No 12404, Friday 24 Aug 2018, Buzzer

RULES FOR POSTING ON FRIDAY ONLY

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ACROSS
8   Steely city doing fine during prohibition round (6) BOKARO {B{OK}AR}{O}
9   All of a sudden variations in play, but about right (8) ABRUPTLY {PLAY+BUT}* over {R}
10 Variety in speech laid-back sect used (8) DIALECTS {LAID<=}{SECT*}
11 West bound horse made to run (6) MANAGE {NAG} in {MAE}
12 I choose rice eating mostly curry, not oddly (8,7) ELECTRIC CURRENT {ELECT}{RIC{CURRy}E}{NoT}
14 Managed to import a charming item native to Africa (7) RWANDAN {R{WAND}AN}
16 Miss in court on the ball more or less (5,2) CLOSE TO {C{LOSE}T}{O}
19 Make do with blue jeans midi for 60's parties (7,8) DIAMOND JUBILEES {DO+BLUE+JEANS+MIDI}*
22 Avoiding what's common to have? Hate hare and tortoise for one (6) AVATAR hAVe+hATe+hARe No HE in all three
24 Vulgar tasteless quality of volume (8) LOUDNESS [MD]
25 Those well-versed in digital IT era timelines (8) LITERATI [T]
26 Left in high spirits having passed college (6) EXITED EXcITED

DOWN
1   Like hidden message boxes left with a family member (3-2-3) SON-IN-LAW {SO}{NIN{L}A}{W}
2   French Open's start-off logical to work out (6) GALLIC LoGICAL*
3   Might town be flooded by downpour? Definitely (3,7) FOR CERTAIN {FORCE}{R{T}AIN}
4   Wears protective covering on foot for cushion (7) HASSOCK {HAS}{SOCK}
5   One gets pushed by positive force (4) PRAM {P}{RAM}
6   Cross perhaps Manipur state's capital (2,2,4) UP IN ARMS {MANIPUR}*{St...e}
7   Tricolour atop a container (6) FLAGON {FLAG}{ON}
13 Easy and fun lab our educators provided (10) UNLABOURED [T]
15 Mantra to crack social talk? It's unimportant (2,6) NO MATTER {N{OM}ATTER}
17 A series of tests he has set up (3,5) THE ASHES*
18 Hammer terrible journalism out of USA (7) MJOLNIR JOuRNaLIsM* Had to Google this
20 Encroachment rejected so without success (2,4) IN VAIN INVAsIoN
21 Pulse is fast will be crossing limits (6) LENTIL {LENT}{wILl}
23 Sound of raw laugh (4) ROAR (~raw)

GRID