st 4348

[ethripzac]

27. Pesky mites disrupted aria, contralto held (5) a-a-i. 24a brief late news report(5) --i-s. 18d shrank from having quarrel end nastily outside.(8)n-r---e-.21d article carried around is a mineral (7)b-r-i-e

[chelle7272]

27 araci

[chelle7272]

18 narrowed

[Jumbuck]

27a ACARI (mites) = anagram of 'aria' with c (contralto) in the middle

24a OBITS = short for obituaries

18d NARROWED (shrank) = anagram of ;end' outside of arrow (quarrel)

21d BORNITE (mineral) - carried = borne, article = it

[Jumbuck]

Dictionary.com includes acari http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/acari but not araci

[ethripzac]

Thanks all and especially for you Jumbuck for explanations

[chelle7272]

Thank you Jumbuck yes, my error, thanks for the correction

[Jumbuck]

glad to help but I do wonder whether I sometimes go a bit overboard with the explanations