Cryptic crossword - The Scotsman 24/10/14

ACROSS

8 Old hands sent rave review (8)

9 Salted nuts available in triangular shapes (6)

10 Check when it’s time to pay up for membership (6)

11 Make a second collar out of black support (8)

12 Unlikely to receive any reasonable explanations from leaders (4)

13 Mischievous boy is at dance to find primate (10)

15 Is it right to enter dad to a higher degree? (7)

17 Ruin plan, perhaps, to include prime chop in evening meal (7)

20 Absolutely wild on original science - the study of firearm function (10)

22 Helmet material used in coalmine with hard hat (4)

24 Draw desperate cries from troubled bed (8)

26 Rodent will be able to hear this snake (6)

27 British go to school with someone from northern France (6)

28 Give uncle a ring about cheque going through (8)

DOWN

1 Luminous cloud unable to be dispersed (6)

2 Passed over Bohemian who was completely exhausted (8)

3 Those subject to local taxation separately swop sides and intermingle (10)

4 Lost richest hidden treasure to one digging in the sand, it’s said (7)

5 Concept of principle being cut short (4)

6 Reported instincts for intermittently fashionable trousers (6)

7 Delivers forceful message that sheep have returned (4,4)

14 Footballers get something special, we hear, in area that’s off the beaten track (10)

16 Adaptations are a must for non-professionals (8)

18 Dads and sailors can be music icons (3,5)

19 License free exchange of gagging order (7)

21 Find commanding officer among dead (6)

23 Story based on part of the Bible seen as gift (6)

25 Vast numbers lost a limb due to particles with charge (4)