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Toughie No. 12 — cryptic crossword

A toughie puzzle: 42 clues on a 15×15 grid. Solve it online — check your answers as you go, ask for a hint, and read how each clue works once it is solved.

Across

  1. Raids from above, or flops in the theatre (5)
  2. Washes out a broken lens case (8)
  3. Father with tea, a Turkish governor of old (5)
  4. Reproof and a note for all the players (5)
  5. Mislaid reason for a hopeless venture (4,5)
  6. Doctor in the East gets fish and a printer's measure (6)
  7. Bears running from a cavalry weapon (5)
  8. Fruit, say, in a barrow that is easily upset! (5,4)
  9. Fire-raising hidden by guitars on stage (5)
  10. Table mat losing its head, becoming greasy (4)
  11. Something to lie on for the fan who simply cannot stand (9)
  12. Broken heels were somewhere else (9)
  13. Unrefined oil that has lost its energy? Rubbish! (4)
  14. Two concealed in the great wainscot (5)
  15. Rev eloped, scandalously, with the property man (9)
  16. Unwell, taking time to endure (5)
  17. Article recalled, employ one for that sick feeling (6)
  18. Solicits a change, radically! (9)
  19. Chemical compound found in Manchester (5)
  20. Stokes up damaged flues (5)
  21. Vending machine losing right to hand out (8)
  22. Cunning, taking in a commercial — regrettably (5)

Down

  1. Nibbles, by the sound of it, are units of storage (5)
  2. Insect dances: protection for winter coats (9)
  3. Agents surrounding king get sharp points (6)
  4. Cut absorbing a million? Munch! (5)
  5. Some hula skirts are Spanish articles (3)
  6. A nice tan, strangely, is age-old (7)
  7. US cab wrecked — get the diving gear (5)
  8. Protected haven for the journalist (9)
  9. Honest chimney worker gets a landslide (5,5)
  10. Hang about, like a newly surfaced road (5)
  11. Commit to each favourite tax (10)
  12. Maiden, perhaps, medicated — and took too much (9)
  13. Ruptured hairnet fixed up by the editor (9)
  14. Few real changes to state benefit (7)
  15. Refers to building plots, reportedly (5)
  16. Weigh up fools swallowing sulphur (6)
  17. Tools for gripping bad habits (5)
  18. Point reversed before legal action to follow (5)
  19. Irish county: king goes astray, why? (5)
  20. Initially, I favour sanctions — but there are doubts (3)

More: Toughie cryptic crosswords.

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