CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

No 16,720

ACROSS

1 Group in action with Oasis surprisingly (11) 9 Start decorating, employing this bold colourful style? (3,4) 10 Like worship of 15s in South Africa, it can spread (7) 11 Court made of

timber mostly (3) 12 Judge managed to limit one chorus (7) 13 Token Naomi wasted in Netherlands (7) 14 Now and then snatch small bag (3) 15 Expert’s protest note (5) 17 Labour constituency

carries weight (5) 18 Game birds show

fear (5) 20 Calls for poles to cross river on the way back (5) 22 Very old whiskey

showing promise (3) 24 Check one book plugging popular success (7) 25 River has, bizarrely, two names — one’s cut (7) 26 Discharge Patrick,

ignoring the odds (3) 27 Swimmer, one hoping

to win favour (7) 28 Exploit is in vain

without leader (7) 29 Trained Latin star regularly taking interpreter’s job (11)

DOWN

1 Doctor irate with a chairlift? It keeps his patient going (10,5) 2 Flight attendant’s two ways to curb dread when climbing (7) 3 Play about 150 running

round Wales (5) 4 Fool formerly grasped a new feature of poetry (9) 5 This eccentric American owns minute strip of land (7) 6 ‘No meddling’ policy on TV in nine or ten plays (15) 7 Sign he’s taken from

Roget’s book (6) 8 Old fool traps

European cat (6) 16 Former soldiers a blend of smart and mean (3-2-4) 18 One of five coming together at church for fruit (6) 19 Plant liable to collapse injected with oxygen (7) 21 I must follow new laws about greeting in Bantu tongue (7) 23 Victor, you and I run

round tavern (6) 25 Diver uses this south

Caribbean island (5)