The solved grid
1D
R
2A
W
3B
R
4I
D
5G
E
6S
7E
I
U
R
U
Y
C
8S
A
L
E
S
P
E
R
S
O
N
H
K
S
A
I
E
9L
I
10S
T
11E
N
I
N
G
I
N
P
A
A
N
E
O
O
12T
A
X
13N
O
T
E
D
14G
O
D
I
A
S
E
U
U
E
15C
A
T
A
S
T
R
O
P
H
E
R
A
I
E
M
L
16V
E
R
T
17E
B
18R
A
19T
E
S
L
E
I
R
A
U
Y
20S
U
F
F
R
A
G
E
T
T
E
Across
1 Across Castle features: a haul precedes card games (11) → DRAWBRIDGES Charade
DRAW + BRIDGES.
8 Across Vendor's transactions involving a human being (11) → SALESPERSON Charade
SALES + PERSON.
9 Across Eavesdropping - paying close attention within (9,2) → LISTENING IN Charade
LISTENING + IN.
12 Across Burden reportedly uses small nails (3) → TAX Homophone
Sounds like “tacks”.
13 Across Celebrated memo worth 500 (5) → NOTED Charade
NOTE + D.
14 Across Man's best friend going back is a deity (3) → GOD Reversal
DOG reversed.
15 Across Disaster from broken carpets oath (11) → CATASTROPHE Anagram
Anagram of “carpets oath”.
16 Across Creatures with spines starve beret oddly (11) → VERTEBRATES Anagram
Anagram of “STARVEBERET”.
20 Across Campaigner for the vote leaves gruff settee a wreck (11) → SUFFRAGETTE Anagram
Anagram of “GRUFFSETTEA”.
Down
2 Down Suffer when a nail loses its head (3) → AIL Deletion
NAIL without its initial N.
3 Down Vehicle, said to kiss (3) → BUS Homophone
Sounds like “BUSS”.
4 Down Anger found in choir exercises (3) → IRE Hidden word
Hidden inside “choir exercises”.
5 Down Smartened after guide puss wandered oddly (7,2) → GUSSIED UP Anagram
Anagram of “guide puss”.
6 Down Jewish place of worship built around young sage in disarray (9) → SYNAGOGUE Anagram
Anagram of “young sage”.
7 Down Starfish and their kin - chrome dines scrambled (11) → ECHINODERMS Anagram
Anagram of “chrome dines”.
8 Down Doubting how slickly tape is spliced (11) → SKEPTICALLY Anagram
Anagram of “slickly tape”.
9 Down Purgatives: vital axes rearranged (9) → LAXATIVES Anagram
Anagram of “vital axes”.
10 Down Typeface style: French for without joins a letter's finishing stroke (4,5) → SANS SERIF Charade
SANS + SERIF.
11 Down Record found in some carpenter's chest (5) → ENTER Hidden word
Hidden inside “carpenter's”.
17 Down Make a mistake found in her request (3) → ERR Hidden word
Hidden inside “her request”.
18 Down Scrap of cloth from fish retreating (3) → RAG Reversal
GAR reversed.
19 Down Disapproval from tops of thorny, unruly thicket (3) → TUT Initialism
First letters of: thorny, unruly, thicket.
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
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corrections policy.
