No 12657, Thursday 20 Jun 2019, Afterdark

ACROSS
1   A college principal should be aware of student's keenness, take time to ring people to give admission (15) ACKNOWLEDGEMENT {A}{Co...e}{KNOW}{L}{EDGE}{MEN}{T{
9   Social Media firm goes to the top position in collection, leads worldwide (6) COSMIC {CO}{SM}{In}{Co...n} SM/Social Media?
10 Terrible female, attention seeking, so primeval at heart (8) FEARSOME {F}{EAR}{SO}{priMEval}
11 To check hotels in natural environment to reserve (8) WITHHOLD {WI{T{H}{H}O}LD}
14 Try out intercity transport in an urge (6) INCITE INtErCITy*
17 Innovation needed to find egg cells (3) OVA [T]
18 Hero drinks tea without hesitation (9) SUPERSTAR {SUP{ER}S}TAR Tea/Tar? See comments
21 In retrospect, sacking the leader and reorganising should have been confidential (3-6) TOP-SECRET rETROSPECT*
23 Indeed having middlemen helps in getting visitors (1-1-1) S-E-O {S{mEn}O}
25 Fancy talk about new beginning (6) ORNATE {OR{N}ATE}
27 Woman's upset with priest joining leading evangelist to deliver frivolous fib (5,3) WHITE LIE {W}{HIT}{ELI}{Ev...t}
30 Arbitrarily managed work being blocked by teller (2,6) AT RANDOM {AT{RAN}{DO}M}
31 Chose to mix some red inside to create pigments (6) OCHRES {OCH{Red}ES*}
32 Harry searched milkman for possible weapons (6,3,6) HAMMER AND SICKLE*

DOWN
2   Bit of chocolate and egg's fine diet essentially with biscuit (6) COOKIE {Ch...e}{O}{OK}{dIEt}
3   Sprite is taken with gin, whiskey, rum at the end at Philippines (5) NYMPH {giN}{w...kY}{ruM}{PH}
4   Eccentric wife can retort endlessly and knock out (5) WACKO {W}{CAn<=}{KO}
5   As per slang, doomed, affected badly; no act (5) EFFED aFFEctED*
6   Rock is great; rock uses new instrumentation primarily... (7) GRANITE {GRA{N}{In...n}TE*}
7   ...an art like cubism, revolutionary with bass standing out (5) MUSIC CUbISM*
8   Article on father has no substance, nothing meaningful primarily as a consequence (9) THEREFROM {THE}{RE}{Fa..eR}{O}{Me...l}
12 Pitch's almost a paradise (5) HEAVE HEAVEn
13 An adjective for sharp sale conducted — Royal? (5) LASER {SALE*}{R}
15 A passage perhaps, in print, romantic selection (5) INTRO [T]
16 Therapist Mark, in Berlin facing terrible heat, skips work (9) OSTEOPATH {OST}{E{OP}ATH*}
17 Plant put behind gate (5) ORPIN {OR}{PIN}

19 Mark's at church ground (5) PITCH {PIT}{CH}
20 Fix on place (5) RESET {RE}{SET}
22 Type of cheese in Switzerland Edward finds costly, pointless (7) CHEDDAR {CH}{ED}{DeAR}
24 Direct approach's often manly (6) LINEAL {LINE}{mAnLy}
26 Alert in Nepal arms hidden inside (5) ALARM [T]
27 Without marriage one can become a lady? (5) WOMAN {WO}{M}{AN}
28 Aspirant in the middle, on first stretch, presses (5) IRONS {aspIRant}{ON}{St...h}
29 Principle of economics to begin with is broad, limitless (5) ETHIC {Ec...s}{THICk}

Reference List
Student = L, Time = T, Female = F, Hotel = H, New = N, Woman = W, Egg = O, Wife = W, Bass = B, On = RE, Royal = R, Gate = OR, Church = CH, Without = WO, Marriage = M, A = AN,

GRID