Wednesday 6 December 2023

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 (Addendum - ANNO DOMINI [DD] - See comments)
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

Tuesday 5 December 2023

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