No 14038, Wednesday 06 Dec 2023, Incognito

Solution to 27A has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered only by a non-regular / novice commenter, with proper annotation. Those who have answered earlier in the week, please give others a chance.

ACROSS

8   Molten rock from volcano in Shangri-La valley (4) LAVA [T]

9   Anglian run goes around circle in the wood (6,4) ANNUAL RING* 

10 Ancient city state at that time located amid the western boundaries of Aegean Sea (6) ATHENS {Ae...n}{THEN}{Sea}

11 Descent from perigee, turning around beginning of downfall (8) PEDIGREE {PERIGEE}* over {Do...l}

12 Inflated invoice due (8) BILLOWED {BILL}{OWED}

14 After 5, inane to go about in Austrian province (6) VIENNA {V}{INANE}*

16 Game available in Honolulu dormitory (4) LUDO [T]

17 Saint is safe (5) PETER [DD]

18 Droop with love for starchy food (4) SAGO {SAG}{O}

19 Boy is at the front of winding line around last bunker in one time walled city in Europe (6) BERLIN {B}{LINE*} over {b...eR}

21 Take away card from chambermaids working for wife of British official in India (8) MEMSAHIB cHaMBErMAIdS*

23 South African country's bird enters sailing boat (8) BOTSWANA {BOT{SWAN}A*}

26 Noise about tailless bull running around in capital (6) DUBLIN {D{BULl}*IN}

27 In other words, Christian Era for advanced age, informally (4,6) ?N?O ?O?I?I ()

28 Flower is small and yellow at first (4) LILY {LIL}{Ye...w}

DOWN

1   Let tsunami flow for final 60 seconds (4-6) LAST MINUTE* 

2   Extraordinarily alert in court and site of famous battle (8) WATERLOO {W{ALERT*}OO}

3   After fight, observed city in Poland (6) WARSAW {WAR}{SAW}

4   Cut rejected pins (4) SNIP <=

5   Deliver Chinese port (4,4) HAND OVER {HAN}{DOVER}

6   Prince gets fever in city (6) PRAGUE {PR}{AGUE}

7   Wager in Dantewada (4) ANTE [T]

13 A particular piece of information: "Wrongly amputated after removing tape" (5) DATUM AMpUtaTeD*

15 Manipulate EEG billing to make it insignificant (10) NEGLIGIBLE*

17 Military headquarters shifting to Penang? (8) PENTAGON*

18 Steel bat bent into safety device (4,4) SEAT BELT* 

20 Student is fine in French and Portuguese city (6) LISBON {L}{IS}{BON}

22 Massachusetts Democrat gets free capital (6) MADRID {MA}{D}{RID}

24 Admits. "Wrongly won by son" (4) OWNS {WON*}{S}

25 Strain at the heart of sectarianism (4) ARIA [T]

Reference List

Boy = B, Chinese = HAN, Prince = PR, Student = L, Fine in French = BON, Democrat = D, Son = S

No 14037, Tuesday 05 Dec 2023, Arden

Solution to 8D has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered only by a non-regular / novice commenter, with proper annotation. Those who have answered earlier in the week, please give others a chance.

ACROSS

1   A man with fruit won't allow any other plant to grow (5,6) AGENT ORANGE {A}{GENT}{ORANGE}

7   Animal works endlessly (3) DOE DOEs

9   One can hold a beer, not a German scientist (5) STEIN einSTEIN

10 Said to have no grievances initially, for extraordinary calmness (4-5) SANG-FROID {SA{N}{Gr...s}{FOR*}ID}

11 Arranged self protection, not close to the bottom line (3,6) NET PROFIT {selF+PRoTEcTION}*

12 He failed to resolve it - some went back (5) LOSER [T<=]

13 Left with a hope to retain Charlie, looking back it was momentous (7) EPOCHAL {L}{A}{H{C}OPE}<=

15 Appeal, it's fun, but not sure (4) PLEA PLEAsure

18 Delight for finally getting some protection (4) GLEE {g...nG}{LEE}

20 One's in the hospital with ache and internal cramp (7) PATIENT {PA{TIE}NT}

23 A new tax causes apprehension (5) ANGST {A}{N}{GST}

24 Swiss characters? (9) HELVETICA [DD]

26 Glides from one pitch to the other as sliding off (9) GLISSANDI*

27 Notice a hindrance right inside (5) ALERT {A}{LE{R}T}

28 Set up after I go inside (3) RIG [T]

29 Compound holding animals in coma, perhaps (3,8) SAL AMMONIAC* {ANIMALS+COMA}*

DOWN

1   A collector has dispatched, but one's missing (8) ABSENTEE {A}{B{SENT}EE}

2   Voting for assembly, wrong hand involved (8) ELECTION E(-r+l)LECTION

3   Indicate normal trend (5) TENOR [T]

4   Sappers' second German airlift was peaceful... (7) RESTFUL {RE}{S}{LUFT<=}

5   Continuous French refusal to salvage vessels (7) NONSTOP {NON}{POTS<=}

6   Starts with English, French, German - perhaps fluent and shining brightly (9) EFFULGENT {E}{F}{G+FLUENT}*

7   Army sword, comes up somewhat sluggish (6) DROWSY [T<=]

8   Suffer as at sea undersea (6) E?D?R? (Addendum - ENDURE {ENDURE+AS}*=UNDERSEA [CA} - See comments)

14 Bad breath is so bad, stop taking interest first (9) HALITOSIS {IS+SO}*<=>{HAL{I}T}

16 Told to have the same fruit one after another, that's a complaint (8) BERIBERI (~berry~berry)

17 Canal, it takes time for it to become a large water body (8) ATLANTIC {CANAL+IT+T}*

19 More than olive oil? Some of it is alcohol (7) ETHANOL [T]

20 I'm up and about, everyone to come in wearing a vestment (7) PALLIUM {IM+UP}* over {ALL}

21 Torment an animal (6) BADGER [DD]

22 Searching? Go out looking (6) OGLING goOGLING

25 Time to follow the muse (5) ERATO {ERA}{TO}

Reference List

One in German = EIN, No = N, Left = L, Charlie = C, Protection = LEE, New = N, Right = R, Hand = L,R, Sapper = RE{Royal Engineers), Second = S, Lift in German = LUFT, Refusal in French = NON, Interest = I, Time = T