ACROSS
1. Must take last bits of warmth from thought (5)
4. Person next door is in drunken binge hour (9)
9. Clearly state one measure after another (7)
10. Head spy and intel organisation twitch, but show nerve (7)
11. Lift broken Humpty, gutted and covered in muck (6)
13. Turn orphan towards the wind (8)
15. Captured by scattering laced peanuts (12)
18. Diligence suits duo, reformed on many points (12)
21. Small mammal cushion provides place to move gadget around (8)
22. Come and put drip in prepared rear! (6)
24. Touching: stripped, denuded, and going without love (7)
25. Unlimited panic follows three characters in a row chasing a currency (7)
27. Arranging test meant letter from bank (9)
28. Travelling high without leader could be misleading (5)
DOWN
1. Give too many refreshments when six balls deliver (8)
2. Strangely, could go OK, losing nothing of fortune (4, 4)
3. Beat up ant (3)
4. Fine editor provides what’s required (4)
5. In road, short reptile follows first person — ringleader (10)
6. Style maker hears riders all over the place (11)
7. Disney looking up after not one union ban (6)
8. Shrink from rising stampede, certain of injury (5)
12. Speculate there is no real leader in sheep history, maybe (11)
14. Court told of fight after squad lost leader (10)
16. Oddly, the right yak popped between eyes makes tasty Japanese dish (8)
17. Somewhat generous, he rings ahead, showing the way (8)
19. Deputy head interrupts closing words but compensates (6)
20. Flat patch after card nut is upset (6)
23. Dunderhead: behind and foolish (4)
26. Come together when support brought about (3)
Jane Fitzpatrick is Vice-President of Editors Victoria, a member of Editors Victoria Professional Development subcommittee and a keen amateur cruciverbalist. Any feedback on this crossword to edvic.vicepres@iped-editors.org is warmly welcomed.
ANSWERS
ACROSS
1 ought | 4 neighbour | 9 enounce | 10 sciatic | 11 filthy | 13 windward | 15 encapsulated | 18 studiousness | 21 mousepad | 22 arrive | 24 nudging | 25 afghani | 27 statement | 28 lying.
DOWN
1 overfeed | 2 good luck | 3 tan | 4 need | 5 instigator | 6 hairdresser | 7 outlaw | 8 recede | 12 hypothesise | 14 quadrangle | 16 teriyaki | 17 ushering | 19 amends | 20 tundra | 23 daft | 26 gel.