No 13008, Friday 07 Aug 2020, Dr. X

RULES FOR POSTING COMMENTS ON FRIDAYS ONLY

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PLEASE NOTE, SOLUTIONS WITHOUT ATTEMPTING THE ANNOTATIONS WILL BE DELETED

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Thanks for the response, here's the regular blog.

ACROSS
1   Ace setter craftily drops hints at the end and so on (2,6) ET CETERA {ACE+sETTER}*
5   Old boy behind layperson in monastery (6) OBLATE {OB}{LATE}
10 Cutting down tax in GST welcomed (5) AXING [T]
11 Collection of cash in distress to conduct a joint replacement primarily (4-5) WHIP-ROUND {W{HIP}{Re...t}OUND}
12 Spots in center of scab covered by ointments (9) LOCATIONS {LO{sCAb}TIONS}
13 Guru, degenerate, about to embrace devotee after removing top (5) TUTOR {T{nUT}OR<=}
14 Good start to summer in clammy European city (6) GDANSK {G}{DAN{Su...r}K}
15 Friend providing support to overcome revolting bully grabbing maiden (7) WINGMAN {WIN}{G{M}AN<=}
18 Angrily chide one endlessly devoted to pleasure (7) HEDONIC {CHIDE+ONe}*
20 Criminals start to conduct swindles (6) CROOKS {Co...t}{ROOKS}
22 Manufacturing steam trains (5) TAMES*
24 Rascal in depression having caught colleague with wife (9) SCALLYWAG {S{C}{ALLY}{W}AG}
25 Endless scrutiny after thieves finally escape, stealing treasure (9) PERPETUAL {PER{PET}UsAL}
26 Flick butt of beedi in drive (5) MOVIE {MOV{b..dI}E}
27 They clash hard, vibrating essentially in beats (2-4) HI-HATS {HI{H}{v..rAt..g}TS} &lit

28 Plans to tackle man essentially harassing monkeys (8) RHESUSES {R{HE}{h..aSs..g}}USES}

DOWN
1   Prepare to catch slippery eel going around (6) ENABLE {E{NAB}LE*}
2   Fabricated cases? Detectives agreed (9) COINCIDED {COIN{CID}ED}
3   What a person on hunger strike might do to economize? (7,4,4) TIGHTEN ONES BELT [C&DD]
4   One seen on boat in brawl at bar (7) ROWLOCK {ROW}{LOCK}
6   Be on fire in back massage session by lover, so exciting to receive (5,4,6) BURST INTO FLAMES {RUB<=}{STINT}{O{FLAME}S*}
7   Obscene cokehead, ultimately arrested (5) ADULT [T]
8   Immortal goal, Eusébio’s second on field (8) ENDURING {END}{Eu...o}{RING}
9   Gossip about girl is scandalous, provides fitting entertainment? (6) JIGSAW {J{G+IS}*AW} Imagine doing one without a picture like the one shown here!!

16 What a hairstylist might do to cause trouble? (4,5) MAKE WAVES [DD]
17 Impudence of heartily sozzled chap, tottering outside shack (8) CHUTZPAH {s.zZl.d+CHAP}* over {HUT}
19 Medieval helmet given by queen in event (6) CASQUE {CAS{QU}E}

20 Jewish bread and tea at lobby counter (7) CHALLAH {CHA}{HALL<=}

21 Allows remake of ‘Grease’ (6) AGREES*
23 Strike back hard to limit Covid-19’s early progress (5) MARCH {RAM<=}{Co..9}{H}

Reference List
Old boy = OB, Good = G, Maiden = M, Caught = C, Wife = W,  Hard = H, Girl = G, Queen = QU, Tea = CHA