No 13022, Monday 24 Aug 2020, Arden

Solution to 27A 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   Shouldn't go bad, could be traded (6,3,4) BOUGHT AND SOLD*
10 Anorak too small to wear, don’t bother initially (5) DWEEB {Dont}{WEE}{Bo...r}
11 Fifty or ten? Get corrected glasses (9) LORGNETTE {L}{OR}{TEN+GET}*

12 Whistle-blower briefly backed by political group gets popular votes (9) REFERENDA {REFEREe}{NDA}
13 May be a factor in only one animal (5) RHINO {RH}{IN}{O}

14 Slinking away leaving passport, say in Shanghai (7) SIDLING {S{ID}LING}
16 Singers about to get entry (7) INGRESS*
18 Whine during working time, that’s rich (7) OPULENT {O{PULE}N}{T}
20 Guerdon made to sink (2,5) GO UNDER*
22 Fellow enters boozer, sent back for de-addiction (5) REHAB {BA{HE}R}<=
24 It's in Paris — surrounding Montmarte perhaps one gets extre mely cold (9) CHILLIEST {CEST} over {HILL}{1}
26 Crime sheet covers minister’s residence (9) PARSONAGE {P{ARSON}AGE}
27 Writer starts out writing tips for another writer (5) I?S?N (Addendum - IBSEN {nIBS}{pEN} - See comments)
28 Correct- compare mostly hand and leg, it helps you study brain function (13) ENCEPHALOGRAM  {COMPARE+HANd+LEG}*

DOWN
2   Covers off, beds completely uncovered and stuffed (7) OVERFED {cOVERs}{oFf}{bEDs}
3   Arden gets a big fancy material (9) GABARDINE {ARDEN+A+BIG}*

4   Not about the French uprising, it’s often gripping (5) TALON {NO{LA}T}<=
5   Managed to bring up appraisal, it’s telling (9) NARRATING {RAN<=}{RATING}
6   Echo sounder — possible reason to scrap second test (5) SONAR ReASON*
7   Facilitates exchange as if it’s a framework (7) LATTICE faCILiTATEs*
8   Talk on zero representation — get a labelling machine (13) ADDRESSOGRAPH {ADDRESS}{0}{GRAPH}
9   Emigrants don’t go around protesting (13) DEMONSTRATING*
15 One doesn’t need an invitation to do this (4-5) GATE-CRASH [CD]
17 Demanding fish meal on top (9) GRUELLING {GRUEL}{LING}
19 Welcome home! Supporting American woman (5,2) USHER IN {IN}<=>{US}{HER}
21 Both sides in advance, speed goes up in the middle of the ocean (4-3) DEEP-SEA {Ad...cE}{SPEED}<=
23 Fellow’s bankrupt, had changed sides (5) BLOKE B(-r+l)LOKE
25 Thought law was perfect (5) IDEAL {IDEA}{L}

Reference List

Fifty = L, Only = O, It's in French = CEST, Home = IN, Law = L

Dr RKE's TalePiece

I was working at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Queen Square. It was one of the CHILLIEST London winters and after a GRUELLING night duty with a steady INGRESS of patients, all I wanted to do was to GO UNDER a warm quilt and catch up some sleep. But first I had to hand over the patients admitted at night to a fellow houseman, a BLOKE from Pakistan. This fellow was quite a DWEEB but he had a good memory. It was he who reminded me that Sir Desmond Bickerstaff was to conduct a clinic (bedside teaching session) that morning. So, it was goodbye to that warm quilt and I forced myself to keep awake for a few more hours. Bickerstaff’s Monday morning classes were so famous that students from the Great Ormond Street Hospital would also GATECRASH to pick up the pearls of clinical wisdom from the aging professor.

Precisely at 10am, the distinguished Sir Desmond, in his customary GABARDINE suit walked in. He was USHERED IN by Victoria Haines, his trusted head nurse for decades. She held out the white apron and his LORGNETTE (which he needed to only read the ENCEPHALOGRAM). The patient to be discussed was an OVERFED obese man I had admitted at night and I was given the unenviable task of NARRATING the patient’s history before Sir Desmond. He caught me SIDLING towards the foot end of the bed and said “young man, look sharp; let us see what you have in store for us”.

I did my best to fight off my drowsiness and thought I had given a detailed account. I was happy when he said “Well, dear fellow, that is the best narration I have heard in years”. So, I was in for a rude shock when he added “It covers everything except the most important- what is the job that this man does for a living?” I had not foreseen how this could be important. He asked the patient and the man said “I retired a month back as a SONAR operator in the DEEP SEAs- this pain in my hand forced me to give up the job I loved”. The professor then went on to DEMONSTRATING the physical signs. Of course, I had picked up the neurological signs of muscle wasting, loss of sensation and reflexes in the right hand but what I had missed mentioning were the RHINO-like callosities in his right palm and over the right collar bone. “These callosities are seen in those who habitually carry a heavy vibrating equipment in their arms. This is the hallmark of occupational neuropathy. I am sure as hell that he has brachial plexopathy, also called by the fanciful eponym of PARSONAGE Turner syndrome. This seen in obese diabetics and the occupational strain worsens the symptoms. He needs an electromyogram and Victoria here will arrange for the chaps in REHAB to see him”.

Turning to me Sir Desmond said (I learnt later that he was quoting [This word will be added later]) “the spectacles of experience; through them you will see clearly a second time” and added a line of his own “there may be a substitute for me as a teacher but there is no substitute for that IDEAL teacher, clinical experience”