The solved grid
1L
E
2C
T
3U
R
E
4T
O
5W
E
6D
A
I
T
A
H
E
7S
U
S
H
I
8E
E
L
L
I
K
E
A
C
L
S
L
S
T
9G
O
O
I
E
S
T
10E
X
P
O
S
N
I
S
E
11A
M
12P
13A
D
M
I
T
14R
E
15C
R
T
A
H
16S
M
A
S
H
17T
E
18M
P
19E
R
A
A
T
L
E
E
X
R
20T
E
T
H
E
R
S
21D
Y
I
N
G
E
L
T
I
S
E
22S
W
E
D
E
23C
H
A
T
T
E
R
Across
1 Across A talk, confusingly cut leer (7) → LECTURE Anagram
Anagram of “cut leer”.
4 Across Part of photo wedding pulled along (5) → TOWED Hidden word
Hidden inside “photo wedding”.
7 Across Suspicious hello for a raw fish dish (5) → SUSHI Charade
SUS + HI.
8 Across Serpentine, keel lie in a muddle (7) → EELLIKE Anagram
Anagram of “keel lie”.
9 Across Stickiest, old word for 'go' gripping an exclamation (7) → GOOIEST Container
OI inside GOEST.
10 Across Trade fairs hidden within flex posters (5) → EXPOS Hidden word
Hidden inside “flex posters”.
11 Across An amplifier from the endings of drama, album, workshop (3) → AMP Initialism
Last letters of: drama, album, workshop.
13 Across Confess, or let in (5) → ADMIT Double definition
Two separate definitions of the same word.
14 Across Rector loses a rocky hilltop for playtime (3) → REC Deletion
RECTOR without its final TOR.
16 Across Violent collision from broken shams (5) → SMASH Anagram
Anagram of “shams”.
17 Across Egg-based paint, once a rep met a client, turned around (7) → TEMPERA Reversal
A REP MET reversed.
20 Across Ropes for animals, a street scattered with hydrogen (7) → TETHERS Anagram
Anagram of “street h”.
21 Across Model, style, white, inn and age at heart is fading (5) → DYING Middle letters
Middle letters of: model, style, white, inn, age.
22 Across Root vegetable buried as demand grows, we deny access (5) → SWEDE Hidden word
Hidden inside “grows we deny”.
23 Across Prattle from a hundred alongside a milliner (7) → CHATTER Charade
C + HATTER.
Down
1 Down Italian bake, Lana embracing a slump (7) → LASAGNA Container
SAG inside LANA.
2 Down Nothing, a hundred and 'sic', reversed for a networking giant (5) → CISCO Reversal
O C SIC reversed.
3 Down Useful when a pointless task is beheaded (5) → UTILE Deletion
FUTILE without its initial F.
4 Down The loftiest, seen backwards in plans to outsell attire firms (7) → TALLEST Hidden backwards
Hidden backwards inside “outsell attire”.
5 Down A soft murmur from broken wipers plus hydrogen (7) → WHISPER Anagram
Anagram of “wipers h”.
6 Down Personal details from endings of crowd there, some great plans (5) → DEETS Initialism
Last letters of: crowd, there, some, great, plans.
8 Down Rough guesses reversed within "sunset, am its edge" (9) → ESTIMATES Hidden backwards
Hidden backwards inside “sunset am its edge”.
12 Down Babble from a wrecked platter (7) → PRATTLE Anagram
Anagram of “platter”.
13 Down In a bath, let easy living harbour a sportsperson (7) → ATHLETE Hidden word
Hidden inside “bath let easy”.
15 Down Scorched piece before Germany, a knight's steed (7) → CHARGER Charade
CHAR + GER.
16 Down Gluts, taking odd letters from spa others (5) → SATES Alternate letters
Every other letter of “spa others”, starting with the first.
18 Down The press, hearts of camel, bread, sadly, chief and cat (5) → MEDIA Middle letters
Middle letters of: camel, bread, sadly, chief, cat.
19 Down Occur when way out holds South (5) → EXIST Container
S inside EXIT.
How this puzzle was checked
Every clue in this crossword was verified against its own wordplay by
software, then the finished puzzle was read and edited by hand before
publication: definitions, indicators, enumerations and surface readings
all get looked at, and clues that don't hold up are rewritten. The
editorial standards set out what that
covers.
Spotted something wrong here? Email
badclues@decryptic.app and
this page will be corrected. See the
corrections policy.
