No 13245, Wednesday 12 May 2021, Arden

Lockdown Day 15 of 26 Stay Safe

Solution to 12A 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

6   Do live with a rejection (5) BEANO {BE}{A}{NO}

7   Actor in a play, perhaps a Split personality? (8) CROATIAN*

10 Verbal demand to cover student’s reading light (7) GLIMMER {G{L}IMME}{R}

11 Man gets General back up, being polite (7) GENTEEL {GENT}{LEE<=}

12 Perhaps West comes online — no, no good for conductors (7) M?E?T?I ()

13 Bone for a bird in total (7) STERNUM {S{TERN}UM}

14 Posted info on top — crazy to get all soppy (11) SENTIMENTAL {SENT}{Info}{MENTAL}

19 Black fruit or fruitcake? (7) BANANAS {B}{ANANAS}

21 Speeler’s probe — essentially to split atom into two parts (7) ACROBAT {A}{C{pROBe}AT}

23 Plug it back on to induce current (7) TAMPION {T{AMP}I<=}{ON}

25 Set limit at eight for internal copy (7) IMITATE [T]

26 Country song after limited expansion (8) BULGARIA {ARIA}<=>{BULGe}

27 Piano keys, 15 or close to twenty (5) IVORY {1}{V}{OR}{t...tY}

DOWN

1   Reluctance for having a drink during duty (8) CAGINESS {C{A}{GIN}ESS}

2   Something funny placed on tomb (3,3) BON MOT*

3   Wants to mark Mumbai and Delhi, say (10) SCARCITIES [SCAR}{CITIES}

4   Ache? Feel no pain, recovering altogether finally (4) LONG Tail Acrostic

5   Awfully nice as a protein (6) CASEIN*

6   Girl supporting major sinful act (6) BIGAMY {AMY}<=>{BIG}

8   Stand in centre, man will follow line (7) TANGENT {sTANd}{GENT}

9   Vice chairman initially was the guiding light (5) CLAMP {Ch...n}{LAMP}

13 She’s in the news — again set for some mischief (10) SHENANIGAN {SHE}{N{AGAIN*}N}

15 Old capital — depending on changing leadership (7) NANKING (-b+n)NANKING

16 Boy’s got the wrong underwear, or is it the dog? (8) LABRADOR {LA{BRA}D}{OR}

17 Elaborate move — role will diminish (5) ABATE elABorATE*

18 Hard ware finally in free style (6) STEELY {ST{warE}ELY*}

20 The halo starts before morning, infact covered by sun rise (6) NIMBUS {SU{Be...e}{Mo...g}{In...t}N}<=

22 Dried fruit is getting wet (6) RAISIN {RA{IS}IN}

24 The mariner did have an anorak (4) NERD [T]

Reference List

Student = L, Reading = R, Black = B, Tom = CAT, Current = AMP, News = N