Author name: crosswordanswers

1-across – As if! : FATCHANCE

8-across – Hired ___ – Peter Sellers,e.g. : GOON

9-across – The hat trade : MILLINERY

10-across – Provider of wifi and babyccinos : CAFE

13-across – Big Mama Thornton’s musical genre : BLUES

15-across – Island home of the poets Alcaeus and Sappho : LESBOS

16-across – African animal-watching : SAFARI

17-across – Harvest,money or water : SPIDER

19-across – Past : BYGONE

20-across – Serbian currency : DINAR

21-across – Amorphous,usually iridescent,mineral used as a gemstone : OPAL

24-across – Board for riding on water : AQUAPLANE

25-across – Stagger – Irish dance – length of material : REEL

26-across – Ne’er-do-well : REPROBATE

2-down – Oleic,lactic or amino : ACID

3-down – One of Manx or Cornish descent,e.g. : CELT

4-down – Record of events year by year : ANNALS

5-down – The crumbling of a tooth : CARIES

6-down – Palindromic soil machine : ROTAVATOR

7-down – Pending : UNDECIDED

11-down – Golfing gear : PLUSFOURS

12-down – They are not precise calculations : ESTIMATES

13-down – Overcome with ennui or tedium : BORED

14-down – Artsy : SATYR

18-down – Bordering on unseemly : RISQUE

19-down – Persian for ‘market’ : BAZAAR

22-down – Undesirable flatmate : SLOB

23-down – Tiny mosquito relative : GNAT

1-across – Increase in strength or quantity,sometimes economic : UPSWING

8-across – Footballer’s nightmare : OWNGOAL

9-across – It goes from the shoulder to the elbow : HUMERUS

10-across – Droopy-eared,silky-coated companion : SPANIEL

11-across – They’re performed on the boards : PLAYS

13-across – Aspiration unlikely to transpire : PIPEDREAM

15-across – Talk about the old days : REMINISCE

18-across – Roman form of transport? : VESPA

21-across – Legs,so to speak : STAMINA

22-across – Hee-hawers : DONKEYS

23-across – Simple BMX trick : WHEELIE

24-across – The point of the church? : STEEPLE

1-down – Not trendy : UNHIP

2-down – Lively modern ballroom dance : SAMBA

3-down – Reckless : IRRESPONSIBLE

4-down – ___monger : GOSSIP

5-down – NZ equivalent to HMRC : INLANDREVENUE

6-down – Eco-bid : BODICE

7-down – Zigzag race : SLALOM

12-down – Mojito fruit : LIME

14-down – Straddling : ATOP

15-down – Stitched once again : RESEWN

16-down – Protected by a watery trench : MOATED

17-down – Ghosts – eyewear – hues : SHADES

19-down – Brush – extend – Sooty’s pal : SWEEP

20-down – Part of a church or a supermarket : AISLE

1-across – Cardigan Bay resort and university town : ABERYSTWYTH

9-across – Fixing a stiletto,perhaps : REHEELING

10-across – Initials in a hospital when body tissue imaged : MRI

11-across – Male mallard? : DRAKE

13-across – They get absolutely smashed at parties : PINATAS

14-across – Loquacious : CHATTY

15-across – Fizzy pop – fairylike creature : SPRITE

18-across – Mogadishu residents,e.g. : SOMALIS

20-across – Bloke : FELLA

21-across – Iron ___ : ORE

22-across – Wise he was not : MORECAMBE

24-across – Bleeding-edge : ULTRAMODERN

2-down – Scroogean outburst : BAH

3-down – Put once more into office : REELECT

4-down – Of little material,as some undergarments : SKIMPY

5-down – Closed railway van – informal term for car : WAGON

6-down – e.g. cycling event against the clock : TIMETRIAL

7-down – One who came before : PREDECESSOR

8-down – Wrap for delicate objects : TISSUEPAPER

12-down – It sounds a warning : ALARMBELL

16-down – Grim of countenance : POFACED

17-down – A marsh : ASHRAM

19-down – Madagascar mammal : LEMUR

23-down – Damage – Costa del ___ : MAR

1-across – Noticeable job : OBJECTIONABLE

8-across – <span>Painter</span><i>,The Persistence of Memory</i> : DALI

9-across – Youngster’s recreational associate : PLAYMATE

10-across – Tiny tahini ingredient : SESAMESEED

12-across – Card game with ‘shooting the moon’ – cabbage centres : HEARTS

14-across – Still at the original place : INSITU

15-across – Not top-notch : SECONDRATE

19-across – Imaginary circle,prime perhaps : MERIDIAN

20-across – Standard monetary unit of Thailand : BAHT

21-across – Goings-on : FUNNYBUSINESS

2-down – Bangle : BRACELET

3-down – 1978 musical : EVITA

4-down – Like some beaches : TOPLESS

5-down – Speechify : ORATE

6-down – Fleets of warships : ARMADAS

7-down – It may be strummed by a troubadour : LUTE

11-down – Components of suture : STITCHES

13-down – Ill-advised kind of ‘roulette’ : RUSSIAN

14-down – Batting spells : INNINGS

16-down – Ascend : CLIMB

17-down – Redbreast : ROBIN

18-down – Suitor – fop : BEAU

1-across – Ready to eat : RIPE

3-across – Small celestial body : ASTEROID

8-across – Olive ___ – dreary : DRAB

9-across – Rudeness : ENDUSERS

11-across – Vessel in the cold – conversation starter : ICEBREAKER

14-across – Seventh ___ : HEAVEN

15-across – Bread brand – agile : NIMBLE

17-across – Means of access to a tree house,e.g. : ROPELADDER

20-across – The Greek one has 24 letters : ALPHABET

21-across – Sports item thrown from behind an oche : DART

22-across – Languid – unlike Santa? : LISTLESS

23-across – Protection for inhabitants of high chairs : BIBS

1-down – It means ‘stop’ : REDLIGHT

2-down – It goes between crockery and table : PLACEMAT

4-down – American writer Susan,1933–2004 : SONTAG

5-down – Promoting unity among branches of Christianity : ECUMENICAL

6-down – It may bode good or evil : OMEN

7-down – Where a newsreader sits : DESK

10-down – Mêlée : FREEFORALL

12-down – Largest UAE emirate : ABUDHABI

13-down – Accumulated debris : DETRITUS

16-down – Dido’s love,for a spell : AENEAS

18-down – Grey,Marshal or Wessex : EARL

19-down – Mimics : APES