircon : JARGON

9-across – Girl, pretty small type : PEARL

10-across – Preoccupation of old boy before meeting : OBSESSION

12-across – Film director affected one acting : CAMPION

13-across – Seriousness shown by boy hugging adult : EARNEST

14-across – Chess ending overwhelmed friend : SMOTHEREDMATE

17-across – Train – direct, say : ORIENTEXPRESS

21-across – Spanish boy in queer comic : ENRIQUE

22-across – Short girl on a keyboard instrument : CELESTA

24-across – Body of water, in a desert, he polluted : THEREDSEA

25-across – Place to meet briefly with sun goddess : VENUS

26-across – Artificial, some flowers at zoo : ERSATZ

27-across – Fish – vet catching tons : STURGEON

1-down – Predictable? In part, yes? : TYPECAST

2-down – Song prize split by son : PSALM

3-down – Courtier and a girl he aroused : RALEIGH

4-down – Crack on sale by river vexes some upper-class young ladies : SLOANERANGERS

6-down – A small country in an ancient kingdom : ASSYRIA

7-down – Piece about one girl about to become a legendary paramour : GUINEVERE

8-down – Joe perhaps, quite an age : NINETY

11-down – Drug dealer, one not hanging about? : SPEEDMERCHANT

15-down – Sold roués bubbly without a distinctive smell : ODOURLESS

16-down – Hit man, for instance, on cheek, at home : ASSASSIN

18-down – In pursuance of an investigation : INQUEST

19-down – Bother a tennis star after end of championship : PALAVER

20-down – Heart and clubs put down, reportedly : CENTRE

23-down – One-way ticket left out for char : SINGE

1-across – Seaman posted as missing : ABSENT

4-across – Harridan therefore sent back on vessel : OGRESS

8-across – Fruit belonging to us included in bribe : SOURSOP

10-across – Vegetable cut, cut and cut again : PARSNIP

11-across – Other ranks put in awful place in China? : PORCELAIN

12-across – Following behind, close to mother : LATER

13-across – Be a role model giving group a suitable warning : SETAGOODEXAMPLE

15-across – Suit’s failure to fulfil an engagement? : BREACHOFPROMISE

18-across – Small musical instrument, piercing : SHARP

20-across – Article on reptile leaving peninsula : THELIZARD

22-across – Sit near suspect, crying : INTEARS

23-across – Boy catching breath in town : SWINDON

24-across – French girl, one under ten, fixing plug : NADINE

25-across – Take out retired National winner : REDRUM

1-down – Sit up following a storyteller : AESOP

2-down – Lady’s maid bringing new berets out : SOUBRETTE

3-down – Gets gen about savings : NESTEGG

5-down – Interrogate, about ring, a thug : GORILLA

6-down – Painter from southern state : ERNST

7-down – Replace wonderful watch set with diamonds : SUPERSEDE

9-down – Instruments producing different pair of notes : PIANOFORTES

10-down – Fast mail service could be £25, say : PONYEXPRESS

13-down – A bassinet, possibly for Alonso’s brother : SEBASTIAN

14-down – Ralph and Enid unwisely flirt : PHILANDER

16-down – Skipper, international, leading reserves at home : CAPTAIN

17-down – Opening of poem about gold and diamonds? Just the opposite : ORIFICE

19-down – In fact, Edith Evans did : ACTED

21-down – Material excavated from below : DENIM

1-across – Female breaks in tight set – if good service follows it’ll do for a Wimbledon champion : STEFFIGRAF

6-across – Dog with no lead causes irritation : ITCH

10-across – Run off with sailor back out East : ABSCOND

11-across – A flap from one lair, well-oiled : AILERON

12-across – Right occasion to rotate forward : REMIT

13-across – Mexican dish left in hacienda to be cooked : ENCHILADA

14-across – Woeful issue? : WEDNESDAYSCHILD

16-across – A question that may be asked at the bar: why is poor aunt so drunk? : WHATSYOURPOISON

20-across – Having loose morals with you, sexually? : AMOROUSLY

21-across – Painting style showing circle followed by lines? : OPART

23-across – An Arabian state, perhaps, could make me flipping angry! : EMIRATE

24-across – Cancels Pasteur broadcast : TEARSUP

25-across – Confess offence in front of gendarme, initially : SING

26-across – Put money back in, control already acquired : REINVESTED

1-down – Who killed Cock Robin using extremely sharp weapon? : SPARROW

2-down – Racecourse out of step, so modernising : EPSOM

3-down – Calamity Jane’s in town : FRONTIERSWOMAN

4-down – Lucky find in middle of boggy, sodden ground : GODSEND

5-down – Chaos? Some involving bridge : ANARCHY

7-down – Turtles, partners swimming round island : TERRAPINS

8-down – Short answer appearing in forceful political publication : HANSARD

9-down – What a dark bar may contain? : PLAINCHOCOLATE

15-down – Savage in a Conrad novel : DRACONIAN

16-down – Wife stands, seeing vermin : WEASELS

17-down – Disgusting old boy linked with ugly incident : OBSCENE

18-down – Peculiar story about Herts town : ROYSTON

19-down – Famous father’s come in for a jotter : NOTEPAD

22-down – Girl turned up for a valuable thing : ASSET

1-across – Instant credit check : TICK

3-across – Extra cover is broad : WIDESPREAD

9-across – Legal documents, reportedly for Swiss hotelier : RITZ

10-across – Unusual decoration for one equal in rank : COORDINATE

11-across – Writer in car has hit gate, I suspect : AGATHACHRISTIE

14-across – Dance master leading a bright star : BOSSANOVA

16-across – District surrounding neutral ground : ARENA

17-across – Intelligent prompt : READY

19-across – Balance achieved by good man with talent : STABILITY

21-across – Stop working and cut out article on poltergeist : GIVEUPTHEGHOST

24-across – Knighted conductor and geologist upset about king : GEORGSOLTI

25-across – Fish expert by mouth of Dee : DACE

26-across – Know-all may get smack later : SMARTALECK

27-across – Pole in aircraft making joke : JEST

1-down – Number outside a Dutch pub, the worse for wear : THREADBARE

2-down – A sword made out of crystal, good for export? : CUTLASS

4-down – Using wedge, say, teed off in medal : IRONCROSS

5-down – Mistake made by perisher blowing top : ERROR

6-down – Extremely careful, father in entrance to store, stealing : PAINSTAKING

7-down – Inspect burst main running into river : EXAMINE

8-down – Act, one way or the other : DEED

12-down – Important person, forceful with rowing crew : HEAVYWEIGHT

13-down – A state of financial security enjoyed by a roundsman? : EASYSTREET

15-down – Lacking passion, amateur, distressingly inadequate : APATHETIC

18-down – State, an Australian one artist sent up : ARIZONA

20-down – Point out one very much delayed : ISOLATE

22-down – Move stealthily, front left : PROWL

23-down – A long time in rummage sale : AGES

1-across – Weaver’s backside and foot : BOTTOM

5-across – Lassie, perhaps, with a heavenly body : DOGSTAR

9-across – Carry maiden over symbolic pole : TOTEM

10-across – A growth that’s turned up under one’s nose? : HANDLEBAR

11-across – See 10 : MOUSTACHE

12-across – Irishman, last in office, returned message : EMAIL

13-across – Print phrase out for union : PARTNERSHIP

15-across – Demons at dominoes and dice : DEVILSBONES

20-across – Give a tie back : AWARD

22-across – Church member from Cairns, in stitches, breaking up about it on the way back : CHRISTIAN

23-across – See 22 : SCIENTIST

24-across – Strange article defending made-up story : ALIEN

25-across – Sent off, say, about grand in savings : NESTEGG

26-across – Fury shown by boy with incomplete toy : ALECTO

2-down – Elsewhere, ran and hurdled better : OUTJUMPED

3-down – Risk failure in US state capital, supporting draw : TEMPTPROVIDENCE

4-down – Hair style, macho in comic : MOHICAN

5-down – Ballerina’s partner in US? André, possibly : DANSEUR

6-down – Successful worker upset getting severance pay : GOLDENHANDSHAKE

7-down – I chewed up a bone : TIBIA

8-down – A bank meeting resistance? Not often : RARELY

9-down – Book, and how I may want it dedicated? : TOME

14-down – One who expects the worst tip misses out : PESSIMIST

16-down – Skiving when head’s gone missing : LACKING

17-down – Cap, black – ghoulish attire : BIRETTA

18-down – Clergyman’s page on crime : PARSON

19-down – Clergyman must get rid of cold soon : ANON

21-down – A young woman? Not quite right : AMISS