No 12959, Thursday 11 Jun 2020, Arden

Solution to 1D 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   Unusual — strange stuff outside will give some kind of protection... (11) FINGERSTALL {FI{STRANGE*}LL}

7   ...call fire protection (3) SAC (~sack)

9   Coffee addict finally brought in dead (5) LATTE {LA{a...cT}TE}

10 A point about navy crew getting decoration (9) ADORNMENT {A}{DO{RN}{MEN}T}

11 She’s involved in it, regularly sends what’s handed down (9) INHERITED {IN}{HER}{IT}{sEnDs}

12 Six footer on a cave (5) ANTRE {ANT}{RE}

13 Beginner harassed daily, keeps quiet, leaves (4,3) LILY PAD {L}{ILY{P}AD*}

15 Animal takes time to show affection (4) DOTE {DO{T}E}

18 Dine over head of cray fish (4) SCUP {S{Cray}UP}

20 Sure a killer will hide secrets, that’s not odd (7) CERTAIN {C{sEcReTs}AIN}

23 Velocity and space contribute to high pitched noise (5) VROOM {V}{ROOM}

24 Made soggy? Done, items shifted (9) MOISTENED*

26 Killers’ family gets the material (9) SHARKSKIN {SHARKS}{KIN}

27 Without preparation danced with Mary, admirably (2-3) AD-LIB {ADmIraBLy}* [CA]

28 Respect for one we follow (3) AWE {A}{WE}

29 Maybe the vice-presidential candidate is on another team (7,4) RUNNING MATE {TEAM}* [RA] (Addendum - {RUNNING}{TEAM*} - See comments)

DOWN

1   Weak, too sick to get up, is part of the story (8) F?L?I?L?  (Addendum - FALLIBLE {FA{ILL<=}BLE} - See comments)

2   Crazy man pounds the hard cover (8) NUTSHELL {NUT}{SHELL}

3   The ruler’s in there, emerging from the South (5) EMEER [T<=]

4   Foreign lands outside the borders are listed (7) SLANTED {SLAN{ThE}D*}

5   Keen to bag Oscar, regular deed not done (7) AVOIDED {AV{O}ID}{dEeD}

6   Afterwards brought used cans into Royal house (9) LANCASTER {LA{CANS*}TER}

7   Hesitates to shift the rest (6) SIESTA heSItATES* [CA]

8 Something to eat — reduced or allowed? (6) CUTLET {CUT}{LET}

14 Medical equipment shows what a fast bowler has to produce (9) PACEMAKER [DD] (Correction - {PACE{MAKE}R} - See comments)

16 End up carrying a long exotic flower (8) MAGNOLIA {M{A}{LONG*}IA<=}

17 Perhaps lie in bed, if you can’t stomach it (8) INEDIBLE* 

19 Vegetable grill for the family... (7) PUMPKIN {PUMP}{KIN}

20 ...In short, against wine (7) CHIANTI {CHI}{ANTI} In/CHI? (Addendum - {CHIc}{ANTI} - See comments}

21 Have stacks of preserved religious texts (6) AVESTA [T]

22 Sun is one to give comfort (6) SOLACE {SOL}{ACE}

25 Once an American airline, no good the Yanks still have it (5) TWANG {TWA}{N}{G}

Reference List
Navy = RN(Royal Navy), On = RE, Beginner = L, Quiet = P, Time = T, Velocity = V, In = CHIC, Sun = SOL, No = N, Good = G

Dr RKE's TalePiece

Baman Mazda, a wealthy Parsi businessman, was on the examination couch of Mr.James Fothergill, FRCS, a surgeon in the LANCASTER University Hospital. Fothergill removed the FINGERSTALL after completing the rectal examination and he was reasonably CERTAIN that he had palpated a cancerous growth in there. He asked Mazda to get dressed and come back to the consultation room. The nurse helped Mazda to put on his SHARKSKIN suit, wondering when she had last seen a patient so well dressed.  Fothergill, who didn’t want to scare the rich man right away, AVOIDED mentioning the C-word and simply said “I think you need a scopy, Mr.Mazda”. Mazda’s lips went dry with the fear of the unknown. He MOISTENED his lips and barely managed to ask “Doctor, can we get this SCUP..er.. scope.. er… scopy done right away”? Fothergill said reassuringly “Sister Mary Stoker here would arrange for your admission, the preliminary tests and we should be through with the colonoscopy by tomorrow morning”.

Mazda’s family came from a long line of Persian EMEERs and he had INHERITED the business empire from his father who had settled in England after the war. Being the only son, Baman was DOTEd upon by his mother but his father was strict about the Parsi upbringing. He had taught his son to find SOLACE during times of stress by reading a few lines of the Zend AVESTA. Mazda looked out of his private suite and stood in AWE at the sight of the MAGNOLIA in full bloom. He thought to himself “life is beautiful, the paradise that Zoraster speaks of is here on earth. Didn’t I prove my doctors to be FALLIBLE when they predicted doom last year? I did fight it out when I had to have the PACEMAKER put into my heart. Likewise, I am going to overcome this disease also now”.

He then ate the PUMPKIN CUTLET (quite INEDIBLE, as hospital food everywhere in the world) and then had the café LATTE, specially ordered for him by Ms.Stoker. He was about to settle for a SIESTA when Ms.Stoker returned with the enema tray. She made it sound so easy, saying, “VROOM, we will be done with this in minutes”. Exhausted by the effort, Baman hit the SACk early, helped by the sedative given by the nurse. Baman Mazda has only a hazy recollection of what happened the next morning thanks to the sedation. He only remembers the TWANG in his ears, as the anaesthetist woke him up after the procedure. “It- is- not- cancer” were the only words he remembers hearing and he thinks these were told to him by someone in a robe similar to the one he had seen on the pictures of Zarathustra!

The hospital now has a new gastroenterology wing funded by Mazda, who had kept up his promise of making a big donation. For, the Avesta says in a NUTSHELL that one good deed is worth a thousand prayers.