Clues
Across
- 1 Gang leader to surrender? Ask around! (5)
- 4 They’re foremost in altitude: lofty peaks and snow (4)
- 5 He scored for Norway! (5)
- 6 Circular opening reveals twisted sort of sex (4)
- 7 On conservation of energy, understanding is relative (5)
Down
- 1 An opening arises at the top for New Age type (5)
- 2 Kirk’s high point: father clinging to power (5)
- 3 Mid-September - blasted gale! - on course - two below (5)
Setter’s notes
I can never judge what makes a puzzle difficult, but I think this one’s a shade harder than usual. (Whenever I say that I’m generally proved wrong in short order, so we’ll see.) I hope you’re entertained even if some of the clues stump you.
Across
- 1 The leader of “Surrender” = S, surrounded by “ask” = POSE — POSSE, a gang.
- 4 First letters (“foremost”) of “Altitude: Lofty Peaks and Snow” — ALPS, with the whole clue doubling as the definition (&lit).
- 5 Cryptic definition: the composer Edvard GRIEG.
- 6 Hidden reversed (“twisted”) in “circuLAR Opening” — ORAL.
- 7 “Energy” = E, inside “understanding” = NICE — NIECE, a relative.
Down
- 1 AN, with “opening” = GAP reversed (“arises”) on top — PAGAN.
- 2 “Father” = SIRE, clinging to “power” = P — SPIRE, the high point of a kirk.
- 3 The middle letter of “septEmber” + an anagram (“blasted”) of GALE — EAGLE, two below par on a golf course.