THE PUZZLER
CROSSWORD 253 by Axe
CRYPTIC ACROSS
7 Gurkha perhaps turned writer, meeting a Muslim (6)8 Resident of Ur led Achan astray (8)9 Green-light the banks of Elbe after Loire tributary’s lead, being brave (8)10 Francis Keith observed in the interior the Xhosa homeland (6)11 Creole-speakers (bastardized Thai) have Scots in tow (8)12 Département’s volte-face after getting in the French way in medieval kingdom (6)13 Defunct flyers, a number one gets to answer in the nationals (11)18 Important Christian20 Arabian challenged the framing of Eastern European (8)22 See first among Americans from Iowa circumnavigating Antarctic landmass (6)23 Cede Bern Byzantine city in Hungary (8)24 Marketing backfires after Liberal’s spin about Cumbrian valley (8)25 Popular Viking haven, Thor Heyerdahl’s place (6)
