No 12362, Friday 06 Jul 2018, Neyartha

Today being Friday only the blank clues will be posted. All those who are not regular commenters but who are rookie commenters or silent followers of the blog are requested to post answers with annotations in the comments section. In your own interest please avoid looking up the answers from the interactive version. Don't hesitate to post your annotations, in case you make a mistake someone will correct it with the right annotation.

Each commenter is requested to post only 5 answers till 2 PM thereby giving others also a chance to participate. Please provide all your answers in one comment.

The regular blog will replace the clues at 2 PM after which anyone is free to comment.

It's all about the top today! Plus some forgettable new words.

ACROSS
1   Animal sent back with a sacred chant into a compartment to get to an underground tunnel (8) CATACOMB {CA{CAT<=}{OM}B}
5   A position of power and control? (6) SADDLE [CD]
9   Revolutionary orator troubled after catching the model with the Yankee (8) ROTATORY {RO{T}ATOR*}{Y}
10 Speaker's insensitive to the bony tissue (6) CALLUS (~callous)
11 Production featuring the island leader (male) troubling people deliberately (8-6) MISCHIEF-MAKING {M{IS}{CHIEF} {M}AKING} IS for Island?
14 Durga bleached part of the pitched roof end (5) GABLE [T]
16 Cut the chance after the Middle Easterner boards an old bus (9) CHARABANC {CH{ARAB}ANCe}
17 Circulate the revolutionary Greek letter after the silver brace is put in front (9) PROPAGATE {AG}{ETA<=} after {PROP}
19 Clean one for a new beginning (5) SLATE [CD]
20 An impressive natural winter spectacle in the Arctics (8,6) NORTHERN LIGHTS [CD]
23 Gave a bonus to Henry for the model of a particular roof type (6) HIPPED (-t+h)HIPPED

24 Pine cones found in a Bristol construction by yours truly (8) STROBILI {BRISTOL}*{I}

25 Communicates, via VoIP, the contents of the risky pesticide (6) SKYPES [T]
26 Animal group found in front of a bishop's seat by a taxpayer (8) ASSESSEE {ASSES}{SEE}

DOWN
1   Check the swelling on the horse's leg (4) CURB [DD]
2   Wrong attitude after a German website is rendered inaccessible for showing a passage for the whole choir (5) TUTTI aTTITUde*
3   Reportedly assist with an act to stimulate the skin around a nail (7) CUTICLE (~cue){CU}{TICLE}(~tickle)
4   Maiden with gold on top of the damaged Irish car's seat with an adjustable back (6,5) MORRIS CHAIR {M}{OR}{IRISH+CAR}*

6   Leaders of the Andean territory assisting cowboys analysing mirages around the desert (7) ATACAMA Acrostic
7   Ambiguous mail received by the English drivers after a boy from the south finds a religious leader (5,4) DALAI LAMA {A}{LAD}<={MAIL}*{A} A/English Driver
8   Ranks of some soldiers framing the odd swing with burning incense (10) ENSIGNCIES {SwInG} in {INCENSE}*
12 Whips and markers placed around the Spanish behind schedule (11) FLAGELLATES {FLAG{EL}{LATE}S}
13 Bring up heroic tale about a vessel with a ruffian after getting rid of the good flowering plant (10) AGAPANTHUS {AGA{PAN}{THUg}S<=}

15 Life story revealed by a lawyer — one picked out from a list of references (9) BIOGRAPHY BIbliOGRAPHY
18 Manage to have ice at sea (7) ACHIEVE*
19 Italian gentleman replacing silver with gold in the posters (7) SIGNORE SIGN(-ag+or)ORE
21 Errors made by the son sent down to undress (5) TRIPS (-s)TRIP(+s)S
22 Game equipment with the roofing material (4) TILE [DD]

GRID

Bhargav's Talepiece

The bouncer and the dancer - Part 81

Maruthu, S the king of MISCHIEF MAKING was found sitting in a MORRIS CHAIR looking like Clark GABLE.

He had been informed that his immediate goal was ACHIEVED.

He turns his eyes towards the TV even as the guy FLAGELLATES the dancer in the song "Pattathu Rani". He is thrilled and wants to add such a dance in HIS Gemini.

Telling his side kick not to PROPAGATE he asks him to arrange for his several TRIPS.

Was he sitting tall on his SADDLE?

Of course!

What happened next?