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Toughie No. 13 — cryptic crossword

A toughie puzzle: 44 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. Cat tucked into a hot omelette (3)
  2. Pluck orchestral section to work behind the scenes (4,7)
  3. Ideal op fixed for one too fond of his mother (7)
  4. Grounds for taking in fifty parts of a sentence (7)
  5. Effort to entice, at the front (7)
  6. Article rewritten by unknown shows ability to read (8)
  7. Father hiding in a cheap apartment (4)
  8. Plot to wrap up (6)
  9. Expert yearned to be drawn out (9)
  10. Party mouthpiece hidden by major gangs (5)
  11. Degree of deception in a philosopher, say (5)
  12. Help worker to become a right-hand man (9)
  13. Close conference for those out in the cold (6)
  14. Slimming plan for a Japanese assembly (4)
  15. Listener's identifying signs! (8)
  16. Detecting ensigns at sea (7)
  17. Former cart overturned in time to pull out (7)
  18. A bishop on his own becomes a shellfish (7)
  19. Little alteration in coppers (5,6)
  20. Some Picasso sketches show an urgent appeal (3)

Down

  1. Slovenly woman upset a top roll (7)
  2. Centre of the road — the thick of it (5)
  3. A rag's early circuit! (5,5)
  4. Cilla arranged a fragrant shrub (5)
  5. Insect leaving home for a religious group (4)
  6. Nothing in a male sheep makes it wander (4)
  7. Sadly lost again — a yearning for the past (9)
  8. Mark taking in the States to maintain (7)
  9. Old king obvious, having dropped a hundred (4)
  10. Evening meal, having lost its starter, is a stimulant (5)
  11. Sort of keyboard work (4)
  12. Sums, apparently, from the commercials (4)
  13. Study total with partner to complete (10)
  14. Torches flickering by an artist in the band (9)
  15. Girl embracing love shows an objective (4)
  16. Pesters the residents of the sett (7)
  17. Route diverted, more distant (5)
  18. Spotted a view, reportedly (4)
  19. New streets for those trying things out (7)
  20. Leaders of dance in some clubs make a record (4)
  21. A profit, once more (5)
  22. Tops found in the hero of Sparta (5)
  23. Northern trouble? Pin it down (4)
  24. Sports field losing power — a real irritation (4)

More: Toughie cryptic crosswords.

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