No 12912, Friday 17 Apr 2020, Spinner

Day 24 of 40 Stay safe at home

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ACROSS
1   Swarming action of COVID wronger, perhaps? (12) OVERCROWDING*
10 Stories of empty taverns stocked with beer (5) TALES {Tave{ALE}rnS}
11 Pretender may die roaming around a little upset (9) CANDIDATE {CAN}{DI{TAD<=}E}
12 Almost the end of lockdown? Too soon! (6) NEARLY {l...wN}{EARLY}
13 Quarantined indefinitely, a lot die around first of September (8) ISOLATED {A+LOT+DIE}* over {Se...r}
15 Ridicule royal essentially smuggling fine gemstones (9) JEWELLERY {JE{WELL}ER}{roYal}
16 Restrain knight in stable (4) BARN {BAR}{N}
20 Reduce rent on losing money (4) EASE lEASE
21 Person who may invent a solution as sit-in sect comes to grief (9) SCIENTIST*
24 Intensify smell in plastic closet (8) CUPBOARD {C{UP}{BO}ARD}
26 Dish falsely portrayed as cure (6) SAUCER*
28 Same touch differently applied for facial hair (9) MOUSTACHE*
29 Go along with girl’s tirade (5) GRANT {G}{RANT}
30 Carefully raises limit on buying some indispensable common stuff (12) SIMILARITIES {RAISES+LIMIT}* over {In...e}

DOWN
2   Questionably lives large, leaving little ultimately for rural folk (9) VILLAGERS {LIVES+LARGe}*
3   Settled confused lovers’ feuds now and then (8) RESOLVED {LOVERS*}{fEuD}
4   Prosperous section of prehistoric humanity (4) RICH [T]
5   Protective guard to secure doctor initially before test (10) WINDSCREEN {WIN{Do...r}{SCREEN}
6   Spinner’s squad has no room, basically for cold person (6) ICICLE {I}{CIrCLE}
7   Mighty vigilante not exactly dispelling evil, for a change (5) GIANT viGIlANTe
8   Hard, very overwhelming time at New York! (5) STONY {S{T}O}{NY}
9   Big day of partners on vacation deciding to embrace chaos? (7) WEDDING {W}{E}{DeciDIN}dinG} Partners on double duty
14 At first, convict gangster — After, decide on punishment involving current! (10) ELECTRICAL {Co...t}{AL} after {ELECT}{RI}
17 Link cases to a gaffe involving Indians, primarily (9) ASSOCIATE {CASES+TO+A}* over {In...s}
18 Clue about country free of new condition (7) LEUCOMA {CLUE*}{OMAn}
19 Neat spot hosting unconventional art (8) STRAIGHT {S{ART*}IGHT}
22 Boy saw upwards in lowest point (6) BOTTOM {B}{MOTTO<=}
23 Summons energy to keep in touch (5) WRITE {WRIT}{E}
25 Serves soup cooked with a bit of ramen (5) POURS {POU{Ra..n}S*}
27 Raise tail (4) REAR [DD]

Reference List
Knight = N, Money = L(Pound), Smell = BO(Body odour), Plastic = CARD, Girl = G, Spinner = I, Time = T, Partners = W,E, Gangster = AL, New = N, Boy = B, Energy = E

Dr RKE's TalePiece

Liz Smith, an ASSOCIATE SCIENTIST with the National Virology Laboratories was working with several CANDIDATE  culture media for growing the COVID-19 virus. She had been given a huge federal GRANT for this vital research. She had had some success previously with other coronoviruses, using the cells from a GIANT squid, living in the BOTTOM of the ocean. To get the specimen was not a STRAIGHT forward affair as the wet markets of Wuhan, the only place where squids were sold, had not yet reopened after the lockdown. Her university mate, Peter Decker, working in the Marine Life Institute suggested that a specimen of the squid could be got with EASE by deep sea diving. No professional divers were available and they RESOLVED to go on their own.

They were off on a motor boat to an ISOLATED spot off the Alaskan coast. Spring had not yet set in and visibility was low. ICICLES formed not only on the WINDSCREEN of the boat but also on Peter's big MOUSTACHE. Peter kept telling TALES about his previous expeditions to a fascinated but frightened Liz. He suddenly dived off the REAR of the boat. Liz frantically called out his name but there was only a STONY silence.  After what seemed ages, he surfaced triumphantly holding a SAUCER shaped object, a baby squid. He had been under water for NEARLY 4 minutes but had been RICHly rewarded to find a squid colony. Liz managed to use the squid and culture the virus in less than a week, paving way for finding a vaccine.  As I WRITE this, praise POURS in for her work even in the lay press. The SIMILARITIES in their characters and interests, have drawn Liz and Peter together and it is rumoured that their WEDDING would be announced soon.