Monday 31 August

Across

1 Cultivate witticism about being adult (5-2) 5 Currency is part I contributed to swindle (7) 9 Small piece of advice about way to reassure your dog? (5) 10 USA Senate carve-up turns one’s stomach (9) 11 Earl, unable to answer question, left to get some identification (1-8) 12 Less often confused with it when counting (5) 13 Heads of redbrick universities institute new standards for dilapidated buildings (5) 15 Chief competitor, if losing run, would be matter of record (4,5) 18 Left eager to get transformed and be happy (4,5) 19 Issue dealt with in Pilgrim’s Progress (5) 21 Close temperature when sun goes down (5) 23 RAF’s doing badly, showing coolness under pressure (4,5) 25 Post on half of wage when things are developing (9) 26 Giving lip in church is a sin (5) 27 Selfish people say Oscar is extremely tedious (7) 28 Moved quickly to protect place when stretched (7)

Down

1 Constantly talk equipment with Spooner in period before university (3,4) 2 CIA stores criminal blacklist (9) 3 Records found when breaking up sofa? (5) 4 Criticise book about father being camp mother at Christmas (5,4) 5 Plain type of sandwich has a French filling (5) 6 Sea birds circling coastal feature to find plants (4-5) 7 Regular cognition women get being dragged around (2,3) 8 Central parts of genome system purify cells forming air passage (7) 14 In one sense, mufflers funny things to look at (5,4) 16 Business has ten workers who share accommodation (2-7) 17 Talking too much, manager almost overwhelmed by truth (9) 18 Trick old horse to get into line (7) 20 Without AI, diagnosed ruptures – it’s an unexpected benefit (7) 22 Some plot suggestions raised, showing enthusiasm (5) 23 Dirty place in ship where dumped material stored (5) 24 Critical secondary characters in office come across major flaws (5)