Clues
Across
- 1 Press bits of cloth (4)
- 5 Fashion tips from Margaret Atwood - kimono expert? (4)
- 6 Offered taste of grapes on withered vine (5)
- 7 Fluttered down, audibly (4)
- 8 He painted some ramshackle edifices (4)
Down
- 1 Head-covering handy for contact sport (5)
- 2 A whole lot could be concluded by its descent! (5)
- 3 Lean casserole - bone’s taken out for king (4)
- 4 Spirit of wishful thinking? (5)
- 5 Dairy factory finally yielding to its predecessor (4)
Setter’s notes
A small one with a fair few different clue types in it — initial letters, a hidden word, a homophone and a cryptic definition all make an appearance.
Across
- 1 Double definition: “press” (newspapers, informally) and “bits of cloth” are both RAGS.
- 5 The “tips” (first letters) of “Margaret Atwood Kimono Expert” spell MAKE, i.e. “fashion”.
- 6 “Taste of grapes” = G + an anagram (“withered”) of VINE — GIVEN, i.e. “offered”.
- 7 “Down” (sad) = BLUE, which sounds like (“audibly”) BLEW, “fluttered”.
- 8 Hidden word: “ramshacKLE Edifices” — Paul KLEE, painter.
Down
- 1 “Head-covering” = RUG (slang for a wig) + “handy” (near) = BY — RUGBY.
- 2 Cryptic definition: an auctioneer’s GAVEL comes down to conclude the sale of a lot.
- 3 “Casserole” = STEW; take out the T (as in T-bone) and put in K for “king” — SKEW, “lean”.
- 4 Cryptic definition: the GENIE grants wishes.
- 5 “Factory” = MILL; its final letter L gives way to the letter before it in the alphabet, K — MILK.