QUICK CLUES 9 CRYPTIC CLUES

ACROSS: 8 Hire (7) Of course (9)

13 Wrong (5) 14 Bag (5) Knife (7)

16 Miner (7) 17 Animal (5)

18 Mercenary (5)

20 Index (5)

22 Flair (6)

23 Author (6)

25 Understanding (7)

27 Fish (7)

30 Stand (6)

31 Country (6)

32 Class (5)

35 Anxious (5)

36 Frequently (5)

37 Cat (7)

39 Flood (7)

41 Complete (5)

42 Nervous (5)

43 Notes (9)

44 Basket (7)

DOWN: 1 High-pitched (6)

2 Standing (8) 3 Heat (11) 4 Resolve (9) 5 Trip (7) 6 Found (10) 7 Colour (4)

10 Talisman (6)

11 Seep (7)

12 Vendor (6)

19 Observes (7)

21 Carriage (7)

24 Larva (11)

26 Owner (10)

28 Thanks (9)

29 Little money (7)

30 Score (6)

32 Perpetual (8)

33 Deserved (6)

34 Depict (7)

38 Impede (6)

40 Dance (4)

ACROSS

8 First in, I turned tail (7)

9 Abstain from taking, as you make your exit (2,7)

13 Not absent from any whatsoever (2,3)

14 An addict, if reformed, will stop (5)

15 Then somehow mean to capture the wild animal (7)

16 What the French call a “film noir”? (7)

17 Said to look hard at what’s under the carpet? (5)

18 Fruit drink with a pip in it I removed (5)

20 Fly round at first, unsettled (5)

22 Smart attempt to get a goal in (6)

23 Laughed when one gave a warning (6)

25 Is now out to get me? Charming! (7)

27 Having swindled, did wrong in having run away (7)

30 Has gone off, you know, very perturbed (6)

31 Cooked one – disgusting – and that’s ample (6)

32 Is very fond of, just the same, and prepared to return to (5)

35 Now the chaps are coming in to change (5)

36 Getting the key and opening is an occasion (5)

37 Having entered the contest, with trouble lying ahead! (2,3,2)

39 Bound to admit everything matched up (7)

41 Object to: “Skinny, with a long tail” (5)

42 The crest, or part on the head of the bird (5)

43 Idea you jot when thinking of a white horse? (9)

44 The insect on the burning bush? (7)

DOWN

1 Not just cloudy? (6)

2 Smart, is concealing everything and playing for time (8)

3 As often as not, when in jail? (4,3,4)

4 The crew members in the storage compartment are lovey-dovey (4,5)

5 They haven’t been awakened for breakfast (7)

6 Speak your mind? (5,5)

7 Squashy food huskies go for (4)

10 Show what’s often a blue picture (6)

11 He’s out in front but unable to run freely (7)

12 It’s the very devil when rain seeps in, chum! (6)

19 Prepared to take time to get one in the clear (7)

21 Copy it in a mite shakily (7)

24 Aggressively healthy? (8,3)

26 By stepping on it, you may break it! (5,5)

28 In money, I have a spur (9)

29 Shorten to: “A mutt to the last” (7)

30 Strains to find cheap accommodation (6)

32 Fed up, had done the wrong thing and put it off (8)

33 A dolly on a chair? (6)

34 Lengthen the skirt that’s proved to be a disappointment (7)

38 Shoot a lot of bullets into the screen (6)

40 Clown with a lovely singing voice (4)