The Sunday Crossword No 3087, Sunday 16 Feb 2020

ACROSS
1    A loud attack? Well, sadly, yes (6,2) AFRAID SO {A}{F}{RAID}{SO}
5    Wipes beer mats less regularly (6) ERASES {bEeR+mAtS+lEsS}
10 Perhaps Netanyahu is PM losing backing of Likud (7) ISRAELI dISRAELI
11 Engage some dim Merseybeaters (7) IMMERSE [T]
12 After review, hotel won’t accommodate screeching infant (5) OWLET [T<=]
13 Discerning acts of love (6,3) MAKING OUT [DD]
14 Hide with Star Trek character getting emaciated (4,3,5) SKIN AND BONES {SKIN}{AND}{BONES}
18 She’d start off falteringly, less likely to get job done (5-7) SHORT-STAFFED*
21 Cook cassoulet? It’s not worth the effort (4,5) LOST CAUSE*
23 Back-to-back houses leading to a fuss (3-2) HOO-HA {HO}{HO<=}{A}
24 Draw what to put on horse, an ornamental trinket (3-4) TIE-TACK {TIE}{TACK}
25 Increases likelihood of popular verse in, for starters, Times Educational Supplement (7) INVITES {IN}{Ve..e}{In}{TES}
26 Composed, seated, relaxed (6) SEDATE*
27 Vacantly using authoritarian dogma, nicks Africans (8) UGANDANS {Us.iG}{Au...aN}{Do.mA}{Ni.kS}

DOWN
1    A child’s key (1,5) A MINOR {A}{MINOR}
2    Once in a blue moon, rate cut in half by bank (6) RARELY {RAte}{RELY}
3    Bizarrely, I twice knitted image of suspect (6-3) IDENTI-KIT {I+I+KNITTED}*
4    What’s seen with floating torsos? (8,6) SWIMMING TRUNKS {SWIMMING}{TRUNKS} [CD]
6    Type such as Abramovich (5) ROMAN [DD]
7    Gentleman with symbol of potency: red meat (8) SIRLOINS {SIR}{LOINS}
8    ‘Most fragrant’ wife involved as judge presides over trial (8) SWEETEST {S{W}EE}{TEST}
9    Single fine king uneasily delivers premonition (7,7) SINKING FEELING*
15 He arranged veg on hot cooker (9) BEETHOVEN {BEET}{H}{OVEN}
16 Vis-à-vis Ola, Tess largely makes interaction impossible (8) ISOLATES [T]
17 Relaxed with name dropping? Something to explain (5,3) LOOSE END LOOSE(-n)E(+n)ND
19 Cirro-strati partially forming platforms (6) ROSTRA [T]
20 Passes, lacking energy, making errors (6) LAPSES eLAPSES
22 Gold is one asset initially included in valuation (5) COAST {CO{As..t}ST}

Reference List
Loud = F, Well = SO, House = HO, Hot = H, Name = N, Energy = E