| Clues across |
| 1 | Beat leader of desperados with spirit at sea (7) |
| 5 | Green pair of bridge players get five promissory notes (7) |
| 9 | Flat and unadorned (5) |
| 10 | Animal with a record, we hear, appears in list (9) |
| 11 | Powerful vessel wrecked pet’s abode (9) |
| 12 | Cancel yearly publication which has omitted an article (5) |
| 13 | Miners change grids, for example (7) |
| 15 | Agitated bishop is surrounded by swirling tides (7) |
| 17 | Ugly fish found in tumbledown house (7) |
| 19 | Leading politician breaks up empire at start of Ramadan (7) |
| 21 | Lieutenant, say, could be like a sailor (5) |
| 23 | A blue fruit not ripening at first – but it could be made attractive (9) |
| 25 | Present counter I’d broken (9) |
| 26 | Good steed losing head – it’s prickly! (5) |
| 27 | He is held by suspect, returning after court is dismissed, in ancient city (7) |
| 28 | Louts, disturbed, grab alien to reveal escape routes (7) |
|
| Clues down |
| 1 | Put down Post Offices, indeed! (7) |
| 2 | Not requited, Eva gunned wildly (9) |
| 3 | Explosives planted, dug out of the ground (5) |
| 4 | Medical men have cords to untangle (7) |
| 5 | Lands in European countries (7) |
| 6 | Fire-god is first of Elysians to toughen rubber (9) |
| 7 | Groan about instrument (5) |
| 8 | Woman led around fifty getting bombarded (7) |
| 14 | Small horse has mouse running round tail first, having its name derived from another’s (9) |
| 16 | Strengthen and control police, perhaps (9) |
| 17 | Showing enmity to innkeeper on French island (7) |
| 18 | Puts down membership fee (membership fees) (7) |
| 19 | Broken cable seen in river – it’s inactive, but you won’t know! (7) |
| 20 | Waves – or gadgets for making them? (7) |
| 22 | Late, missing start of evensong at church. Lifting this will let you in (5) |
| 24 | Mean to be drunk (5) |
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