Cryptic puzzle
Across
1. Terribly posh store (4)
8. O, a billet-doux! (4,6)
9. State of a girl (8)
10. A butler from the Middle East? (4)
12. A dog died in a Dorset harbour (6)
14. Suffocate itself somehow (6)
15. A boy at street level (6)
17. Fool Mr Lincoln, the Zimbabwean statesman (6)
18. Underwear item and shirt for a child (4)
19. Derision upsets Raymond Burr's detective (8)
21. Make me pay a penalty in rent for an improvement (10)
22. To make a fuss (2-2)
Down
2. A chopper with blades (10)
3. A stopper you might hear on a chat show (4)
4. A place for a street (6)
5. Folds in pastel design (6)
6. Going off course like a confused stingray (8)
7. A larva's food (4)
11. Strong and healthy, despite being boiled up in a bed (4-6)
13. A joint badly violated (8)
16. Caught, but not riveted (6)
17. Tied up the journalist by the back-room (6)
18. A spell in prison for a common girl (4)
20. Said to establish a place for the badgers (4)
Quick puzzle
Across
1. Abandoned child (4)
8. Mouth-watering (10)
9. Boaster (8)
10. Discourteous (4)
12. Pilot (6)
14. Source of light (6)
15. Package (6)
17. Sled (6)
18. Fewer (4)
19. Divide (8)
21. Rambling (10)
22. Hades (4)
Down
2. Curtail (10)
3. Tooth (4)
4. Modernise (6)
5. Still (6)
6. Alienate (8)
7. Monster (4)
11. Pleasing (10)
13. Forefather (8)
16. Hark (6)
17. Meal (6)
18. Den (4)
20. Pity (4)
Wednesday's solutions
CRYPTIC - Across: 7 Round; 8 Sitting; 9 Esparto; 10 Draft; 12 Life policy; 15 Right dress; 18 Halve; 19 Shocked; 21 Fitting; 22 Lithe.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdDown: 1 Free church; 2 Jumpy; 3 Oder; 4 Ashore; 5 Studious; 6 Titanic; 11 Toy soldier; 13 Intrepid; 14 Agility; 16 Resign; 17 Skate; 20 Oils.
QUICK - Across: 7 Nerve; 8 Economy; 9 Eminent; 10 Emend; 12 Speechless; 15 Equivocate; 18 Trial; 19 Extract; 21 Shut out; 22 Cargo.
Down: 1 Internment; 2 Grain; 3 Cede; 4 Mettle; 5 Somewhat; 6 However; 11 Distortion; 13 Pavilion; 14 Dutiful; 16 Create; 17 Marry; 20 Tact.