No 12918, Friday 24 Apr 2020, Karaoke

Day 31 of 40 Stay safe at home

RULES FOR POSTING COMMENTS ON FRIDAYS ONLY

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ACROSS
5   Promotes pads around Ohio (6) FLOATS {FL{O}ATS}
6   Old and new duck perhaps (6) DONALD*

9   An involuntary agitation, more unusual in Turkey (6) TREMOR {T{MORE*}R}
10 Invite trouble with no credit in risk factor perhaps (3,3,2) ASK FOR IT {RISK+FAcTOr}*
11 German woman is a charlatan mostly (4) FRAU FRAUd
12 Outline of house title redrawn (10) SILHOUETTE*
13 Sex prevented by setter’s big siren (5,6) FEMME FATALE {FEM{ME}{FAT}ALE}
18 He drives an old vehicle with joy controlling a disorder (10) CHARIOTEER {CH{A}{RIOT}EER}
21 Curls created by balanced dyes to some extent (4) EDDY [T]
22 Chopped tree in the trunk for vegetable (8) BEETROOT {B{TREE*}OOT}
23 Plant family growing endlessly in Siberia (6) IBERIS SIBERIa*

24 Impassive airmen returned yielding power to department (6) STOLID (-p+d)DOLITS<=
25 Cricket batting order (6) INSECT {IN}{SECT}

DOWN
1   Small accommodation by river-rat (8) DORMOUSE {DORM}{OUSE}

2   Human development centre? (6) UTERUS [CD]
3   What one does with the crossword here? (5,3) WORKS OUT [CD]
4   Terribly annoyed without nitrogen in the very beginning (3,3) DAY ONE ANnOYED*
5   Short comedy line — It’s a disappointing disparity! (3,3) FAR CRY {FARCe}{RY}
7   Delightful time spent around home town (6) DAINTY {DA{IN}{T}Y}
8   Flathead owl? Perhaps a fairground attraction (4,2,5) WALL OF DEATH*

14 Motion sickness controls Y-chromosome in adult during muscular contraction (8) MYOTONIA {M{Y}OTONI*}{A}
15 Retainers have right to acquire treasure trove at last (8) LIEGEMEN {LIE{GEM}{t..vE}N}
16 Animals moved quickly with no time in the vessel (6) SHREWS {S{tHREW}S}

17 Commercial break at sea (6) ADRIFT {AD}{RIFT}
19 Traitor gets decapitated lion’s share (6) RATION {RAT}{lION}
20 Serving clandestinely but not against rules (6) REIGNS SERvING*

Reference List
Credit = CR, Power = P, Department = D, Batting = IN, Nitrogen = N, Line = RY(Railway), Home = IN, Town = T, Adult = A, Vessel = SS, Commercial = AD, Against = V

Dr RKE's TalePiece

FRAU Emelia Müller, is a German agent sent by the Nazis to spy on EDDY DONALD, the American ambassador at Paris. She is a  FEMME FATALE, and she WORKS OUT every step of her plan to enamour him. She first comes as a DAINTily dressed press reporter to interview him, but her seductive BEETROOT red lipstick is irresistible for Eddy.  What a FAR CRY from his own wife, quite a SHREW, who after her UTERUS operation, has also begun to look juiceless. Eddy falls for Emelia right from DAY ONE, just as a DORMOUSE would for the cheese in the mousetrap.

Thought of the seductress REIGNS supreme in Eddy even while at work. He has a stirring of passion on merely seeing her SILHOUETTE outside the ground glass door of his office. Thus the STOLID diplomat turns a crazed lover. He even FLOATS stories of his going away on official duty, when in fact he is at a fair ground with her, watching a WALL OF DEATH show. The CHARIOTEER of the mobike spirals down the wall in a death-defying act. All on a sudden the thought occurs to him if his diplomatic career is also going down a spiral.  Unsettled by this thought, he develops a TREMOR in his hands. Does he have the good sense to cut ADRIFT from her? Or does he get ensnared like an INSECT in a spider's net?

MYOTONIA  cripples me from writing any further. Hopefully the ending will be revealed in another RATION of my tale, but only if you ASK FOR IT!