December 1999 Cryptic Crossword

Clues - Across

1. American processing North African oil (11)

9. Gives an impression of a scrambler? (5,3)

10. They want a hand (6)

11. One able to spin is often a help to potters (6)

12. Blimey, there's a gap on the coastal road! (8)

13. Bitter draught for disbanded Argonauts (9)

15. Gadget for soldier's doctor (5)

17. Wind instrument made of glass? (5)

18. Salt spilled on sea-birds - such slovenly females (9)

21. Lighting up - it's between gin cocktails (8)

22. After quarter to ten it's wrong to overcharge (6)

24. Evidently I didn't stand out for oxidised indigo (6)

25. Chirpy causes of many a complaint? (8)

26. Achilles' heel, for example (5,6)

Clues - Down

2. A rally? Correct (5)

3. Those - Greek perhaps - who have no primus inter pares (8)

4. A functionary starting off with rice-pudding (7)

5. Modern flood precaution in Nottinghamshire (6)

6. Native inception Lincoln grasped (9)

7. He may have a bob in his change (13)

8. Abbot's a terribly rich fellow and terribly tired (13)

14. A man of habit healthier after being in the open air (9)

16. Acting as guide, always in smart surroundings (8)

19. Joe is in the pub, just as you'd expect (7)

20. A little ruffian certainly, but the apple of someone's eye! (6)

23. Symbol you need to know (5)