No 12979, Saturday 04 Jul 2020, Hypatia

ACROSS
9   No party gave solution to escape disaster (3,4,2,1,5) ANY PORT IN A STORM Reverse Anagram of {NO+PARTY}
10 Caught fibbing about love? That’s sickening! (7) CLOYING {C}{L{O}YING}
11 Mutiny spreading East or North (7) TREASON {EAST+OR*}{N}
12 Champ Ramki, essentially aces at setting with it (9) MASTICATE {raMki}{ACES+AT+IT*}
14 Wander about, crowding closer to city leader (5) MAYOR {RO{citY}AM<=}
17 Objective person working fine after losing a painter’s support (7) ONESELF {ON}{EaSEL}{F}
19 Decline to vote rejecting outrageous lie from insatiable criminal (7) ABSTAIN {iNSATIABle*}
21 Use less, squeezing left ointment (5) SALVE {SA{L}VE}
23 Fallacious reasoning in exciting story about ship at sea (9) SOPHISTRY {STORY*} about {SHIP*}
25 Weakling exploits work (7) MILKSOP {MILKS}{OP}
27 Remains free for conference (7) SEMINAR {REMAINS*}
30 Not a single argument for // what you hate in the paper? (5,1,5,4) NEVER A CROSS WORD (D&CD)

DOWN
1   Gossip decimating Romans, in the end to powder (4) TALC {~TALKs} Missing homophone indicator?
2   Finally, not really clear to beginner (4) TYRO (Acrostic)
3   Looking up, Gorbachev it is opined, stayed optimistic (8) POSITIVE (T<=)
4   Spot stone kept by Indian grandmother (6) STIGMA {ST}{I}{G'MA}
5   Curse of that man tore one Hindu’s soul (8) ANATHEMA {AN}{AT{HE}MA}
6   Highly regard English cryptic set by Hypatia, taking turn (6) ESTEEM {E}{SET*}{ME<=}
7   Projects // Apple’s founder? (4) JOBS (DD)
8   Warning from ladies only? (4) OMEN {O}{MEN}
12 Low ratings gutted anchors (5) MOORS {MOO}{RatingS}
13 The lady will charm, yielding softly to husband (5) SHE'LL {S(-p+H)ELL}
15 Fermenting agent, for instance, added in still (5) YEAST {YE{AS}T}
16 Hot tips from reality shows (5) RANDY {R}{AND}{Y}
18 Quick! Spooner’s gone front (4,4) FAST PACE  {(-p+F)AST (-f+P)ACE}
20 Fight doctor taking risks with him (8) SKIRMISH {RISKS+HIM*}
22 Condemn killing top guard (6) ENSURE {cENSURE}
24 Mechanical device inside blimp is to navigate (6) PISTON (T)
25 Breed of cat transforming say, Wolverine from head to toe? (4) MANX {(-x)-MAN(+X)}
26 Wickedness is on the rise? It’s happening now! (4) LIVE {EVIL<=}
28 Corner opposite responses to a polar question (4) NOOK {NO}{OK}
29 Regretted broadcast that’s irreverent (4) RUDE {~RUED}

Reference List

Caught=C, Love=O, North=N, Working=On, Fine=F, Left=L Work=Op
Stone=St, Indian=I, Grandmother=G'ma, That man=He, One=An, English=E, Softly=P, Husband=H

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 press meet of Bill de Blasio, the MAYOR of New York was LIVE on TV. He tried his best to reassure the citizens who were in a state of panic because of the FAST PACE at which the coronavirus was claiming lives. He appealed, “please ENSURE that you ABSTAIN from stepping out of the safe SHELL of your home. We are arranging for disinfecting every NOOK and cranny of the city. Those who have lost their JOBS are being given weekly rations delivered to their house. Do not hesitate to report to the authorities, if you have symptoms. It is not a STIGMA to test POSITIVE”. 

A minor SKIRMISH occurred when some RUDE reporters heckled the Mayor loudly for his stringent handling of the epidemic. Being no MILKSOP or a TYRO at handling such upstarts, he thundered “NEVER A CROSS WORD, here we are trying ANY PORT IN A STORM and you guys want the theaters and bars reopened? Oh Jeez! It is TREASON to advocate such mingling of people”. He recovered his composure soon and knew it was time to apply the SALVE to ease the loss of ESTEEM to the men and women of the fourth estate. He said (in a CLOYING tone, some thought) “I place on record the appreciation of my office to the media persons, who are working day and night, unmindful of the danger that they are exposing themselves to. Along with the doctors, nurses, cops and cleaners, we owe a debt of gratitude  to the press as well”. 

He went on to add “don’t believe in the SOPHISTRY of people who see OMENs of a Chinese invasion on the American economy. Don’t fall in for false cures made of brewer’s YEAST and so on. You can spend your time even when MOORed to your home attending the online SEMINAR I have organized on “Coping With Corona”. It is live on my website www.RANDYMANX.com”