| Across | Answers and Clues | Explanations |
| 1 | CONTRADICTION | |
| Denial made by cheat caught in customs (13) | CON + (C inside TRADITION) | |
| 9 | TERRAIN | |
| Land turtle giving up quietly (7) | TERRAPIN minus P | |
| 10 | BREAKER | |
| White horse runs in Cup (7) | R inside BEAKER | |
| 11 | EBONY | |
| End piece of durable, thin hardwood (5) | durabl(E) + BONY | |
| 12 | TEA GARDEN | |
| A great redeveloped place to study open service provider (3,6) | Anagram of A GREAT + DEN | |
| 13 | SLIPSHOD | |
| Old ships at sea all over the place (8) | Anagram of OLD SHIPS | |
| 15 | AT EASE | |
| A provocative person in a relaxed frame of mind (2,4) | A + TEASE | |
| 18 | BOGGLE | |
| Swampy area next to glen cut off game (6) | BOG + (GLE)n | |
| 19 | PLAYROOM | |
| Put jumper in prime minister’s place with minor activity (8) | (LAY + ROO) inside PM | |
| 22 | AUSTRALIA | |
| A country trail destroyed by half an island community (9) | A + US + anagram of TRAIL + (A)n | |
| 24 | CHOIR | |
| Paper announced singing group (5) | Sounds like QUIRE | |
| 25 | DEAREST | |
| E-trades, handled wrongly, can be most expensive (7) | Anagram of ETRADES | |
| 26 | WHITISH | |
| Milky batter is accepted by who mostly? (7) | (HIT + IS) inside (WH)o | |
| 27 | HOLIDAYMAKERS | |
| Tourists hassled idol involved in big hits (13) | Anagram of IDOL inside HAYMAKERS | |
| Down | Answers and Clues | Explanations |
| 1 | CUTTERS | |
| Craft’s state detailed in case in an odd way (7) | UTTER inside (C)a(S)e | |
| 2 | NARROWING | |
| Constipation upset service personnel taking part in dispute (9) | RAN reversed + ROWING | |
| 3 | READY | |
| Study close to entry fit for immediate use (5) | READ + entr(Y) | |
| 4 | DONATION | |
| Offering to take on a lot of people (8) | DO + NATION | |
| 5 | COBRAS | |
| Company, hasty, almost completed high-flying manoeuvres (6) | CO + (BRAS)h | |
| 6 | INEXACTLY | |
| Tax nicely adjusted in an imprecise way (9) | Anagram of TAX NICELY | |
| 7 | NAKED | |
| Twisted and turned without head exposed (5) | (s)NAKED | |
| 8 | CRINGE | |
| Group tucked into last two pieces of nice quail (6) | RING inside ni(CE) | |
| 14 | SOLAR CELL | |
| In due course, caller ordered large energy converter (5,4) | SO + anagram of CALLER + L | |
| 16 | APOLOGISE | |
| A diary is penned by Poe to express regret (9) | A + [(LOG + IS) inside POE] | |
| 17 | CLEARWAY | |
| Sort of wear apparent in wet dirt road that’s open (8) | Anagram of WEAR inside CLAY | |
| 18 | BRANDY | |
| Band’s No. 1 aroused spirit (6) | (B)and + RANDY | |
| 20 | MARCHES | |
| Walks in border district (7) | Double Definition | |
| 21 | ELATED | |
| Residents of hotel ate dinner in high spirits? (6) | hotEL ATE Dinner | |
| 23 | SLASH | |
| Long cut left in waistband (5) | L inside SASH | |
| 24 | CHINA | |
| Our mate’s leaving troubled South American country (5) | Anagram of SOUTH AMERICAN minus OUR MATES |
