Chapter 4

Challenging Cryptics

IN THIS CHAPTER

Flexing your brain with medium-hard cryptic crosswords

Applying more advanced clue-solving techniques

This chapter has a nice collection of medium-level cryptics. I’ve written these for those who feel more confident about solving cryptics, and would like a bit more of a challenge.

I’ve made them a little harder than the easy crosswords by using a broader vocabulary both in the grids and in the clues. Some definitions are a bit more oblique, and some abbreviations may be a bit harder. There are some words ‘in plain view’ within the clues (where you don’t need to find a synonym), but not as many as in the easy crosswords in Chapter 3. There are also more anagram clues than you see in a regular cryptic, but fewer than in the easy crosswords.

Puzzle 26

Across

1. A radar cub mistakenly gets a predatory fish (9)
8. Go berserk, ignoring heart’s fury (4)
9. Juliet has Asian old record identifying a rugged vehicle (4)
10. Smallest in the litter is partly disgruntled (4)
12. Artfully heed round German’s green fence (5)
14. Thump around uniform for an Aussie great (5)
16. Glaze the circle evenly (3)
17. Gollum’s cry on getting stirred rice soup (8)
20. Small combat vehicle smelled revolting (5)
21. Strangely say nil in Anglo-Saxon examination! (8)
22. Consume first cut of steak, for example (3)
23. Edgy bridge player very upset (5)
25. Rounded purple fruit put on piano (5)
28. Alpert’s aromatic plant (4)
30. Diplomacy about messy attic I left (4)
31. Assistant’s crazy idea (4)
32. Intermission until deer performs (9)

Down

2. Assert and rave madly (4)
3. Indian currency for blended purée (5)
4. Leads astray ill-bred port curs (8)
5. Ned returned to lair (3)
6. Whiskey, as well as a magic stick! (4)
7. Nicest yes altered prerequisite (9)
11. Stocky baby bird has short time for Charlie (5)
13. Unhappily repaid asp to get lost (9)
14. Gamble on a Greek letter (4)
15. Teach the entourage (5)
18. Letter to south-eastern doctor on the French musical group (8)
19. Accept orders from confused boy assimilating English (4)
20. Hush around layer going up to air spirit (5)
24. Temperature in vial is crucial (5)
26. Revoke United Nations party (4)
27. Sour advertisement got about 101 (4)
29. Very long time in a dungeon (3)

Puzzle 27

Across

1. Harmless credit notes contain nitrogen and no copper (9)
6. Lettuce is part of costume (3)
8. Slow tempo good in vocal backing (5)
9. Separate corrupted tea oils (7)
10. Yell ‘Quiet out!’ (5)
11. Dishevelled punk met drunk (7)
13. Escape from the Spanish bridge player (4)
15. Eaters’ dynamic festival celebrating spring (6)
16. West Australia has teetotaller with the French acacia (6)
19. Connecticut included in Anglo-Saxon performances (4)
21. Busily ate long citrus fruit (7)
24. Carbon corrosion produces outer layer of loaf (5)
25. Own up to swindle on iron steamship (7)
26. Staff youngster devoured sweet (5)
28. 12 down’s juvenile form is oddly effete (3)
29. Censure rum present in Senegal’s beach lotion (9)

Down

1. Sickly Billy lost his covers (3)
2. Yes, Spanish left souvenirs all over the place, highly strung (7)
3. Laugh loudly; tenor and apprentice involved in drudgery! (7)
4. Repulsive, yet melodious? Scratch Mel! (6)
5. Wading bird coming from street, or Cambodia (5)
6. 150 intend to make an allegation (5)
7. Tamest ewe somehow gets a piece of confectionary (9)
10. Unexpectedly accepts the French pageant (9)
12. Changed temperature for small amphibian (4)
14. Spoken moral needs no introduction (4)
17. As civil engineer and tenor in charge are austere .  .  . (7)
18. Fretful about rare fungus (7)
20. Company American at home to relation (6)
22. No French alien has nine players (5)
23. Female sheep grabbing right water jugs (5)
27. Longing for Japanese money (3)

Puzzle 28

Across

1. Accidentally sprain Papa’s vegetable (7)
5. Taxi! Queen tossed tree trunk! (5)
8. Deuterium left in spine of spinning rod (7)
9. Liquefies and mixes metals without an adult (5)
10. Lightly strike the faucet (3)
11. Wholehearted and surprisingly nicer in the south-east (7)
13. Three misused the anaesthetic (5)
14. Organised, halest clinics provide gymnastic exercises (13)
18. A dearth of an old expression of dismay? (5)
19. Remote Aussie region suffering blackout, without line (7)
23. Oddly, shogun has a former French coin (3)
24. Forbid Jo from supplying stringed instrument (5)
25. Ornate inset is for Michelangelo’s ceiling (7)
26. Narrow hilltop reached via overpass, missing entrance (5)
27. Longed for 12 months with Ned (7)

Down

1. Is French in postscript to nuisances? (5)
2. Wear the crown — it sounds like a downpour! (5)
3. Elbow George, getting in unclothed (5)
4. Pompously pouts, entirely ridiculously (13)
5. Domestic animal got into ‘Come and Battle’ (7)
6. Ballet company oils hob, after a fashion (7)
7. Confused rosters for holiday destinations (7)
12. Unperturbed, cut short the unit of heat energy (3)
14. Church has honey-yellow assembly room (7)
15. Shakespearean king and Ned are scholarly (7)
16. Abysmally smokier and annoying (7)
17. Cannibal’s holding a pen tip (3)
20. Perplexing Ascot Opera by Puccini (5)
21. Line up, with energy rather than gravity, to discover an extraterrestrial (5)
22. Reportedly, it’s a requirement to work dough (5)

Puzzle 29

Across

1. Bubbly chap — nag me mischievously! (9)
8. Bath bar and duck stuck in plant’s fluid (4)
9. Obscure promo text cut short (4)
10. Arsenic? Getting to grips with identification helps! (4)
12. Nasty Ox Tic is poisonous (5)
14. Curiously peevish without six rams (5)
16. Topless chicken’s a nocturnal bird (3)
17. Unlucky number affected trite hen (8)
20. Street on East Boulder (5)
21. Bungled gin ratio for pasta tubes (8)
22. Vehicle is busier? Not half! (3)
23. Musical exercise’s a complicated Asian duet (5)
25. The Spanish flipper’s impish (5)
28. Announced one who adjusts the pitch of fish (4)
30. Victor England and Albert produce delicate meat (4)
31. Very small note to New York (4)
32. Commotion caused by weird ant noises (9)

Down

2. Possess the cargo space (4)
3. Demonstration month (5)
4. A mother otter turned up with almond liqueur (8)
5. Taken aback, Don gives signal (3)
6. Scam among macho axe-men (4)
7. Soprano quietly incises cooked curry quality (9)
11. Son ripped into retail outlet (5)
13. Cute ergot damaged zucchini (9)
14. Strike a garden pest! (4)
15. Ring from hotel, during open disturbance (5)
18. Somehow sail it in to get first letters (8)
19. European river Liberia bisects the English quarter (4)
20. Impede daring feat (5)
24. Four cutting Dot’s bit of grass (5)
26. Keen on, yet frowned, oddly (4)
27. Town leader dismisses end to brief dressing (4)
29. Operate part of the carousel (3)

Puzzle 30

Across

2. Gallium put in beer and seaweeds (5)
7. Male bovine’s stupid talk (4)
8. Don took a top class kilo of Japanese radish (6)
9. Paid no attention to dingo re mess (7)
10. Chinese mammal has forty winks on the way back with District Attorney (5)
12. Weep in crypt (3)
13. Oblivious to rating on cocktail (8)
16. My hat set off the gem (8)
17. Broadcaster’s book set in ancient times (1,1,1)
20. Disdain for southern maize (5)
22. Conspire with devilish old clue (7)
24. Sadly, last seen in Church of England citadel (6)
25. University 10’s operating system (4)
26. At home in the German railway carriage for food (5)

Down

1. Need to feed her gnu mash (6)
2. Associate gets a ring from metal mixture (5)
3. Ravenously messed up Grey Deli (8)
4. School’s domain deduced, in part (3)
5. Offbeat brazier buckled (7)
6. Daring bishop advanced in years (4)
11. Prank went off? Can it! (5)
12. Outer garments and Ascot torn (5)
14. Building got inner gas (8)
15. Redo sample of meteorite rates (7)
18. Bud (American soldier) got Eastern Aussie parakeet (6)
19. Sounds like blossom yields powder (5)
21. Nail the carbon regulation (4)
23. Gave food to little Federal agent (3)

Puzzle 31

Across

1. Maniac cut nail badly (7)
5. Graduate has revolutionary kit to make decorated cloth (5)
8. Greek got sick from barbecue (5)
9. Nickel ring found in United Nations Alliance (5)
10. Flow out from the east, very black (3)
11. Betrayal from unstable senator (7)
13. From the sound of it, raised brioche, perhaps? (5)
14. Terry jabs warm mixed fruit spread (10,3)
17. Ransack quickly with a gun (5)
19. Scrutinise lively meanie holding a cross (7)
23. Drink slowly from siphon (3)
24. Twit goes around second bend (5)
25. I tucked into lard with Scottish landowner (5)
26. Singe with gas for bridge player’s joint (5)
27. Replacement animal park (7)

Down

1. Lamp is not heavy (5)
2. Ingenuous citizen forgot the time (5)
3. Pitiless, reveals game pieces (5)
4. Anyhow, Pen, repay pence for hot spice! (7,6)
5. Burst bubble with Romeo and weep loudly (7)
6. Once more than once (5)
7. Dig monk! Break up realm! (7)
12. Exclamation of surprise concealed by Mata Hari (3)
14. Cross out incorrect charts covering Cuba (7)
15. Brawl and swelter dreadfully (7)
16. Sweet potato may come back up! (3)
18. Fake mixed gin has added iron (5)
20. Titan’s book of maps (5)
21. Rice I blended is colder (5)
22. Provide with an ability to endure without Rex (5)

Puzzle 32

Across

1. Demur irregularly about company etiquette (7)
5. Polite four and I invested in Sri Lanka (5)
8. Go around cay with high tension boat (5)
9. Jawless fish destroyed my pearl (7)
10. Concerning a letter identifying the coral ridge .  .  . (4)
11. Great Lake is high-quality (8)
13. Shrewd; cooked precious aspic (13)
16. Special importance shown by the same deformed hips (8)
17. Unit of heredity obtained from Georgia on gas (4)
20. Attitude of private investigator tucking into onion (7)
21. Frighten Albert with a limb (5)
22. The Spanish echo Connecticut’s vote (5)
23. Trifled with drunk bald Deb (7)

Down

1. Short journey hit pay dirt! (7)
2. Bike men avoid clemency, confused (5)
3. Announce draft ceremony (4)
4. Unfortunately, final document developed a fault (13)
5. Begin business with 1000 men and the Church of England (8)
6. Dizziness? Got it back in mysterious grove (7)
7. Hen’s sheet (5)
12. Beekeeper Pa at iris, wandering around (8)
14. Peter, lurching around the Italian, is a cold-blooded one (7)
15. Yours truly got into stewed dates, cooked over hot water (7)
16. Wear down hesitation to poem (5)
18. Em has old trouble with computer communication (5)
19. Boast stuck up clothes (4)

Puzzle 33

Across

1. Trench map design on prepared animal skin (9)
8. Insult garden pest with Romeo, instead of George (4)
9. Carry vagrant who lost heart (4)
10. Adorable copper note (4)
12. I got out of disorganised unisex connection (5)
14. Short time with one ace radium diadem (5)
16. Cut off end from fruit and vegetable (3)
17. Stubborn about red cuckoo (8)
20. Tin ore can be noisy! (5)
21. Coin and tossed dice occur simultaneously (8)
22. Carmine’s part of the fire department (3)
23. Point in easy whipped up article (5)
25. A good man with fish has a knife sharpener (5)
28. Food shop from French Long Island (4)
30. Five-in-one variety cooker! (4)
31. I got silver ring for Othello’s foe (4)
32. Practical magic part is disguised (9)

Down

2. Top primate gets kiss (4)
3. Company rig confused short dog (5)
4. Pasta penguin (8)
5. Even insults Brazil, for example (3)
6. Fine slack textile (4)
7. Musical increase roughly censored, unexpectedly (9)
11. Result? Endures mix-up without doctor (5)
13. Astronaut’s outfit has renovated tissue cap (9)
14. Cab’s tariff number one (4)
15. Sailor gets doe at sea house (5)
18. Sauce for bandage (8)
19. Crooked feature of straw rye (4)
20. Burn carbon and aluminium in South Dakota (5)
24. Abloom, hear odd Hawaiian greeting (5)
26. Therefore, ogre climbed up (4)
27. So far, I revealed the snowman (4)
29. Lost initial horror of organ (3)

Puzzle 34

Across

3. Bellows, right on Avenue Sierra! (5)
7. Secure accident, and get out of danger (6)
8. Moment at castle ditch (4)
9. Take into custody in Arkansas and take a break (6)
10. Prize hypocrite goes nuts without ice (6)
11. Harbour fortified wine (4)
12. Frantically urge halt to chortling (8)
15. Roughly mop score for Mozart, for instance (8)
18. Stadium lost north region (4)
19. Throws out damaged goods, without capital (6)
21. Serves jaunty poems (6)
23. Mace Melange is the high point (4)
24. Legally responsible for rejecting bail to the French (6)
25. Potassium in busy ants’ containers (5)

Down

1. Precious diamond on ear (4)
2. Receive carbon copy discovered in bungled tape (6)
3. Sets lyre off, and designs again (8)
4. Animal doctor wears small waistcoat (4)
5. Clean-shaven male in new shoot (6)
6. Du Maurier’s shrub (6)
9. Air conditioning around southern Greek character with savoury jelly (5)
13. Undoes knitting for Ravel in blazing sun (8)
14. Wanders thoroughfares with master, instead of daughter (5)
16. Protest against the thingamajig (6)
17. Help oneself to shaken Coke in the midst of exercise (6)
18. A woman overseas (6)
20. Stupefy with upside down nuts (4)
22. El Salvador brought in the Spanish long fish (4)

Puzzle 35

Across

1. Flying mammal at hotel, but went back to soaking place (7)
5. Unhitch drunk, lost in bunny home (5)
8. Who in France gets into old records supply? (5)
9. Mildew mound gets left for bridge player (5)
10. Sick doctor dropped out from training exercise (3)
11. Wild petrel, around Zambia, got a salty snack (7)
13. Ball game confused Greek character (5)
14. Have a less important role, and insanely abate cake task (4,1,4,4)
17. Middle Earth peoples’ victor got stuck into flailing eels (5)
19. Took on perplexed dad poet (7)
23. Old boy and I got a sash (3)
24. Christmas song from a queen in Colorado (5)
25. Herald’s abysmal ire disrupting credit (5)
26. Point 11 at the French refugee (5)
27. Printing mistake from maturer composition (7)

Down

1. Bass with rind jumps up to make an electronic noise (5)
2. Cuba involved in genuine ceasefire (5)
3. Gem pot sent back to Arizona (5)
4. Beau sails? Boil mixed fish stew! (13)
5. Turned edge to catch poisonous plant (7)
6. Grey strip goes around uniform (5)
7. Northern Territory comes after snake monster with a fireman’s pipe (7)
12. Draw neckwear (3)
14. Tellurium wrapped around mixed clear syrup (7)
15. Acquit sailor, and answer (7)
16. Sarsaparilla contains juice (3)
18. Flustered, drive to opera composer (5)
20. Exist and concur, strangely missing the point (5)
21. Contaminate artificial intelligence involved in explosive (5)
22. Wheat from the French has rum (5)

Puzzle 36

Across

1. Flustered, rushes escorts (6)
4. Dried grape is in downpour (6)
7. Swallows one’s scum, unfortunately (8)
8. Initially, Ingrid overcomes worst anxious state (4)
9. Stop up and gulp back (4)
11. Sprinted with hessian bags to raids (8)
13. Engineer stationed in terminus (11)
16. Dipped in liquid, and simmered roughly (8)
19. A fruit, I’ve heard, produces two of a kind (4)
22. Small bit of land’s getting into paisley (4)
23. Public relations with bad poetry effects (8)
24. Hot spice is good during deviant reign (6)
25. Nomads crush plum (6)

Down

1. Remove lid and clean-up afresh, leaving out the French (5)
2. Back to uniform for follower of Brahma (5)
3. Japanese nobleman confused Maria and us (7)
4. Sloppily rinse the pine sap (5)
5. Uncomplaining, I get into overturned baby beds (5)
6. Approaches broken snare (5)
10. Air-like substance can sink down the wrong way (3)
12. Family can be endlessly warm-hearted (3)
13. Block mother sheep (3)
14. Robot’s mysterious iron dad (7)
15. Little devil only half contaminated (3)
16. Rejoicing, holds cake topping! (5)
17. The Spanish get into Monday’s fruit (5)
18. Excellent fancy purse (5)
20. Races around units of land (5)
21. Egg in yarn damaged the fibre (5)

Puzzle 37

Across

1. Dot leaves the outlandish Democrats, and beats butter and sugar (6)
4. Present day breach off course (6)
9. Newton covered by Visa account (5)
10. Ma Cuba and little Elizabeth, from the Scottish play (7)
11. The Australian Labor Party initially found on a mountain (3)
12. Scramble up branch after Charlie (5)
13. Pragmatist’s genuine first (7)
15. Cross-examined and reviewed nit sloppily (11)
21. Irritated truant with Mike’s fit of rage (7)
24. Stroll to doctor tucking into beer (5)
25. Aussie runner found among the chrysanthemums (3)
26. Medical course for army unit is endless (7)
27. Smallest slate broke (5)
28. Frankfurter from riotous to-do, set in Mercury! (3,3)
29. Take part in a teetotal resolution (6)

Down

1. Secure 150 in Switzerland (6)
2. Joy from broken toe-nail! (7)
3. Gruesome mare acquires taxi (7)
5. Russian cottage’s agile arachnid ignored Rin (5)
6. Boudicca’s tribe has frozen water and nickel (5)
7. South Pacific island’s back-to-front hat? It has one (6)
8. Novel Venom Permit is a change for the better (11)
14. Short cow’s sound (3)
16. Odd trout for a young child (3)
17. Paul, in tee, turned over decoration on an American uniform (7)
18. Hug and point to masculine British ace (7)
19. Organised charts for collar stiffener (6)
20. Ocean Ted settled on a chair (6)
22. Dark, outspoken chevalier (5)
23. Messy room contains echo of Juliet’s love (5)

Puzzle 38

Across

2. Live coal dropped off head of subscriber! (5)
7. Ship’s stabiliser knocked over vegetable (4)
8. Learnt about deer’s horn (6)
9. Spice vehicle at a distance (7)
10. Falsify the buttery sweet (5)
12. Hardly any point to go after iron (3)
13. Dine, drunk, with Penny? It’s obscene! (8)
16. I got into unruly debates identifying disease (8)
17. Glass pot comes from Japan and Arkansas (3)
20. Goes out with dried fruits (5)
22. Abstinent cat ices soup (7)
24. Excavate broken-down hovels (6)
25. Sea-eagle found in the wilderness (4)
26. Wall art from ancient city in Malaysia (5)

Down

1. Scold angrily about incorrect rebate (6)
2. Pompous composer’s rising fury about student (5)
3. Plant specialist tints boa strangely (8)
4. Evenly arrange old cloth (3)
5. Stalwart one in Paris, with Charlie, gets into turned up hats (7)
6. British energy unit represents little ice mass (4)
11. Tenant lost introduction to cross the threshold (5)
12. Note, daughter, Edward’s washed out! (5)
14. Outlandishly stares after Diana? Catastrophe! (8)
15. Watch old boy perform duties (7)
18. Foreigners whisk up saline (6)
19. It’s flat and smooth in both directions (5)
21. Pallid hay’s destroyed (4)
23. Confused male lost a tree (3)

Puzzle 39

Across

1. Ed went back on Monday to the fiend (5)
4. Washington peak is wetter (7)
8. Laughs at jumbled lurid ices (9)
9. Goddess of the dawn features in theosophy (3)
10. Reprocess, heads off with bike (5)
11. Sensitive accidental fault got around Connecticut (7)
13. North American country can get a District Attorney (6)
15. The Seychelles and Switzerland get stuck into Peru’s spirit (6)
17. Melodious university involved in artful claims (7)
18. Decorate with radon freely (5)
20. Time in therapy (3)
22. Disclosure from ad assignment (9)
23. Hang up pen inside the beaten suds (7)
24. Savoury turnover is wan (5)

Down

1. Orchid arrangement ignored hotel’s style of architecture (5)
2. Snide mice fabricated drugs (9)
3. Husband in pleasant alcove (5)
4. Recount revolutionary tale in note (6)
5. Six-footers are in cults! (7)
6. Anger among vampires (3)
7. Sort it out, and do this clue again! (7)
12. Café riots damage manufacturing complexes! (9)
13. Those in tents scamper awkwardly (7)
14. Read out thanks in new edict (7)
16. Chaotic bedlam held responsible (6)
18. A broken peso for the Greek storyteller (5)
19. Carer from North America’s northern New York (5)
21. Broadsheet contains promotions (3)

Puzzle 40

Across

3. Romeo got out of crustacean’s taxi (3)
7. Retain damaged part of the eye (6)
8. Rail at incorrect lasso (6)
9. Face up to a horrible task, and cruelly tilt beetle hub (4,3,6)
10. Dial tone employed by singer (4)
11. Appreciating Jenny, I go nuts (8)
14. Most delicate bustle went to pieces in the street (8)
16. The Terrible Name (4)
18. Drummer’s version inspires scout (13)
20. George and the Queen meet a guy from Köln (6)
21. Plague horrible bosses (6)
22. Understanding of Barbie’s partner (3)

Down

1. Affable Georgia reclined back (6)
2. Fetch in boom, to wrong tool for a thorough search? (4-5,4)
3. Complex mesh used in care of goat’s wool (8)
4. Little Robert has left a blotch (4)
5. Hastily ignore insane dental assistant! (4,9)
6. Little seabird seen around Avenue Inn (6)
10. Even sambas reveal abdominal muscles (3)
12. Chuck off Juliet and alien with titanium son (8)
13. German not out of spirit (3)
15. Irregular United Nations gets Eve to Norway (6)
17. Help donkey get first (6)
19. Submerged skunk lost a kilo (4)

Puzzle 41

Across

1. Plant explodes! Ba boom! (6)
4. Ranges of different copses (6)
9. It’s an article of faith, whichever way you look at it (5)
10. Desperate salesmen lost 50, all at once (2,5)
11. Every one of the banks left the demonstration (3)
12. The French rum tipped over the primate (5)
13. Got no toes? Sounds like it, sugar! (7)
15. Hard work to mistakenly erase web log (5,6)
21. Quieter festival acquiring new tellurium (7)
24. Flyer’s physical training includes fishy oil (5)
25. Contemplate needle’s gap (3)
26. A formal speech? Rain, too? Awful! (7)
27. Sounding out French resort for young relative (5)
28. Note Asian tenor — he cut gnashers (6)
29. Seven players performing Tempest, without Mike (6)

Down

1. Teetotaller found inside tree trunk with a flask! (6)
2. Very little half note to Albert (7)
3. 26 across at sea to Canadian province (7)
5. Hilarious business gets medium integrated circuit (5)
6. Poets stirred the basil sauce (5)
7. Cooked slowly for short time in mixed weeds (6)
8. Unstable teller being aggressive (11)
14. Hot drink bottled by anteater (3)
16. Prohibit hold up — catch in the act! (3)
17. Payment for British flower includes pens (7)
18. Entails bananas, it’s important (7)
19. Very loud during rote translation attempt (6)
20. Confirm at exam (6)
22. Furious, I evaluate (5)
23. Tango with tall leg part (5)

Puzzle 42

Across

1. Divest of old records during car journey (7)
5. A principal in the future (5)
8. Sir Francis is rasher (5)
9. Bizarrely retrain the landscape (7)
10. Skating place forgot initial beverage (4)
11. Guard the special girl (8)
13. Unreasonably picky, editing lyric pie chart (13)
16. Damn epic, dreadful, widespread disease (8)
17. Concept from French in Iowa (4)
20. At home with Queen? Note answer’s dullness (7)
21. Slid around violently, turned back to husband from Cardiff (5)
22. Intricately pleat part of flower (5)
23. More delicious, that is, in rummy cocktail (7)

Down

1. Blondie singer had robe buckled (7)
2. Gym got tin for nut (5)
3. Male children get iodine instead of sulphur’s charged particles (4)
4. Doctor — order anti-x-ray, it’s astonishing! (13)
5. Do away with manic Rob, breaking agate (8)
6. Shape the laciest stretchy band (7)
7. Benefactor Newton gets in the entrance (5)
12. Chinese, perhaps, can get the lie of the land with Albert (8)
14. Biting gentleman after a clever play on words (7)
15. The tanned hide vitamin in sudsy foam (7)
16. Preen and rip correct member of parliament (5)
18. Citadel history reveals an Indian city (5)
19. South-western instant message: ‘Take a dip!’ (4)

Puzzle 43

Across

1. Eve’s ugly scars cause rifts (9)
6. Duck in company makes a dove’s noise (3)
8. Lithograph of Romeo filling two US cups (5)
9. Crumbly castle? One in fable (7)
10. Jumped over grassy area before physical training (5)
11. Busy raid worker is joyful (7)
13. Exist around wickedness (4)
15. Stick fast to dubious header (6)
16. Knitted blanket from Kabul (6)
19. Tenor has one French melody (4)
21. Disown a musical group, performing (7)
24. Lemony sulphur pastries (5)
25. Worry and erupt violently with Rex Bravo (7)
26. Makes owl sounds? Shoot, sort of! (5)
28. Have a topless elegant dress (3)
29. Arrest Sue — criminal leads to valuables! (9)

Down

1. He left inexpensive hat (3)
2. Tomb inscription: ‘Happiest, strangely, missing the point’ (7)
3. Shrewder to manipulate stature (7)
4. Salvation Army bungled fair wildlife tour (6)
5. Kept an eye on curious bipeds, without a follower (5)
6. Sun god after a bit of corn for snake (5)
7. Unexpected Señor veto has connotations (9)
10. Oh! Alas! Spa treatment for long-haired dog! (5,4)
12. Jonathan Creek star is the Italian in Angola (4)
14. Animal doctor Oscar’s absolute rejection (4)
17. Goes and gets complicated chef set (7)
18. Hard women’s supporter comes up to our marina (7)
20. Ineffectual anomalous nebula (6)
22. Professional, in article, makes kitchen garment (5)
23. Demoralise democratic female relation (5)
27. Ring in ship’s distress code (1,1,1)