No 12943, Saturday 23 May 2020, Dr. X

Day 60 of 68 Stay safe at home

(I am maintaining lockdown till 31 May)

ACROSS
1   Urge only son to tackle humiliation resulting from failure (3, 2, 4, 4) EGG ON ONES FACE {EGG ON}{ONE}{S}{FACE}
8   Appears in sober, ethnic cap (5) BERET (T)

9   Trouble in oil rig! Mob goes berserk (9) IMBROGLIO {OIL+RIG+MOB*}
11 Erroneous warning of a large animal entering ranch (5, 5) FALSE ALARM {F{A}{L}{SE AL}ARM}
12 Disastrous day for fellow in sack (4) DIRE {(-f+D)IRE}
14 Unfaithful cheat thrown out fast (7) INSTANT {INconSTANT}
16 Island besieged by giant iguanas (7) ANTIGUA (T)
17 Foolish people scoring ecstasy, loosened remarkably (7) NOODLES {LOOSENeD*}
19 Clue is a little difficult to crack, getting drained (7) SLUICED {CLUE+IS+Difficult*}
21 Essentially revolutionary idea to isolate atom (4) IOTA (T<=)
22 Furious about inconsiderate swimmer (10) DAMSELFISH {MAD<=}{SELFISH}

25 Member of infantry battling near ridge (9) GRENADIER {NEAR+RIDGE*}
26 Ill-suited husband leaves bash to take rest (5) INAPT {hI{NAP}T}
27 Criminal, relentless, turning into a horror (13) CONSTERNATION {CON}{STERN}{INTO+A*}

DOWN
2   Ripples caused by government forces arresting liberal (7) GURGLES {G}{URG{L}ES}
3   Where menu might be //  up for discussion (2, 3, 5) ON THE TABLE (DD)
4   Partly raise remarkable ironclad bay window (5) ORIEL (T<=)

5   Oriental mob outside blockade starting to roar in distress (9) EMBARRASS {E}{M{BAR}{Roar }ASS}
6   Carnivorous mammal around stream (4) FLOW {WOLF<=}
7   Embrace a trainee entering job (7) CALLING {C{A}{L}LING}
8   Supporting boy extinguishing fire raging inside (11) BEFRIENDING {B}{E{FIRE*}NDING}
10 Gates: What we do is  // straightforward (4-3-4) OPEN-AND-SHUT (DD)
13 Start to thwack and smack revolting drunk in a bar as fast as possible (2, 4, 4) AT FULL TILT {A}{Thwack}{FULL}{LIT<=}{T} Smack=Full?
15 Reject tendency to accept a little openly rebellious impudence (4, 5) TOSS ASIDE {T{Openly}{SA SS<=}IDE}
18 Mobile phone got damaged, no power (2, 3, 2) ON THE GO {pHONE+GOT*}
20 Smart associate joins force in American city (7) CHICAGO {CHIC}{A}{GO}
23 Seductress is wrong to embrace husband, leaving girl upset (5) SIREN {SI{hER<=}N}
24 Girl in group wants cocaine (4) LASS {cLASS}

Reference List

Son=S, Large=L, Ecstacy=E, Husband=H, Government=G, Liberal=L, Oriental=E, Trainee=L, Bar=T, Power=P, Associate=A, Cocaine=C

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, Opposite indicator, Link/Connector, Extraneous

Dr RKE's TalePiece

The ANTIGUA national stadium at St.Johns is so close to the sea that on a quiet day, you can hear the GURGLES of the Ayer's Creek, when in full FLOW, SLUICing into the sea. CHICAGO FC, the famous football team was to play Antigua in this picturesque stadium.Jack Smith, the captain of the visiting team was admiring the view from the ORIEL in his hotel room, when a sexy SIREN, walked in through the open door of the room. She hugged him from behind and much to his CONSTERNATION whispered something into his ear. She left in an INSTANT. At first Smith thought of CALLING the police, but he wasn't sure if it was only a FALSE ALARM. He certainly did not want to have EGG ON his FACE and EMBARRASS his team. Smith went AT FULL TILT to the manager of the FC who TOSSed ASIDE the cup of NOODLES that he was eating ON THE TABLE and paid full attention to his captain. The manager said "Jack, you play your game, I'll look after the matter". 

The manager conferred unofficially with the Superintendent of the Police, whom he had BEFRIENDed at the welcome party, the previous evening. The SP had not an IOTA of doubt that the LASS had been sent by a bookie, who would have lost much if Chicago FC had won the game. She had tersely told Smith "Watch out, baby. You lose today, I'm all yours. You win and you are dead meat". The police chief, removed his BERET, stroked his balding pate thoughtfully for a while and said "it is an OPEN AND SHUT case. Go, tell Smith to play well, I can FISH out that DAMSEL and also the creep who is behind her". The SP, an ex-GRENADIER in the British Army, swung into action as only an army man can. The girl was picked up sunbathing on the beach. The SP made a short work of getting her to squeal. The bookie was booked and while ON THE GO,  they picked up evidence of many similar offences in the past. The lightning action by the cops prevented a DIRE IMBROGLIO.