The NI Crossword
No. 40 by Axe

CRYPTIC
Across
 1    Water bird of primary importance found in Wales (7)
 5    Roman statesman, one Pontius Pilate first put into Indian city (7)
 9    New heading securing a lode’s detailed returns for the copper centre (5)
10    Former castle wall leads to a court (3,6)
11    Elevated station in Spain’s grenade chaos (7)
12    Matriarchs of a river society? (7)
13    Part of the Midi gives a nudge, suggestively, during Passover (9)
16    Nordic island’s in alcohol-measuring scheme (4)
18    Fascist’s first and last involvement in Ulster (4)
19    Regal herb takes one to California (9)
22    British, therefore am into medieval Lombard city (7)
23    Influence kind of mail arriving at Finnish town (7)
25    Laird’s a new lord to ravage Northern interior (9)
26    Self-help group broke up – date, year and time listed in Church centres (5)
27    East German in Gibraltar is based on the Baltic (7)
28    Bearing affected ore to be removed (7)

Down
 1    The French, with genes, upbringing, epitomize this former outpost of the empire (7)
 2    Hawaiian lava limits short vacation that’s come up. Some welcome! (5)
 3    Probe, and ooze turns up deep-seated singular rare metal (8)
 4    Home for dyslexics in Mexico? (5)
 5    See 23
 6    Ran, taking into account age was wrong, for president (6)
 7    White is on to ozone leaks: Nebraska in charge for this time (9)
 8    Plant a flower for a French king which is then cut whole (7)
14    Ezra and Anne are converted by saint when they follow Jesus (9)
15    First hearing of Dubcek and, in the end, of Sakharov and little Khrushchev, coming to the resort (9)
17    Party in the States collected from 150 Associate Member (Second Class) and a thousand key characters (8)
18    Misty appearance of stars, almost all Taurus, coming in close (7)
20    Entice sea creature back out of the wind (7)
21    Finbar O’Lonegan’s the place for Italian red (6)
23/5    Muslims, mainly, with no cicadas, transforming Caribbean islands... (5,3,6)
24    …and Muslims, mainly, live in alien surroundings filled with torture here (5)

QUICK
Across
 1    Second city of Wales (7)
 5    Roman statesman and general who defeated Antony at Actium in 31BC (7)
 9    Zambia’s copper centre and business capital (5)
10    Britain’s Central Criminal Court (3,6)
11    Iberian noble of the late Middle Ages (7)
12    According to Greek legend, a race of females (7)
13    Ancient region of southern France (9)
16    Word appearing in placenames meaning small island (in a river) (4)
18    Abbreviated popular name for a member of, originally, the German Workers’ Party of 1919 (4)
19    Relating to a grand Catholic Church, but originally a royal palace (9)
22    Capital city of a province of the same name in Lombardy (7)
23    Finland’s third city, in the south-west of the country (7)
25    Proprietor, lord (9)
26    Chancels in churches, or the inner rooms of a temple (5)
27    German Baltic port (7)
28    Ore when super-heated to flush out impurities (7)

Down
 1 West African country, capital Dakar (7)
 2    Hawaiian ‘love’ or ‘kindness’ (5)
 3    Rare metallic element, atomic no 21 (8)
 4    Mud-encased hut (5)
 5    See 23
 6    40th President of the United States (6)
 7    Division of geological time spanning the Pre-Cambrian and the Mesozoic (9)
 8    Short flowering border and rock-garden plant (7)
14    Contemptuous term, initially, for followers of Jesus, after the town in Galilee (9)
15    Leading port and resort of Croatia (9)
17    Kind of American shindig, originating from the cooking of seafood (8)
18    Relating to a mist, perhaps created by diffused gases (7)
20    Caribbean island chain (7)
21    Strong, idiosyncratic red wine of the Italian Piedmont (6)
23/5 British island dependency north of Hispaniola (5,3,6)
24    African country with a history spanning 5,000 years (5)

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