No 12881, Thursday 12 Mar 2020, Hypatia

ACROSS
7   Hot seafood sandwiches at any time (8) FEVERISH {F{EVER}ISH}
9   Fish eating servant rejected shiny coat (6) ENAMEL {LE{MAN}E}<=
10 Bite lip (4) EDGE [DD]
11 Becoming red, I entirely swallowed item (10) INGREDIENT [T]
12 Ragged student initially having paid nothing for a pastime activity (6) SHABBY {St...t}{{H(-o+a)ABBY}
14 Players embrace that man, for each one cries (8) WHIMPERS {W}{HIM}{PER}{S}
15 Irritating person’s reason to visit chiropractor (4,2,3,4) PAIN IN THE NECK [DD]
18 Angry hermit controlling king regularly becoming stronger (8) MIGHTIER {M{kInG}HTIER*}
20 Go where you can see Boris Johnson, not having control (6) ATTEND {AT TEN Downing}
21 Prank alert from Lamar (5,5) FALSE ALARM {LAMAR}* [RA]
22 Assist cool student inside (4) HELP {HE{L}P}
23 Magic trick cutting three rings after five (6) VOODOO {V}{OO{DO}O}
24 Massage knee soaking pink oil (8) KEROSENE {KE{ROSE}NE*}

DOWN
1   Two parts of the body assuming second position of importance (8) HEADSHIP {HEAD}{S}{HIP}
2   Sheer time lost in tempo (4) MERE MEtRE
3   Cautiously avoiding wide and taking single casually (6) AIRILY {wA{1}RILY}
4   Broadcast Elvis dancing in graphic shirt (8) TELEVISE {TE{ELVIS*}E}
5   Recycled old document including PPTs circulated with emails (10) PALIMPSEST {PPTS+EMAILS}* Guesswork confirmed by Google

6   Note picked up from cheese maker (6) TENNER<=
8   A warm trek on an entrenched peak (4-5,4) HIGH-WATER MARK {A+WATER+MARK}* [RA]
13 Hope, maybe see one newlywed, Spooner said (6,4) BRIGHT SIDE (~sight bride)
16 One hand bitten by a golden ape (8) IMITATOR {1}{MIT{A}T}{OR}
17 Exciting species, beside fish (8) KINDLING {KIND}{LING}
19 Independent, conservative having left-right aligned (2,1,3) IN A ROW {I}{NARrOW}
20 Look up to notice Hypatia quoting Indian Queen (6) ADMIRE {AD}{M{I}{R}E}
22 Hear that man’s sound (4) HISS (~his)

Reference List
Players W,S, Cool = HEP, Student = L, Second = S, Time = T, Wide = W, Golden = OR, Right = R, Indian = I, Queen = R

Dr RKE's TalePiece

The HYPATIA Code

There was FEVERISH excitement in the paleolithography circles, when Robert Langdon, the Professor from Harvard was called in to examine the PALIMPSEST, that had been discovered IN A ROW of secret vaults in the Sistine Chapel, during a renovation. The HIGH WATER MARK of Langdon's career was cracking the Da Vinci code, with the HELP of his ADMIREr Sophie Neveu, a feat about which a serial was TELEVISEd recently. The HEADSHIP of the Church, who was to ATTEND the session, was responsible for KINDLING a public interest in the document, as he felt that it would clear the cloud on the SHABBY doings of the MIGHTIER Popes of a previous era. Little did he know then that it would turn out to be a big PAIN IN THE NECK. 

Langdon requested for some KEROSENE and a TENNER worth of rennet for the analysis. Holding the EDGE of the palimpsest carefully, he applied rennet that helped digest the ENAMELling on the parchment, whose main INGREDIENT was whey. The parchment then became transparent on being dipped in KEROSENE, revealing the original writing when held to the BRIGHT SIDE of an infra-red lamp. The ancient Latin writing revealed that the Popes many centuries ago had indeed engaged in unchristian practices including VOODOO to sway the masses and influence the kings of their time. The media correspondent of the Church, instead of WHIMPERing, AIRILY dismissed the prying reporters with a HISS and claimed that the document was just an IMITATOR's job, a MERE FALSE ALARM. The deflated media then switched their focus on to the affair between Langdon and Ms. Neveu!