Puzzles February 2024

Across

• 1 Cares for batches of lettuce? (7)

• 5 Rough outline sounds like a breeze (5)

• 8 Tito again fermented unrest (9)

• 9 Deception about working (3)

• 10 He famously laughs hysterically - ha! - all around the capital of Japan (5)

• 12 Some overemphasise mentally repressive downfall (7)

• 13 Jade green's intensity (6)

• 14 Wider Lakeland area initially vacated for a part of Italy (6)

• 17 Free chained animal (7)

• 19 Colossal volley involving bombardment (5)

• 21 I will briefly be indisposed (3)

• 22 Maybe Verlaine's boys are gathered around my top table (9)

• 24 Relish dipped into flipping hot sugar (5)

• 25 Beast showed sweetheart to the audience (3,4)

• Down

• 1 Fight for fifty in notes (5)

• 2 Asking to cover journey by snow (3)

• 3 Oriental guy munched on stem (7)

• 4 Gaunt southern family is drawn to The Big Apple (6)

• 5 Material extracted from below (5)

• 6 Derived from the carving up of Lancaster (9)

• 7 Is one swallowed by fish in north Africa? (7)

• 11 East German leaders ultimately leaving bombs - tread on them with caution! (9)

• 13 Regarding flower on Chinese vase (7)

• 15 Mother is shortly to identify part of the skull (7)

• 16 Pound of pork for me, right? (6)

• 18 To begin with drinking is strictly controlled outside nightclub (5)

• 20 Fur's warmer according to a Cockney (5)

• 23 Hard water? (3)