No 12719, Saturday 31 Aug 2019, Dr. X

Across

1. Mournful detective beginning to imbibe in bar (8) PITIABLE {PI}{T{I}ABLE}
5. Exposing a Republican in endless bout of overindulgence (6) BARING {B{A}[R}INGe}
10. Poorest performance at the end in Final (5) LEAST {L{performancE}AST}
11. Fights with endless expertise and courage to protect workers (9) ARGUMENTS {ARt}{GU{MEN}TS}
12. Wanting money, nasty son breaks box and takes away all the cash (6,3) CLEANS OUT  {CL{mEAN}{S} OUT}
13. Dame, a little risque, naughtily showing skin (5) DERMA {DAME+Risque*}
14. Conspire to suppress one model's statement of grievance (6) PLAINT {PLA{I}N}{T}
15. Whip rogues slyly smuggling cocaine (7) SCOURGE {ROUGES*} around {C}
18. Unpredictable rogue consumed by rage around college (7) ERRATIC {IRE<=} around {RAT}+{C}
20. Execute man beginning to agitate in base (6) BEHEAD {BE{HE}{Agitate}D}
22. Not many understanding? That is an art film (5) INDIE {mIND}{IE}
24. Rages about corrupt rat – it infuriates (9)  IRRITATES {IR{RAT+IT*}ES}
25. Return in the future – beg your pardon? (4,5) COME AGAIN (DD)
26. Eerie man angrily kills one ruler of Islamic country (5) EMEER {EERiE+M*}
27. Recruits from New Orleans not accepted (6) ENROLS {ORLEaNS*}
28. Real nasty fellow kicked out (8) RIGHTFUL {fRIGHTFUL}

Down

1. Patrol around gangster's mansion (6) PALACE {P{AL}ACE}
2. Tripper scoring ecstasy in party caught by clerk (9) TRAVELLER {T{RAVe}ELLER}
3. Hit tantalising shot over point but an unexpected disappointment at the end (1,5,2,3,4)  A STING IN THE TAIL {HIT+TANTALISING*} around {E}
4. Yahoo holds summit, wants power to release secret information (4,3) LEAK OUT {L{pEAK} OUT}
6. Heavily equipped like a shark? (5,2,3,5) ARMED TO THE TEETH (D&CD?)
7. Emotional wife abandons champion (5) INNER {wINNER}
8. Fine spirit, special, comparable with rum at first (8) GOSSAMER {GO}{S}{SAME}{Rum}
9. Precious stones the husband lost in upsetting narrative (6) AGATES {SAGA<=} around {ThE}
16. Criticize worker, fellow making traditional English fare (5,4) ROAST BEEF {ROAST}{BEE}[F}
17. Ordinary cod, one swimming in lake (8) MEDIOCRE {ME{COD+I*}RE}
19. Reptile in train enters toilet (6) CAIMAN {C{AIM}AN}
20. Manage to get into Dubai, frantically abandoning a country in Africa (7) BURUNDI {DUBaI*} around {RUN}
21. Stellar paintings put up in a sale every so often (6) ASTRAL {sA{ATRS<=}lE} {A}{Sa{ART<=}Le} See comments
23. Was sorry about stifling man's protest (5) DEMUR {RUED<=} around {M}

Reference List

Detective=PI, Republican=R, Workers=Men, Money=M, Son=S, One=I, Model=T, Cocaine=C, College=C, Man=He, Many=M, That is=I.E., Man=M, Accepted=A, Fellow=F
Gangster=Al, Point=E, Power=P, Wife-W, Special=S, Husband=H

Colour/Font Scheme

Definition, Solution, Component letters, Embedded links, Theme word,  Anagram Indicator, C/C indicator, Reversal Indicator, Hidden word Indicator, Letter Pick indicator, Deletion Indicator, Homophone Indicator, Movement Indicator, Positional Indicator, Substitution, Indicator, Link/Connector, Extraneous

GRID