The Sunday Crossword No 3269, Sunday 27 Aug 2023

To celebrate the 4000 th Crossword, this crossword has the names of all the setters who have set for Everyman Crosswords. Read the article at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/2023/jun/18/forget-wordle-and-sudoko-how-the-observers-crossword-has-stood-the-test-of-time

The setters were Ximenes,  Derrick Macnutt, Alec Robins, Dorothy Taylor, Allan Scott (who is there as ASCOT, also Alan Connor and Colin Gumbrell.

ACROSS

1   Casseroles, say, old and new, Vera smashed (8) OVENWARE {O}{NEW+VERA}*

5   Weak shell of elegant mollusc (6) LIMPET {LIMP}{El...nT}

10 Girl crashed hot rod approaching end of motorway (7) DOROTHY {HOT+ROD}*{m...aY}

11 Catching a chance to speak (7) HEARING [DD}

12 To back her – that's different (5) OTHER {TO<=}{HER}

13 Call for attention, receiving variable information about one health expert (9) HYGIENIST {H{Y}{G{1}EN}IST}

14 In which Sun has special role diminished? (5,7) SOLAR ECLIPSE {S}{SPECIAL+ROLE}* Semi&lit

18 Cool, American, ironic? 'Not I!', troubled Democrat's interrupting (3-9) AIR-CONDITION {A+IRONIC+NOT+I}* over {D}

21 Homes, easy to manage, son: about half a mile (9) DOMICILES {DO{MIle}CILE}{S}

23 A Highlander in a cravat (5) ASCOT {A}{SCOT}

24 Exercises including a part for one released from prison (7) PAROLEE {P{A}{ROLE}E}

25 Alan's beginning to get increasingly wide. Nothing's consumed? That's increasingly wise (7) ASTUTER {Alan}{SToUTER}

26 Songbirds steal in before onset of spring (6) ROBINS {ROB}{IN}{Sp...g}

27 Stacks by the German cranes (8) DERRICKS {RICKS}<=>{DER}

DOWN

1   More than likely to give you a good run for your money? (4-2) ODDS-ON [CD]

2   Blue celestial body close to Mercury (6) EARTHY {EARTH}{m...rY} Semi&lit

3   Endless battle to secure first couple of points in game (5,4) WATER POLO {WATER{POi..s}LOo}

4   Style of popular music? Butler had hymns playing (6,3,5) RHYTHM AND BLUES*

6   Likeness, as Father Time might say (5) IMAGE {I'M AGE}

7   Picked up tonic, one for a woman (8) PHILIPPA {(~fillip)PHILIP}{A}

8   Continuously move up bound by rope? (8) TOGETHER {T{GO<=}ETHER}

9   Film taking hour, for example, about a supermarket nearly breaking record (3,5,6) THE GREAT ESCAPE {T{H}{EG}{RE}{A}{TESCo}APE}

15 Appear behind guard (4,5) LOOK AFTER {LOOK}{AFTER}

16 Primarily, spiky annual notoriously distributing seedcases. Painful underfoot? Rather! (8) SANDSPUR Acrostic semi&lit

17 Proper mixture of Brie and meat (5,3) PRIME RIB {PRIM}{BRIE*}

19 Bill will have to call back for this kind of acid (6) ACETIC{AC}{CITE<=}

20 Good man, having acquired skills, sets forth (6) STARTS {ST}{ARTS}

22 Pass fashionable man (5) COLIN {COL}{IN}

Reference List

Old = O, Variable = Y, Sun = S, Democrat = D, Son = S, Exercises = PE, The in German = DER, Hour = H, About = RE, Bill = AC, Good man = ST, Pass = COL, Fashionable = IN