No 12951, Tuesday 02 Jun 2020, Karaoke

Solution to 19D has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered only by a non-regular/novice commenter, with proper annotation. Those who have answered earlier in the week, please give others a chance.

ACROSS
1   One in adversity needs him (4,9) GOOD SAMARITAN [CD]
8   Advantage when the master leaves the fruit for son (4) PLUS PLU(-m+s)S
9   He is one of the parties to the Contract (4,6) CARD PLAYER [CD]
10 Lion accommodates six-footer in outhouse (4-2) LEAN-TO {LE{ANT}O}
11 Liqueur produced in estate (8) ANISETTE*
12 Setter stops playing harmonica for new presenter (9) ANCHORMAN HARMON(-i+n)NCA*
14 Indecent, unauthorized reproduction, not sanctimonious (4) RACY piRACY
15 Beams pull down audibly (4) RAYS (~raze)
16 Ben walks out of heated deliberation on newspaper column (9) EDITORIAL DELIbeRATIOn*
20 Headsquare champion, a gangster (8) SCARFACE {SCARF}{ACE}
21 Not returning to mingle with one now (2,4) AT ONCE {A{NOT<=}CE}
23 A test chart prepared with much difficulty (2,1,7) AT A STRETCH*
24 God goes from back to front in swimming pool (4) LIDO (+l)IDO(-l)
25 Wicked stepmother embarrassed for being crusty (5-8) SHORT-TEMPERED {STEPMOTHER}*{RED}

DOWN
1   Sailing ship gone down taking everything (7) GALLEON {GONE}* over {ALL}
2   Protein formed by work and wrong (5) OPSIN {OP}{SIN}
3   Helping hand by fool reportedly (7) SUCCOUR (~sucker)
4   Together they pound and ground Rotterdam planes (6,3,6) MORTAR AND PESTLE*
5   Got even with baby’s nappy in return (6) REPAID<=
6   Show just after switch (5,4) TRADE FAIR {FAIR}<=>{TRADE}
7   None could go beyond this sign (2,5) NO ENTRY [CD] (Addendum - {NONE}*{TRY} - See comments)
13 Magic word or abracadabra — sheer typo maybe (3,6) HEY PRESTO*

15 Speaks eloquently with short break obstructed by appeal (7) RECITES {RE{CITE}St} (Addendum -  {REC{IT}ESs} See comments)
17 Tap shoe dancing in restaurant (3,4) TEA SHOP*
18 Publicity gets yield, without working. Agreed (7) ACCEDED {A{ConCEDE}D}
19 Reverend’s Arctic tern for incentive (6) ?A?R?T (Addendum - CARROT (~tarrock) - See comments)

22 Steam generator’s lid is destroyed by tanker (5) OILER bOILER
Reference List
Master = M, Son = S, New = N, Sanctimonious = PI, Work = OP, ON, Appeal = IT

Dr RKE's TalePiece

Tarun Viswanath (TV!) was the chief ANCHORMAN of Newsnow PLUS TV channel. He had cut his teeth in the news business while on the EDITORIAL board of the Newsnow Plus daily, a daily that had pacey and RACY news.  He was capable of speaking non-stop AT A STRETCH in high decibel while hosting the talking heads program at primetime, whenever he had a strong point to make- which was practically every night.  He had tried to get Shri. Gundappa Badigere, the home minister, for an interview and the minister had ACCEDED at last.

Shri.Gundappa Badigere had a humble beginning as a TEA SHOP owner in Chikkapete, Bengaluru (Chickpet, Bangalore for you anglophiles!). He had begun his first agitation against NO ENTRY signs on either side of the narrow lane where his shop was located. The success he tasted spurred him on to become the voice of the traders and he was held to be their GOOD SAMARITAN. Shri.Gundappa started the Vyaparigala Sangha and he successfully organized a TRADE FAIR in the ground where once stood the LIDO cinema at Halasuru (Ulsoor for you anglophiles!). He AT ONCE became much sought-after by the political parties. To cut the long story short, he made his way up the political ladder in 5 years (with the SUCCOUR provided by the SCARFACEs who ran the hooch trade) and became the de facto deputy chief minister. Shri. Gundappa Badigere REPAID his gratitude to the crime syndicate who backed him by asking, nay, ordering the police, to go soft on their misdeeds.

Tarun Viswanath had done his homework well and thought he had enough material to prove Badigere’s complicity. TV had x-RAY scanned the documents on which Badigere had made alterations counter to the sage recommendations of the home secretary. Those alterations had immensely benefitted the mafia and caused a huge loss to the exchequer. TV thought he could grind down the minister as easily as one would crush a tablet with a MORTAR AND PESTLE. The minister, however, maintained a poker face like a seasoned CARD PLAYER and calmly refuted the allegations and kept on RECITing that it was a vile smear campaign by the opposition. TV then employed the final weapon in his arsenal-the pictures that showed Badigere in a compromising position with a film starlet. HEY PRESTO, this lit the fuse and the SHORT-TEMPERED minister rose abruptly and walked away unceremoniously in a huff.  TV had once again scored and long live his brand of journalism.