Solving time, 14 mins
* = anagram
ACROSS
1 DEad SO LATE
5 ST PAUL New Testament epistle writer and US city
9 REF ERR A L
10 C RUM B S
12 GUTTERSNIPE (g up in street)*
15 LOC(k) UM
17 T (AIL)-ENDER Cricket
18 TIGER MOTH (Got hermit)*
19 S(CO)OP &lit
20 ORA PRO NOBIS O (nothing) in (I rob parson)* Latin for ‘pray for us’
24 ROOK (chess) I E
25 HE AD BAN G
26 PH LEG M
27 ISLANDER Isle of Man (in Earl’s d)*
DOWN
1 DER (the in German) EG U LATE
2 SAFETY CAGE (cafe say get)*
3 LARGE Hidden
4 TRANSITIONAL NS for d in traditional
6 T (ERSE N) ESS
7 ARMY LIST (military’s)* less i
11 DIE IN HARNESS Cryptic defintion
13 I D (I) OT BOARD
14 G RAP E SUGAR (argues)*
16 MAROON IN G
21 NAD (I) A nada = nothing in Spanish
22 DROP G (O)AL Rugby
Thanks Neil. I was stumped by 16 down, never heard of MAROON as a firework. 7/8 down was a very good + lit anagram, and I liked the definition ‘nod very vigorously’ for HEADBANG.
Fairly easy once I’d convinced myself the first word of 17 ac wasn’t “shoe”. I think you mean “ns for d” in 4.
I did, indeed, NealH, corrected now, thanks.