No 12853, Saturday 08 Feb 2020, Karaoke

ACROSS
1   Relatives elected by rule books (2-4) IN-LAWS {IN}-{LAWS}
4   Rich cake prepared with spirit by spiritual leader (3,4) RUM BABA {RUM}{BABA}

9   Worth a charity shot? (4,5) FREE THROW {WORTH*} Reverse Anagram
10 Scholars revolt about closing of city council (5) SYNOD {S{citY}OND<=}
11 Patients trunks (5) CASES (DD)
12 Architect designed area around north of timber line (3,6) THE ARCTIC {ARCHITECT*}
13 Packets picked up for excursions (7) SASHAYS {~ SACHETS}
15 Restrictions on Muslim? It should be transparent (6) LIMITS (T)
17 Take exception to tramp leaving model for good (6) GRUDGE {(-t+G)RUDGE}
19 Origin of tooth cavity causes fit of rage (7) TANTRUM {Tooth}{ANTRUM}
22 Plant disease ends with animal (9) DANDELION {D}{AND}{E}{LION} Disease ends are D 'and'  E
24 Wild plants! — Upper-class covered with weapons (5) ARUMS {AR{U}MS}
26 Outstanding stone over atomic particle perhaps (5) OMEGA {O}{GEM<=}{A}
27 Evil Trump broke without mass appeal for due settlement (9) TURPITUDE {TRUmP*}{IT}{DUE*}
28 Lack of sophistication in troubled Venetia (7) NAIVETE {VENETIA*}
29 Advance information on shell company with the bureau (6) AGENCY {A}{GEN}{CompanY}

DOWN
1   Cold fusion cooking for a shapely image (2,5) IN FOCUS {C+FUSION*}
2   Loudly spills the beans or vegetables? (5) LEEKS {~LEAKS}
3   Weather? That's strangely in the air! (9) WITHSTAND {WI{THAT'S*}ND}
4   Unfair treatment in green cards distribution (3,4) RAW DEAL {RAW}{DEAL}
5   Niggard minister fires fool (5) MISER {MIniStER}
6   He interprets article by turning over without interest (9) ANNOTATOR {AN}{ROTATiON<=}
7   Sailor on passage to Shanghai? (6) ABDUCT {AB}{DUCT}
8   Untidy bus terminus is no exception for ruffians (6) BRUTES {BUS TERminus*}
14 It’s plain and mostly peaceful with wild tiger detailed (9) SERENGETI {SERENe|{TIGEr*}

16 Giving permission to the chap on becoming old-fashioned (9) MANDATING {MAN}{DATING}
18 Eastern ski trail about line of communication (7) EPISTLE {E}{PIST{L}E}
19 Treeless hard nut partly cut up (6) TUNDRA (T<=)
20 Setter’s tale exchanged Oscar for England’s Closed Book (7) MYSTERY {MY}{ST(-o+E)RY}
21 Judge involved in a slaughter of neighbour (6) ADJOIN {A}{D{J}O IN}
23 First lady ate a dead duck (5) EVADE {EV{A}{D}E}
25 180⁰! (1-4) U-TURN (CD)

Reference List

Elected=In, Model=T, Good=G, Upper class=U, Out=O, Atomic=A, Mass=M, Appeal=It, Advance=A
Interest=I, Sailor=AB, Eastern=E, Eastern=E, Line=L, Setter's=My, Oscar=O, England=E, Judge=J, First lady=Eve, Dead=D

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

Dr RKE's TalePiece

"THE ARCTIC MYSTERY" is an AGENCY that organizes SASHAYS in the TUNDRA and ADJOINing areas to see the OMEGA particles. To WITHSTAND the extreme cold, the company gives on hire, a DANDELION coloured polar parka, bearing the company logo of 2 ARUMS,  MANDATING that it should never be taken off during the trip. My brother IN LAW,  who has explored the LIMITS of the earth, threw a TANTRUM, when he could not get his favorite recipe of LEEKS, in the menu offer of the agency. He felt he was being given a RAW DEAL. The company, in their NAIVETE tried to pacify him with a dessert of RUM BABA, THROWN FREE. That made him mellow and in the post-dinner KARAOKE session, IN the FOCUS of the limelight,  he regaled the tourists with a song recounting his experience in the SERENGETI the previous year, where some BRUTES had tried to ABDUCT him. He had made a quick U TURN and managed to EVADE his captors by offering them CASES of RUM. He now holds no GRUDGE towards the tour operator.