Daily Answers

1-across – Fairies, tail first, surrounding little girl — 9 was sick of it : SELFLOVE

5-across – Retriever of horse reportedly about to cancel : GUNDOG

9-across – Steward’s sickness reaches tenth book : MALVOLIO

10-across – Top Italian number in store : SILVIO

12-across – Spinner, say, or bad fairy : TROLL

13-across – Pirate investigated, having feature of eagle : HOOKNOSED

14-across – Donation on edge, as is and not was : PRESENTTENSE

18-across – Duck in house with duck on road I see announced as alternative? : HOMOEOPATHIC

21-across – A fowl or two and yet in a flutter : WYANDOTTE

23-across – Ill-natured one taking on guild : TRADE

24-across – Opening gallery? : LOUVRE

25-across – Where flowers go from home counties to get prizes : SEAWARDS

26-across – Back pay, say, for bauble : GEEGAW

27-across – Being in a row on purpose : ADESSEIN

1-down – Fabric with costly interweaving — ditto without it : SAMITE

2-down – See head raised, loosely bound : LOLLOP

3-down – Maker of clothing, giants for the use of, to appear important : LOOMLARGE

4-down – The man’s a sweetheart in the way he sings an aria : VOICHESAPETE

6-down – See 23 : UNION

7-down – Aria of the Peacemakers about Love : DOVESONO

8-down – Exercise of virtue to become queer when river rises : GOODDEED

11-down – Out of view of motorist that’s crazy : ROUNDTHEBEND

15-down – Wests in Nottinghamshire turn to Ephesus and Syracuse, perhaps? : TWINTOWNS

16-down – Get up with a lot of fish about, for example : SHOWALEG

17-down – Take prisoner, clutching at green : IMMATURE

19-down – Playwright goes right off the wall : BARRIE

20-down – Aria making head turn — Domingo’s first in opera : NESSUN

22-down – See 20 : DORMA

9-across – Hate Arab horse having its wings clipped : ABHOR

10-across – Count, smitten with love, twisted like a bud : CONVOLUTE

11-across – Endure a dance, an old person’s affair? : LASTFLING

12-across – Stock bar with booze : BANAL

13-across – Paper bundle: energy-deficient power source that’s injurious : BALEFUL

15-across – The opposition eating flipping eggs? Prove it! : THEOREM

17-across – Dish of dog fish : CURRY

18-across – Bureaucracy’s advice about bug : RED

20-across – Ghostly Arthur once associated with court knight : ASHEN

22-across – Perhaps local injections units? : NUMBERS

25-across – Nick the Unfinished’s sneakiness : STEALTH

26-across – Camp joke about Uruguay’s premier getting lost : GULAG

27-across – Officer responsible for politician getting second desk? : CONSTABLE

30-across – Conductor to-be went on horseback : ELECTRODE

31-across – Cake decorator Penny put in the dock : PIPER

1-down – Composer’s coach initially lectured on Ring: Wagner’s finale very loud! : CARL

2-down – Mountain resort songbird? : WHISTLER

3-down – See 1 : ORFF

4-down – Great poet and dramatist’s second scary film? : SCHILLER

5-down – Fancy getting a rise — about $1,000 — sir? : KNIGHT

6-down – Old jacket on male roué with top missing gets a delayed reaction : DOUBLETAKE

7-down – Spin merchant, Tina? : TURNER

8-down – Live two lives as an inventor? : BELL

13-down – Food conveyance up and working : BACON

14-down – Front opening gives a bias to boxers etc. : FLYWEIGHTS

16-down – Masses welcoming new champ : MUNCH

19-down – Bury’s opposite Pluto — and between : DISINTER

21-down – Blooming Teddy boy dance by Prince — a rare heavenly sight! : HALEBOPP

23-down – Grain factory on film : MILLET

24-down – Portion of corset elastic : SECTOR

26-down – See 29 : GREY

28-down – See 18 : TAPE

29-down – Tea before the scheduled hour holds up a work unit : EARL

1-across – Golden Ass diary is kept by passionate guy with interest in 7 and 21, and parts of 2, 4, 6, 8, 13, 17, 23, 24 and 26 : ORNITHOLOGIST

10-across – American singer or ruminant : ORBISON

11-across – Splendid achievements in learning keeping one in grammar school : GLORIES

12-across – A fool to try to get money from church : DUNCE

13-across – Genuine class article needed in opposing Conservative : AUTHENTIC

14-across – Providers of music for ’omeless vagrants : OBOES

16-across – Number playing football here is 8 : TWENTYTWO

18-across – Reschedule an overdue attempt : ENDEAVOUR

19-across – Russian scrum half’s job? : PUTIN

20-across – Draw a line at entering diplomatic move without aspiration : DEMARCATE

23-across – Take a little, waste a lot : STEAL

24-across – Squint shows salmon with new leader : COCKEYE

25-across – God gives green light for capital punishment? : GALLOWS

26-across – Entertaining follower, ate like a kite : SWALLOWTAILED

2-down – Dressin’ gown’s partner was outlawed : ROBINHOOD

3-down – The baby is a girl : ISSUE

4-down – Mrs Shakespeare opening up plant : HENNA

5-down – A long way from a girl they produced : LIGHTYEAR

6-down – Leave work without much money in Rome and don’t bend the knee : GOOSESTEP

7-down – Satirist’s riddle about Whitehead : SWIFT

8-down – Provider of cricketing scene, 0-1-0, provokes old-fashioned exclamation : LORDLOVEADUCK

9-down – Shan’t play with cosy arrangement — mind my own business : PSYCHOANALYST

15-down – Street by a river at end of flight? : STAIRWELL

16-down – Time for old rebel to go in ferry to restaurant : TROCADERO

17-down – Othello, say, drunk, will sway, say : TITLEROLE

21-down – Bird : MACAW

22-down – Pieces in a row? : EIGHT

23-down – Conductor of notes : SOLTI

1-across – Popular evidence of frown? : LOWBROW

5-across – Worry meeting ’arsh official : STEWARD

9-across – Being enraged, irk terribly angry letter writers : GREEN

10-across – Mark, in writing, rejecting charity one reviews : DIACRITIC

11-across – As scissors used before, awaiting punishment : FORTHEHIGH

12-across – See 11 : JUMP

14-across – Paper once used to the single European question : TOILETTISSUE

18-across – Runner on track tiring father out : FREIGHTTRAIN

21-across – Swimmer fine, though not hunky : DORY

22-across – See 9 : INKBRIGADE

25-across – Find one Siam without borders — or south of there? : INDONESIA

26-across – Sweet singer bringing fit male around : MELBA

27-across – As mind on Ecstasy, heroin’s first dropped here? : EASTEND

28-across – Pasquale has job — let’s not talk about it! : DONTASK

1-down – M-mug up about gravitational constant, then stop using computer : LOGOFF

2-down – Question about blunder in boat : WHERRY

3-down – Practise — have a stab? : RUNTHROUGH

4-down – Reach daughter in clutches of joiner : WIDTH

5-down – Close to nefarious evidence of joy in killing : SLAUGHTER

6-down – Head removed from shoulders, as brain between these : EARS

7-down – Philanthropy Gore delivered with platitude : ALTRUISM

8-down – Ground rich with deep crack : DECIPHER

13-down – Citizen fighting old war, faultless ’til this writer’s uprising : MILITIAMAN

15-down – Part written up includes in it a language to be translated : LATINISED

16-down – Batsman’s rotten ambition? : OFFDRIVE

17-down – Lewis one of these hermaphroditic unionists? : HEBRIDES

19-down – Bound to be upset over US state dish : PAELLA

20-down – McDonald’s entering behind king, say : REMARK

23-down – Denounce trade name : BRAND

24-down – Appropriate to dispense with kiss for queen : ANNE

1-across – Call about female killer, rough work of 1 down : CHERRY

4-across – See 25 : SISTERS

9-across – Hype’s terrible, breaking novel — not enough puff with it : EMPHYSEMA

10-across – Welsh boy enveloped in extraordinary lunacy in 1 down’s work : UNCLE

11-across – The Greek, northern English and Spanish pub : HOTEL

12-across – Lozenge makes Spooner divest himself of whip : COUGHDROP

13-across – Are you said to be split into live and computer generated? : VIRTUAL

15-across – Grade sign after letters as book of 25 4 across : LITTLE

17-across – Exactly what Kipling wrote : JUSTSO

19-across – Domain of 15 medicine, if regulated : FIEFDOM

22-across – Shepherdess takes boy and clingy girl back on wheels : LADYVICAR

24-across – 1 down has footballer topped and tailed : ANTON

26-across – See 15 : WOMEN

27-across – Light grey stuff used in perfumery : AMBERGRIS

28-across – Parliament, centre of dirty dogs, keeping back grass : TYNWALD

29-across – Yes, when posted : ASSENT

1-down – Russian money sent when uttered? : CHEKHOV

2-down – Emigrant to be corrosive about value of silver coin : EXPAT

3-down – What : ROYALHUNT

4-down – Dispose of complaint, missing drug when inside 1 down’s work : SEAGULL

5-down – Sort of fund opening to subsidise drinker : SLUSH

6-down – Set about cleric wrongly put in goal : ENCIRCLED

7-down – Agent general coming in, ready for bed : SLEEPY

8-down – Coppers, nearly one pound, in drawer : PENCIL

14-down – Fellow with float, maybe German and south Italian circulating : ROUNDSMAN

16-down – Wordbook found on the Lizard? : THESAURUS

18-down – See 1 across : ORCHARD

19-down – Comedian with a record? Not far off : FORMBY

20-down – How I think to take care of my teeth? : MINDSET

21-down – Wasted opportunity with almost complete mushroom : BLEWIT

23-down – See 10 : VANYA

25-down – 1 down’s work gives very little change to the Maquis : THREE