No 12967, Saturday 20 Jun 2020, Vulcan

ACROSS
1   A place to drink lager with one perhaps (8,4) WATERING HOLE {LAGER+WITH+ONE*}
10 Existing with what’s given (7) PRESENT (DD)

11 Enterprise’s opening quarter ridden with frequent losses (7) VENTURE {VENT}{qUaRtEr}
12 Small islands one ship allowed to enter (6) ISLETS {I}{S{LET}S}
13 This artisan charges nothing! (4,4) FREE HAND (CD)
15 Fighter of an animal, say (9) GUERRILLA {~GORILLA}
16 Cry that’s high-pitched and vulgar by the sound of it (5) CHEEP {~CHEAP}
17 In grand fashion, day spent to entertain rich businessman (5) MOGUL? (Addendum - MOGUL {MO{G}ULd} - See comments)
19 Party famous personality to consider joining (9) CELEBRATE {CELEB}{RATE}
22 On a Ford, T, making return trip (2,3,3) TO AND FRO {ON+A+FORD+T*}
24 Piece I got in book store (6) BISHOP {B}{I}{SHOP}
26 Viewpoint of old chief pop rejected (7) OPINION {O}{{NO I}{NIP}<=}
27 It’s nonsense, yes, in Italy, going out could result in sickness (7) ILLNESS {sILLiNESS}
28 Enunciating is another acting ritual (12) ARTICULATING {ACTING+RITUAL*}

DOWN
2   Use Aloe Vera to get rid of very dark spots (7) AREOLAE {ALOE+vERA*}
3   Selector allegedly caught — something related to polls (9) ELECTORAL (T)
4   Current total, essentially small amount (4) IOTA {I}{tOTAl}
5   Across Bengal, rioting stopped — manageable (10) GOVERNABLE {BENGAL*} around {OVER}
6   Oz start off to attack (5) OUNCE {pOUNCE}
7   Bird facing/ behind mirror (7) EMULATE {EMU}{LATE}
8   Well, special call made (6) SPRING {SP}{RING}
9   Skits eventually turn out to be a parody (6) SENDUP {skitS}{END UP}
14 Automated one large concrete building (10) ELECTRONIC {I+L+CONCRETE*}
16 Carriage and taxi given permission to go around city (9) CABRIOLET {CAB}{RIO}{LET}
17 Direct // suggestion (6) MOTION (DD)
18 Poor rating given to a dessert (7) GRANITA {RATING*}{A}

20 A short song about a European leader, in Greek (7) ACHAEAN  {A}{CH{A}{European}ANt}
21 Model basically without display (6) EXPOSE {EX}{POSE}
23 Meaning // to accumulate (5) DRIFT (DD)
25 Works of Tamil literature (4) MILL (T)

Reference List

One=I, Ship=SS, Grand = G, Day = D, Book=B, Chief= No I, Yes in Italy=Si, Very=V, Current=I, Special=Sp, Large-L

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

SPRING ISLETS, a VENTURE of MN Breweries, at ELECTRONIC city, Bengaluru is a famous WATERING HOLE. It is the only bar in town to serve BISHOP, which is made by mulling 3 OUNCEs of port wine with oranges and cloves. Pradeep Royappa, a media MOGUL and Prasad Gowda, his politician friend arrived there in style on Royappa’s Mercedes Benz C-class CABRIOLET, to CELEBRATE the recent ELECTORAL victory of Gowda. Some OPINION polls had predicted a defeat for Gowda’s party and some were going TO AND FRO between the rival parties but Royappa’s media alone had been clearly ARTICULATING that Gowda would win handsomely.  And, win he did with a record margin, to EMULATE his illustrious father, who had swept the polls 2 decades ago.

Royappa, managed to loosen the tongue of Gowda with a couple of quick drinks. The conversation DRIFTed to Gowda’s election strategy. Gowda, without an IOTA of compunction, dismissively MOTIONed with both his HANDs and said “Hattu, Hattu kotte, baayi muchkondu vote haakidaru” (Ten (thousand), Ten is what I gave and they shut up and voted). Though it was not in any way an unusual practice in elections, it was unusual to get a top leader to own it up. The waiter PRESENT at the next table, who was in the pay of Royappa, captured the frank admission vividly on his cell phone camera. The EXPOSÉ  was all over Royappa's media the next morning. The talking heads on TV went on and on about the ILLNESS that plagues our society, which vitiates the process of democracy. Gowda enjoyed a FREE run for 3 years as enquiry commissions and court cases on electoral malpractices dragged on. “The MILLS of God grind slow but sure” has been true from the ACHAEAN times. Finally, justice caught up with Gowda and he is now serving time for this and numerous other felonies.