Monday 17 August

Across

9 Not the first to risk travel at a leisurely pace (5) 10 Rocks falling and getting into dell is ruinous (9) 11 Old nip of rum I drink too, without finishing first shots (9) 12 Space put by, but oddly nothing inside (5) 13 Turned and ran away, clutching Zippo but dropping case (7) 15 Part in test regarding the way planets travel (7) 17 Snow leopard jumps without limits (5) 18 Harsh fightback (3) 20 Central pub evacuated earlier (5) 22 Be taken the wrong way during rendezvous, creating arguments (7) 25 Naturally produced grain ruined through company backtracking (7) 26 Pitman’s system finally starts to introduce new, easy recording (5) 27 Devout priest, German, in South American city with us (9) 30 Commanding Officer had info about who’s hunting whom? (4,5) 31 Constructed crowns of bronze using intricate latticework techniques (5)

Down

1 Mexican snack stack – hot, without any wrappers (4) 2 Forgetfulness leads to open bolts – then four being eaten by wild cat (8) 3 Still one imagined terrifying creature from the Himalayas (4) 4 Sister Edna eloped, heading north, carrying flowering plant (8) 5 In France a supermarket sacking head to become international organisation (6) 6 Absolute chaos, upset jewellery – piecing it all together? (10) 7 Floppy elephant with no stuffing for clingy type (6) 8 Tax bill came at last – virtually cleared out (4) 13 Scourge of old? (5) 14 Our copter’s flying around island territory (6,4) 16 Inadvertently Rickrolled – but only part of the words! (5) 19 An odd owl disturbed some trees (8) 21 Safe ‘n’ sound? Two extinct every second! (3-5) 23 Welsh city’s non-governmental organisation gathered by bar (6) 24 Flow of vapour engulfing opening of railway (6) 26 Greek character with very loud furry garment (4) 28 Desert old boy, captured by US soldier (4) 29 Place, place and, finally, place (4)