Not the Saturday Prize Puzzle – 022
“First Offence” by Radler
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Foreword
Welcome to the twenty second in our series of weekly puzzles.
This was the first puzzle that Radler compiled and he has recently revisited it to make it suitable for publication.  Knowledge of the theme will assist in solving, but is not essential. And don’t forget he has further puzzles on Alberich (see the main Crosswords page for a link).
Setter’s Notes
This was the first puzzle I wrote, many months ago before I produced one I felt was worth sharing. I’ve recently revisited it and with help from Big Dave and Anax, I’ve been able to correct some of my careless mistakes and improve a few of the poorer clues. My sincere thanks to both of them.
The puzzle
“First Offence” by Radler
If you prefer your puzzles on paper, click on the grid to download a pdf of the puzzle.
Additionally there is an interactive version of the puzzle here
| You may notice that several of the answers are related, (all the 24,14 are present) but as the individual clues stand alone I hope those of you who aren’t keen on themed puzzles will still enjoy it. | |||
| Across | Down | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intemperance? Not guilty, I skipped round! (8) | 1 | All right, not a selfish desire (5) |
| 5 | Lynam flipped by misplaced cue for score (6) | 2 | Double 20 in Devon? (5,4) |
| 10 | Ran out (of breath?) (7) | 3 | Fit cast, appreciated by the audience (5) |
| 11 | Sweet nothing involving a bishop and cardinal (7) | 4 | Such as khaki, around elbow (5) |
| 12 | Demonic power that’s not seen universally (4,6) | 6 | Green party activity: minister gives nothing away (4) |
| 13 | See 17a | 7 | Hesitation and support where the light won’t shine (5) |
| 15 | Scottish head who won’t stop imprisoning traitor (5) | 8 | Wholly appropriate in niche manufacture (5,4) |
| 17,13 | Mother’s drunk, having merry time without me! (3,6,4) | 9 | Refuse to fall behind in building phase (4,4) |
| 19 | Nothing better? (3,1,5) | 14 | Radler’s Insolvable: manifestly breaks rules (4) |
| 20 | I eat leaves to get hospital appointment first (5) | 15 | Great puzzle, 75% complete (9) |
| 21 | Make out pronunciation of Roman and Greek letters (4) | 16 | Shoe’s off, stocking too (4) |
| 23 | Note steel construction shaped the prosthetics (5,5) | 17 | Houses and patios (8) |
| 28 | If a rule’s broken? (7) | 18 | Fondles back after poke in the buttocks affected gait (5-4) |
| 29 | Scrolls around instrument being very very large (7) | 22 | Cats showed curiosity, so the saying goes (5) |
| 30 | Delivers story, faces the wind and keeps very still (4,2) | 24 | It’s odd, but not so after Sunday (5) |
| 31 | In French, a “tour de force” followed by “le break-up” (8) | 25 | Missing a service – locate service provider! (5) |
| 26 | Expedition wherein hitch is followed by leisurely repentance (5) | ||
| 27 | Turn on road after long drive (4) | ||