Daily Answers

1-across – It’s brought back to eat with a fish : BARRACUDA

6-across – Soil quietly removed from worm’s head : MUCK

8-across – Fried food is wasteful : FRITTERS

9-across – Tawny owl scratching tail : YELLOW

10-across – In the manner of a loud disturbance : ALARUM

11-across – Survived Communist state intervention : REMAINED

12-across – Gas is not entirely fresh : BUTENE

15-across – Kiss Japanese people returning small flowers : PETUNIAS

16-across – Irregular code is broken with constant input : EPISODIC

19-across – Talk excitedly with civil war fighter on horseback : YABBER

21-across – Final eliminator involved 10 being knocked out : TERMINAL

22-across – He directs agents to lose : MISLAY

24-across – Nervous individual doesn’t give everyone introductions : ONEDGE

25-across – Agreed to drop odds, when they’re lined up : ARRANGED

26-across – Midday hail at sea : AHOY

27-across – Take turns to restrict entrance : SPELLBIND

1-down – Bass instrument over a stone : BERYL

2-down – Extremely rare — a lady of leisure : RETIREE

3-down – Elite soldiers each punched through a hole in the wall : ATEAM

4-down – Loosen tie and cuff : UNSTRAP

5-down – Inequality? Bars for women display this : ASYMMETRY

6-down – One working in bar with glass on either side : MULLION

7-down – Entertainment in bed — stroke bottom, then pull together : COOPERATE

13-down – The last of many put the men in a spin : UMPTEENTH

14-down – Threatens to throw grenades around noon : ENDANGERS

17-down – African boxer to leave later on : SOMEDAY

18-down – Gather and put away : COLLATE

20-down – Dog’s foot a state — iodine applied : BASENJI

22-down – Half-heartedly bite a fungus : MOREL

23-down – Student leaving dock collars me for change : AMEND

1-across – Dog’s breakfast was to become temporarily dormant : PUPATE

4-across – One appeal about drink that may be radioactive : ISOTOPES

9-across – Make it all right to be old-fashioned : SQUARE

10-across – All food to be returned hot to airport head : SUMBURGH

11-across – New lino, reset again, may need sweeping : GENERALISATION

13-across – Dull? Reverse that sullen attitude during distribution of claret : LACKLUSTRE

14-across – See 22 : CAST

16-across – Third party in tête-à-tête, where hanging takes place : GATE

18-across – Maybe curves around bad one? More likely bends for this one : SCUBADIVER

21-across – Squashed? Accommodation urgently needed with an easy lot of pieces : FLATASAPANCAKE

23-across – Olympians are Greek, skirting oxygen-free cavity : ATHLETIC

24-across – Drunk as a skunk product, nothing more : STINKO

25-across – Voice of trio involved in mischief : BARITONE

26-across – End of game for rugby backs with inventive character : EDISON

1-down – See 16 : POST

2-down – French composer’s bird : POULENC

3-down – Venetian island with its bull taking over small room : TORCELLO

5-down – Second half listeners to song about sailor’s country : SAUDIARABIA

6-down – Liberian gentleman from Malaysia outside the British Museum : TUBMAN

7-down – Shakespearean heroine gets a rough ride in 20 17 12 : PERDITA

8-down – Keeping quiet, christen characters with muscle : SPHINCTER

12-down – See 20 : ASSOCIATION

13-down – Joint toy buildings almost set on fire : LEGOFLAMB

15-down – Taught to find old coin in rising river : EDUCATED

17-down – See 20 : TEACHER

19-down – Norse or English ones called George? : VIKINGS

20-down – School friends’ payment kept by head female in a church garment shortened, one with a tin with nothing in it : PARENT

22-down – Depressed county actors : DOWN

1-across – Briefly, with a moment shared: How do you do? : MODUSOPERANDI

9-across – More dismal, avoiding half that’s right : DINGIER

10-across – Winner posed after eating beef stew : SAFEBET

11-across – Said to be 40, fast and of top quality : EXCELLENT

12-across – Game without front elevation : RIDGE

13-across – Suitable for returning swarm : TEEM

14-across – Headed east to order: No fishing here! : THEDEADSEA

16-across – Robots care about language : SERBOCROAT

19-across – Provide resources for entertainment at Land’s End : FUND

20-across – Transport system, the first to go chaotic : MESSY

21-across – Desperate wish to run round garden, not starting off wonky : SKEWWHIFF

23-across – Not one of two or three in disarray : NEITHER

24-across – By cupboard love : CLOSETO

25-across – Pares back hopeless business with 50% cuts, making for trouble getting off : SLEEPLESSNESS

1-down – Up and down journalists found in seedy dive during cinema production : MANICDEPRESSIVE

2-down – Should one heal oneself, using exercise? : DRILL

3-down – In school it’s brave to cry : SCREECH

4-down – Presumed one sent outside : POSITED

5-down – Fancy top and slip in actual consultation : REFERRAL

6-down – Buggery? It’s a personal matter : NOBODYSBUSINESS

7-down – Engineer fit handle on approval — no 25 here : INTHELANDOFNOD

8-down – What ITV master needs badly : ADVERTISEMENTS

15-down – Where one might find cosmetic treatment for car and driver : BODYSHOP

17-down – Booklet: What to do next : RESERVE

18-down – Outlines are essential to wallpaper customers : APERCUS

22-down – Reported difficulty in one piece : WHOLE

1-across – Very warm keeping distance, almost very cold being instructive : HOMILETIC

6-across – I faint without love, in a manner of speaking : IDIOM

9-across – Exact number: is it held by Christian social worker? : DISTRICTVISITOR

10-across – Remove protection from 18 : PEEL

11-across – Fast girl first in Georgian city : ATALANTA

14-across – Dishonesty at the front applied to string : FIDDLEBOW

15-across – Lock showing tension with top removed : TRESS

16-across – Shakespearean character going round without error? About right : OSRIC

18-across – Article follows lives by top cat and top soldier, where house has keys : ISLEOFMAN

20-across – Quarters that can survive — that one wishes one had : ENVIABLE

21-across – Dessert cooked by tramp last month : PLUM

25-across – Having a strong local accent? More or less : BROADLYSPEAKING

26-across – Dormice are oddly more dehydrated : DRIER

27-across – Land of Hope formed aria — run it : RURITANIA

1-down – Brought before the bench, end of which said to make sense : HADUP

2-down – Err in interpreting lost letter from novelist of village life : MISREAD

3-down – Then are cats heard to soar in 14 down? : LARK

4-down – Food for friar : TUCK

5-down – Outlaw civil analyst in exchange for heating aid : CAVITYWALL

6-down – See 5 : INSULATION

7-down – Concentrated in Tennessee, so to speak : INTENSE

8-down – One of seven Taliban leaders imprisoned by Egyptian leader at Pole : MORTALSIN

12-down – Historical sitcom, possibly worse without something missing : BLACKADDER

13-down – Pray church leader with bible to give us another look : BBCIPLAYER

14-down – Bottom of river at border? : FLOWERBED

17-down – Meat wrapped by artist with most of 14 across, part 1 : RAVIOLI

19-down – Scottish island, one — nearly one — in part of window : MULLION

22-down – Volcanic stuff in periodical, most of it : MAGMA

23-down – See 3 : SPUR

24-down – See 21 : TART

1-across – Boy with great expectations owed extraordinary unknown quantity, shut up : PIPEDOWN

5-across – Reportedly spotted a hairy thing : SPIDER

9-across – Junket by Labour leader and shadow chancellor in shorts and shirt, sportingly : FOOTBALL

10-across – Those helping young people in bureau, nice folk : UNICEF

12-across – Cut around lakes with hard blade on the farm : PLOUGHSHARE

15-across – See 9 : STRIP

17-across – See 21 : THEROVERS

18-across – Still awaiting salesman to collect one carbon copy : REPLICATE

19-across – Body suits the wrong way round, facing initially to the rear : STIFF

20-across – Spin round gradually at first, following someone in restaurant, alluring type : SWEATERGIRL

24-across – See 23 : SPRING

25-across – Temporary suspension gives a diva a change of heart : ABEYANCE

26-across – One causing friction with sweetheart, finds plaything all soaped up? : RUBBER

27-across – Generous society lacking cobblers? : SELFLESS

1-down – Struggle to overtake backmarkers in particular, hungry for some pie! : PUFFPASTRY

2-down – Still sexy, old fruit having bottom wiped in pub : PHOTOGRAPH

3-down – Base lifted, little word from caveman having to fix a computer : DEBUG

4-down – Satellite dish under woodwork for starters, possibly in a good position : WELLSITUATED

6-down – Dynamic Duo seen with person, slow and clumsy : PONDEROUS

7-down – See 26 : DUCK

8-down – One necked by an Elizabethan that’s uncultured, we hear : RUFF

11-down – Hollywood legend having come round dined on top of tall furniture item : GATELEGTABLE

13-down – Ability to recover home without deposit initially left one to invest : RESILIENCE

14-down – Value fuse, unless blown : USEFULNESS

16-down – 23 24 in this event is logical, not entirely in the pink : PUISSANCE

21-down – 9 15 : ROYOF

22-down – Old leader gets around houses : TSAR

23-down – Modern revolution grips Bahrain, internationally hated leaders getting ousted all over the place : ARAB