| Clues across |
| 8 | Unexpected praise for old country (6) |
| 9 | Woman daring to hide Chinese official (8) |
| 10 | Dizzy blonde (ie lazy) (4-4) |
| 11 | Get insect to eavesdrop (6) |
| 12 | Mother cut short lies about breakfast food (6) |
| 14 | Stiffened dilapidated cart found in shed (8) |
| 17 | Upsetting poet, sir, produces sharp rejoinder (7) |
| 18 | She got ripe mangoes, disguising a bit of self-indulgence (3-4) |
| 20 | Seabird swallows bent nail? No, the other way round – it’s inside! (8) |
| 21 | Wander off to become saint (6) |
| 22 | Revenue company sunk in derelict mine (6) |
| 25 | I replace American lawyer when candidate is confused in show (8) |
| 27 | Acts as foreman, we’re told, abroad (8) |
| 28 | Plant support found in sitting-room (6) |
|
| Clues down |
| 1 | Proposal put to meeting concerning the answer to problem (10) |
| 2 | Man, perhaps, Elsie almost turns to (4) |
| 3 | Tough, like some finger-nails (4-6) |
| 4 | I’m placed over troops with leaders of special expedition (it’s big!) (7) |
| 5 | Keen to break joint (4) |
| 6 | Manufactured and destined to hold over half of bric-a-brac (10) |
| 7 | Operatic lady with poor circulation? (4) |
| 13 | Put scratch on table – it shows how the game’s progressing (10) |
| 15 | Wickedly rig agendas to inflate importance (10) |
| 16 | Major film by Sterne, shaken where earthquakes begin (10) |
| 19 | Geometric figure? Otherwise, going round rim (7) |
| 23 | Rogue loses head – found in church (4) |
| 24 | Odd number minus six, initially, becomes divisible by two (4) |
| 26 | Lying, omitting to repair a large town (4) |
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