1-across – Prestidigitation : SLEIGHTOFHAND

8-across – Priest’s vestment : ALB

9-across – Deceitful, dishonest : UNDERHAND

10-across – Have influence or effect : MILITATE

11-across – Clarified butter : GHEE

13-across – Nonsense : DRIVEL

14-across – Hypothesis : THEORY

16-across – Eye make-up : KOHL

17-across – Asian taxi : RICKSHAW

20-across – Nutrition expert : DIETICIAN

21-across – Cricketing extra : BYE

22-across – Nacre : MOTHEROFPEARL

1-down – Dense group of flying insects : SWARM

2-down – Adornment : EMBELLISHMENT

3-down – Armoured glove : GAUNTLET

4-down – Up till now : TODATE

5-down – Roll up : FURL

6-down – Morbid fear of spiders : ARACHNOPHOBIA

7-down – Unsteady due to age : DODDERY

12-down – Shocked, startled : SHAKENUP

13-down – Duchy : DUKEDOM

15-down – Sexual desire : LIBIDO

18-down – Fly in a wide circle : WHEEL

19-down – Lively dance style of the 1940s and 1950s : JIVE

1-across – Topic for discussion : TALKINGPOINT

9-across – Royal : REGAL

10-across – Chuckle gleefully : CHORTLE

11-across – The boss of a shield : UMBO

12-across – Biblical large and mighty beast : BEHEMOTH

14-across – Flying son of Daedalus : ICARUS

15-across – Ancient dump for domestic waste : MIDDEN

18-across – Parvenu : NEWCOMER

20-across – Lord of the realm : PEER

22-across – Ignite : LIGHTUP

23-across – Substance for use on the bows of stringed instruments : ROSIN

24-across – Congregation : PARISHIONERS

2-down – Branch of mathematics : ALGEBRA

3-down – Brown seaweed : KELP

4-down – US five-cent coin : NICKEL

5-down – Relating to speech sounds : PHONETIC

6-down – Preliminary part : INTRO

7-down – Aid to an infant’s dental development : TEETHINGRING

8-down – Unintentional error revealing subconscious feelings : FREUDIANSLIP

13-down – Women’s knee-length trousers : CULOTTES

16-down – Theatrical costume custodian : DRESSER

17-down – Site of an ancient Greek oracle : DELPHI

19-down – Bet : WAGER

21-down – Small songbird : WREN

1-across – Restaurant, cafe : BISTRO

4-across – Ancient counting device : ABACUS

9-across – Connoisseur of good food : GOURMET

10-across – Alluvial deposit at the mouth of a river : DELTA

11-across – Broken stone for road construction/repair : METAL

12-across – Sharp and forthright : ACERBIC

13-across – Unexpectedly successful candidate : DARKHORSE

17-across – Annual calendar/handbook : ALMANAC

19-across – Complete range or scope : GAMUT

21-across – Proiection, backing : AEGIS

22-across – Convulsion, fit : SEIZURE

23-across – Overnight airplane flight : REDEYE

24-across – Curdled milk : RENNET

1-down – The offence of having two spouses : BIGAMY

2-down – Assume a crouching position : SQUAT

3-down – Countryside walker : RAMBLER

5-down – Make a hash of : BODGE

6-down – Quality, capacity : CALIBRE

7-down – Sample piece of fabric : SWATCH

8-down – Businessman’s bag : ATTACHECASE

13-down – Part-human and part-divine : DEMIGOD

14-down – Syncopated musical style popular in the early twentieth century : RAGTIME

15-down – Market of small shops and stalls : BAZAAR

16-down – Under the most favourable conditions : ATBEST

18-down – Inquisitive : NOSEY

20-down – Grieve, repine : MOURN

1-across – Winter sport : FIGURESKATING

8-across – Impassive : STOIC

9-across – Knee bone : PATELLA

10-across – Cleric’s jurisdiction : DIOCESE

11-across – Small dog : CORGI

12-across – England’s first Poet Laureate : DRYDEN

13-across – Cantankerous : GRUMPY

16-across – Alcoholic drink : CIDER

18-across – Impose : ENFORCE

20-across – Someone who points the finger : ACCUSER

22-across – Oil-yielding fruit : OLIVE

23-across – Judoka, say : MARTIALARTIST

1-down – Joined together : FUSED

2-down – Earth science : GEOLOGY

3-down – Participant in illegal business : RACKETEER

4-down – Light meal : SUPPER

5-down – Skill : ART

6-down – Lazy so-and-so : IDLER

7-down – Seriousness of manner : GRAVITY

11-down – Thickening agent : CORNFLOUR

12-down – Speak in a rhetorical fashion : DECLAIM

14-down – Gin-based drink : MARTINI

15-down – Fuel : PETROL

17-down – Stage scenery : DECOR

19-down – Put to use : EXERT

21-down – Perform a winter sport : SKI

5-across – Fly in a circle : LOOPTHELOOP

7-across – Saunter : STROLL

8-across – Whence St. Francis came : ASSISI

9-across – Mercian king after whom a large earthwork is named : OFFA

11-across – Estrange : ALIENATE

13-across – Fire-resistant fibrous mineral : ASBESTOS

14-across – Regular : EVEN

15-across – Panic : TERROR

17-across – Near the knuckle : RISQUE

19-across – Psychological barrier : MENTALBLOCK

1-down – Move up and down repeatedly : YOYO

2-down – Staunch supporter : STALWART

3-down – Queen of the Olympian gods : HERA

4-down – Codswallop : NONSENSE

5-down – Release pent-up feelings : LETOFFSTEAM

6-down – Avoid taking responsibility : PASSTHEBUCK

10-down – Deviating from the norm : ABERRANT

12-down – Carve : INSCRIBE

16-down – Harvest : REAP

18-down – Clear off! : SHOO