No 12956, Monday 08 Jun 2020, Arden

Solution to 1A 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   Boss returned, out of hospital wing (3,3) T?P ?O? (Addendum - TOP DOG {T{OPD}OG<=} -  See comments)
4   Blade — it cuts through rabid racism (8) SCIMITAR {SCIM{IT}AR*}
10 Britain, a country for porcelain (4,5) BONECHINA {B}{ONE}{CHINA}

11 Windows initially incorporated by computer maker, live (5) DWELL {D{Wi...s}ELL}
12 England follow traps set by Root (7) GINSENG {ENG}<=>{GINS}

13 Issue dogging the country, it’s a curse (7) MALISON {MALI}{SON}
14 He’s on time contract, gets a percentage (5) AGENT {AGE}{NT} Semi&lit

15 Left contents flowing as waste (8) EFFLUENT {lEFt}{FLUENT}
18 Quickly follow vehicle with hard top (8) CARAPACE {APACE}<=>{CAR}

20 Normal amount covering old American mission (5) ALAMO [T]
23 A horse, infirm, looks drawn (7) HAGGARD {H{A}{GG}ARD}
25 Teach new student to carry school bag (7) SATCHEL {TEACH*}{L}<=>{S}
26 Wash water in septic tank, some of it... (5) RINSE [T]
27 ...unlike a birdman (9) DIVERGENT {DIVER}{GENT}
28 Market players watch and aim for it (5,3) BULLS EYE {BULLS}{EYE}

29 Read about filling gas and follow (6) ADHERE {AD{HE}RE*}

DOWN
1   Sledge to go bang bang (8) TOBOGGAN*

2   Money allows girl to get short shrift (7) PENANCE {PEN{ANn}CE}
3   Gold safe, even broad band (9) ORCHESTRA {OR}{CHEST}{bRoAd}
5   A PR campaign could start attack after attack (5,9) CHARM OFFENSIVE {Co..d}{HARM}{OFFENSIVE}
6   Old time production, it’s not in replica (5) MODEL {OLD+tiME}*
7   Time to argue lese-majesty... (7) TREASON {T}{REASON}

8   ...on fast yield (6) RELENT {RE}{LENT}
9   One given lovely tips without any assistance (6-8)  SINGLE-HANDEDLY {SINGLE}{HANDED}{Lo..lY}
16 One in Paris related, perhaps? No, it’s the same (9) UNALTERED {UN}{RELATED*}
17 Gambling lease in a way (8) ROULETTE {ROU{LET}TE}

19 American gin allows suppression of pain (7) ANGINAL [T]
21 Sportsman allowed to go in terrible heat (7) ATHLETE {ATH{LET}E*}
22 Baby’s all over her, an angel (6) CHERUB {C{HER}UB}
24 Partners in crime, like to take chance (5) ABETS {A{BET}S}

Reference List
Returned = GOT back, Britian = B, Issue = SON, Contract = NT(No Trumps), Horse = GG, Student = L, School = S, Gas = He(Helium), Gold = OR, Time = T, On = RE, One in French = UN

Dr RKE's TalePiece

I was once on a train journey in some place some time. A HAGGARD looking old man in an unkempt beard sat opposite me. He clutched on to his SATCHEL tightly. Being bored, I lured him into a conversation. He appeared to be a man of few words and replied with nods or single words initially. He RELENTed finally when I asked him if he could keep his bag on the luggage rack. “No Sir”, he said,  “this bag contains something dearer to me than my life”. I, being an author of short stories, was always on the look-out for a good story and so I asked him to DWELL at length on the contents of his bag. I give you his story UNALTERED.

“ I (the old man) was training in a monastery in Tibet. The TOP  GOD Lama was not pleased with me as I had not ADHEREd to his MODEL code of conduct and he wanted to excommunicate me. I sought to do PENANCE by meditating in a lonely mountain cave that was 5 miles from the monastery for a fortnight. I was surprised that there was an empty tortoise CARAPACE and some BONE CHINAware in the isolated cave. Who could have been here before me, I wondered. I drifted off to sleep even as I was meditating and I must have been dreaming. There came a man with a CHERUB like face, who touched my ear lobe. I can feel the inexplicable thrill that ran through me at that moment to this day.

He took me by the hand and I walked with him as if in a trance. We were soon on a TOBOGGAN drawn by yaks. He took me to the spot where the EFFLUENT from the clear mountain stream becomes DIVERGENT into two branches. He looked around with SINGLE HANDED intent and then he seemed to have hit the BULL’S EYE. He took out a SCIMITAR and proceeded to cut away some vines and dug out some roots.   He RINSED the root in the stream and said ‘go, dry it on the carapace you found in the cave. Grind it in the porcelain pestle and mortar I have left there and you have a magic medicine- a medicine to restore youth, to build an ATHLETic body, to cure one of all manner of illnesses including ANGINAL pain’. I did as he directed and excited by my find returned to the monastery, bade goodbye and ever since I have carried this elixir with me”

The old man then went on a CHARM OFFENSIVE like a sales AGENT describing the greatness of his nostrum.  I was curious to know why the old man had not taken the magic medicine himself or why he had not sold such a potent concoction for a huge profit. He pleadingly said ‘take it, I cannot derive any health or monetary benefit from it because of the MALISON that my head Lama has cursed me with. You, Sir, seem to be worthy of it in every way, give me just Rs.1000 and the magic medicine is with you”. I took pity on the man and eager to possess the panacea, I bought his medicine.

I then took it to a friend, a specialist in Eastern medicine. He took one look at the root and dismissed it saying “this is just GINSENG, may be worth Rs.20”. My head spun like a ROULETTE wheel when my friend said “you have been right royally conned”. I decided then that I shall stop looking for a tale at every place and every time.