Crytpic crossword - The Scotsman 21/03/14

ACROSS

1 Knitwear that enables talented beginner to be successful at tennis (8)

5 Oils, say, used by spiritualist (6)

10 Co-worker seized revolutionary weapon (7)

11 Puts money into American waistcoats (7)

12 Ready to be shot, perhaps, at start (5)

13 Hades palm made into light dressing (9)

14 Rock solid, like hearing a South American chime (2,5,2,1,4)

17 Does fat government minister dine on this? (7,7)

21 Marine police applied brute strength (4,5)

23 Dog elicits exclamation of admiration from soldier (5)

24 What Dick Emery says he does and the monkey sings “I wanna be” (4,3)

25 Foodie desperate for pure ice (7)

26 Source of power gives out at the Spanish frontier (6)

27 Initially sees some travellers as problems exceedingly difficult to deal with (8)

DOWN

1 Office worker is overweight at times (6)

2 Cuts according to magnitude as called for (7)

3 Sow recent variety of maize (9)

4 Where to look at the stars, in Roman courtyard, timeless on Earth (3,11)

6 Little people quietly removed from bookcase (5)

7 How dead king will lie, belonging to nation (2,5)

8 Made slit badly and cut cards the wrong way (8)

9 Sane summertime spoilt by surveying error (14)

15 Modern way of speaking is something one can’t do without (9)

16 Applied a softening layer when lowlife were injured (8)

18 Tradesman that is after being a good fellow (7)

19 Bringing up railwaymen to turn final point to east (7)

20 Horsemen pose amendments (6)

22 Ye Olde Worlde stalls etc sound reasonable (5)

Thursday’s solution

Across: 1 Respects, 5 Carpet, 9 In league, 10 Circle, 12 Linger, 13 Somme, 16 Ruined, 17 Attacked, 20 Tapestry, 21 Apercu, 23 Chime, 25 Opened, 28 In toto, 29 Insecure, 30 Nectar, 31 Graduate.

Down: 1 Rail, 2 Sole, 3 Examiners, 4 Trudge, 6 Amiss, 7 Pacemakers, 8 Tremendous, 11 Trite, 14 Protection, 15 Simplistic, 18 Apprehend, 19 Brood, 22 Leaner, 24 Extra, 26 Cuba, 27 Cede.