Daily Answers

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

1-across – Impound : CONFISCATE

7-across – Displayer of an L : LEARNER

8-across – Contrivance of interlocking parts for fastening : CLASP

10-across – Form of cricket : TEST

11-across – <span>One that’s </span><i>Laughing</i><span> in the Wallace Collection</span> : CAVALIER

13-across – Less sensible – breakfast item : RASHER

15-across – Wine seller – a bodge : BODEGA

17-across – Poppycock : CLAPTRAP

18-across – e.g. Peter the Great : TSAR

21-across – Diversion for a toddler – trombone component : SLIDE

22-across – Pollen producers : STAMENS

23-across – e.g. honey : ENDEARMENT

1-down – Leather riding leggings : CHAPS

2-down – Low square : NINE

3-down – Encroachment : INROAD

4-down – Big crested parrot : COCKATOO

5-down – Occasion for nourishment : TEATIME

6-down – Crockery frames : PLATERACKS

9-down – Eternally frozen subsoil : PERMAFROST

12-down – One with an appreciation for the finer things : AESTHETE

14-down – Aquatic creature that’s not really feline : SEALION

16-down – Wilhelm II,e.g. : KAISER

19-down – It comes between blood and tears : SWEAT

20-down – ___-in-arms – 23ac : BABE