Author name: crosswordanswers

1-across – Gaudy and OTT : OSTENTATIOUS

9-across – Ram in the sky : ARIES

10-across – Increasingly drizzly – former Monacan ruler : RAINIER

11-across – What you may do to oats or your ‘r’s : ROLL

12-across – What a full stop ends : SENTENCE

14-across – Scallywag : RASCAL

15-across – Hoyle’s predecessor : BERCOW

18-across – Playful marine mammal : SEAOTTER

20-across – Apple’s digital assistant : SIRI

22-across – In an intemperate manner : IRATELY

23-across – She said ‘Curiouser and curiouser!’ : ALICE

24-across – Bandit at the bird-feeder : GREYSQUIRREL

2-down – South ___ – guards : SHIELDS

3-down – Timor or Grinstead : EAST

4-down – Fowl – country : TURKEY

5-down – Square root of 169 : THIRTEEN

6-down – One often pickled in the pub : ONION

7-down – Script scribe : SCREENWRITER

8-down – Rigid harness : HAIRDRESSING

13-down – Nitwit’s quality : DAFTNESS

16-down – Thai,for one : CUISINE

17-down – Ta-ra! : SEEYOU

19-down – Peak performance : AGAME

21-down – Pale – sporting – expo : FAIR

1-across – Burst – éclat – publicise : SPLASH

4-across – Pétanque : BOULES

9-across – Imperial measure of eg a paddock : ACREAGE

10-across – Underwater acronym : SCUBA

11-across – Make joyous : ELATE

12-across – Writer awarded ‘best of all Bookers’ : RUSHDIE

13-across – Augment with a scarf and brooch,perhaps : ACCESSORISE

18-across – Not sedimentary and not metamorphic : IGNEOUS

20-across – Inventor claimed by both Croatia and Serbia : TESLA

22-across – Hawaiian ‘hello’ : ALOHA

23-across – Red Sea nation : ERITREA

24-across – Like some wire and comments : BARBED

25-across – Touch with tenderness : CARESS

1-down – Like 007’s cocktail : SHAKEN

2-down – Pre-metamorphic creature : LARVA

3-down – Not acute,not right and not obtuse : SCALENE

5-down – Rockers supposedly to reunite for a tour in July 2025 : OASIS

6-down – Town associated with the sainted Bernadette : LOURDES

7-down – Container for salt or cocktails : SHAKER

8-down – Writer’s side : WEIRDSISTER

14-down – Map marking for eg a hill : CONTOUR

15-down – Nastier : RETSINA

16-down – <span>NaHCO</span>₃<span>,as it’s known in the kitchen</span> : BICARB

17-down – Cross-Channel destination for some : CALAIS

19-down – Like Humpty Dumpty : OVATE

21-down – Slope’s small stones : SCREE

1-across – Hopeless : ABJECT

4-across – Nervous – as a flea or frog? : JUMPY

7-across – Solar system member? : PLANET

8-across – Thwack : WALLOP

9-across – Lowest : NEAP

10-across – Plot together : CONSPIRE

12-across – HGV operator? : LORRYDRIVER

17-across – Huff : HARRUMPH

19-across – Grey matter – brown or white sliced food? : LOAF

20-across – Nocturnal antipodean marsupial : WOMBAT

21-across – Venetian area and bridge : RIALTO

22-across – Siren : RINSE

23-across – Study of language structure : SYNTAX

1-down – Valerian plant : ALLHEAL

2-down – Gin plant? : JUNIPER

3-down – Calamity : CATACLYSM

4-down – Casual trousers : JEANS

5-down – Bad feeling : MALAISE

6-down – Hoorah! : YIPPEE

11-down – Wind blowing towards the south : NORTHERLY

13-down – Male in Oxford or Cambridge crew? : OARSMAN

14-down – Heroic : VALIANT

15-down – Levy for car user : ROADTAX

16-down – Rabble – rain : SHOWER

18-down – Habit : USAGE

1-across – Multi-coloured : KALEIDOSCOPIC

8-across – Within a restricted space : TIGHTLY

9-across – Very cold : POLAR

10-across – Pint or half? : BEER

11-across – Sugar type : DEMERARA

13-across – Capital on the Tagus : LISBON

14-across – Strong and enduring : TROJAN

17-across – Marine sport : YACHTING

19-across – Full of yolks? : EGGY

21-across – New Orleans flood barrier : LEVEE

22-across – Cooking apple : BRAMLEY

24-across – Four-sided figure : PARALLELOGRAM

1-down – Strip : KIT

2-down – Unable to stand up? : LEGLESS

3-down – Bit : IOTA

4-down – O : OXYGEN

5-down – South American martial art performed to percussive music : CAPOEIRA

6-down – Three steps and a hop Bohemian dance : POLKA

7-down – Sure thing : CERTAINTY

10-down – Shocking dive : BELLYFLOP

12-down – Canadian city : MONTREAL

15-down – Manipulator of airborne clubs etc : JUGGLER

16-down – Nebula : UNABLE

18-down – Put a lid on : COVER

20-down – Type of shark : MAKO

23-down – Subtropical tuber : YAM

5-across – Beach attendant : LIFEGUARD

8-across – Inclination – askew : BENT

9-across – Channel Island – cow : GUERNSEY

10-across – Arrange according to class : ASSORT

11-across – Injure or obstruct racehorse intentionally : NOBBLE

13-across – Sagging : DROOPY

15-across – Sorbet : STROBE

16-across – Mediterranean flavour : MARJORAM

18-across – Linen and seed oil plant : FLAX

19-across – Forenames : FREEMASON

1-down – Brilliant performer : VIRTUOSO

2-down – Burden – standardised balancing block : WEIGHT

3-down – Soup holder : TUREEN

4-down – Small bird – woman in the Navy : WREN

6-down – Quilt : BEDSPREAD

7-down – Gelatinous sweet : JELLYBEAN

12-down – How hot coals walked over? : BAREFOOT

14-down – Delivery aimed toward the feet : YORKER

15-down – Ape,say : SIMIAN

17-down – Sudden tug – piece of work : JERK