The solved grid
1M
I
2D
I
3S
4S
A
5T
I
6R
I
7C
O
R
A
I
H
R
8D
R
O
L
L
9P
O
R
C
I
N
I
E
P
A
O
E
N
C
10M
O
P
E
D
11R
E
D
B
O
O
K
E
P
O
E
12T
13D
R
14A
G
O
N
F
L
15Y
T
E
P
I
A
16R
O
17A
C
H
E
S
18T
I
B
I
19A
M
P
E
E
U
B
R
20I
N
H
A
L
E
S
21N
E
E
D
S
T
I
I
E
R
O
22E
N
D
W
A
Y
S
23R
E
S
I
N
Across
1 Across Mid-length dresses hidden as a pyramid is crumbling (5) → MIDIS Hidden word
Hidden inside “pyramid is”.
4 Across Mocking, when racist I is jumbled (7) → SATIRIC Anagram
Anagram of “RACIST I”.
8 Across Amusing, found in weird rollicking tale (5) → DROLL Hidden word
Hidden inside “weird rollicking”.
9 Across Photo and iron, mixed, form a prized Italian mushroom (7) → PORCINI Anagram
Anagram of “PIC IRON”.
10 Across Cleaner Ed built a small motorbike (5) → MOPED Charade
MOP + ED.
11 Across Endangered species list found where a mix-up occurred booking flights (3,4) → RED BOOK Hidden word
Hidden inside “occurred booking”.
13 Across Mythical beast, then a swift dash, forms a large winged insect (9) → DRAGONFLY Charade
DRAGON + FLY.
16 Across Chaser mixed with zero reveals pests (7) → ROACHES Anagram
Anagram of “CHASER O”.
18 Across Bait, I mangled, forms a leg bone (5) → TIBIA Anagram
Anagram of “BAIT I”.
20 Across Heals, in a muddle, breathes in (7) → INHALES Anagram
Anagram of “HEALS IN”.
21 Across Requirements hidden as a tough guy kneed sailors (5) → NEEDS Hidden word
Hidden inside “kneed sailors”.
22 Across Finish followed by methods, lengthwise (7) → ENDWAYS Charade
END + WAYS.
23 Across Control strap grasping south yields tree sap (5) → RESIN Container
S inside REIN.
Down
1 Down Monk's title following me, reversed, becomes a network device (5) → MODEM Reversal
ME DOM reversed.
2 Down Fell, having spied without roof edges (7) → DROPPED Deletion
EAVESDROPPED without its initial EAVES.
3 Down Sam and Larry ate dinner, initially, a healthy dish (5) → SALAD Initialism
First letters of: Sam, And, Larry, Ate, Dinner.
5 Down Fried to a crisp when mixed, quite fed up with (5,2) → TIRED OF Anagram
Anagram of “FRIED TO”.
6 Down Precious myrrh in orbit conceals a thick-skinned beast (5) → RHINO Hidden word
Hidden inside “myrrh in orbit”.
7 Down Neck spasm plus alien yields an outdoor game (7) → CRICKET Charade
CRICK + ET.
9 Down Sea mammals - Rosie pops, all shaken (9) → PORPOISES Anagram
Anagram of “Rosie pops”.
12 Down Insect ending a school period with the tail of graphite (7) → TERMITE Charade
TERM + ITE.
14 Down Samoan capital trapping a Norse underworld goddess yields the sun's farthest points (7) → APHELIA Container
HEL inside APIA.
15 Down Gossips after swinging a sabre by accident (7) → YABBERS Anagram
Anagram of “SABRE BY”.
17 Down Nematode's sensor minus a male reveals a plant pest (5) → APHID Deletion
AMPHID without M from the middle.
18 Down Tuning device, talented umpires never enforce rules initially (5) → TUNER Initialism
First letters of: Talented, Umpires, Never, Enforce, Rules.
19 Down Argon's symbol before a boy, meaning deliberate fire-raising (5) → ARSON Charade
AR + SON.
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.
