No 13264, Thursday 03 Jun 2021, Avtaar

Lockdown Day 36 of 40 Stay Safe at home

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.

Another toughie from Avtaar.

ACROSS

1   Old-fashioned and extremely unusual French solo dance (3,4) PAS SEUL {PASSE}{Un...aL} Thanks to Google

5   Reason a sommelier may visit Japan’s desert (7) FORSAKE {FOR SAKE}

9   Regular income from books in Latin American notes (7) RENTALS {RE{NT}ALS}

10 Missing the first celebration of summer? (7) ESTIVAL fESTIVAL

11 Three wise men treat at first with fresh leaves, nuts and medicinal plants from India (4,5) NEEM TREES {thREE+wiSE+MEN+Treat}*

12 Almost complete? Not quite! Small line is missing (5) ABOUT Anno pending (Addendum - ABsOlUTe* - See comments)

13 Sweet is chewy on the outside, within (5) CANDY {Che{AND}wY}

15 Birth of some steady alliances around the time OPEC was formed (9) SEVENTIES {Some}{EVEN}{TIES} OPEC was formed on 14 Sep 60? - See comments

17 First 24 hours (around 1st of Jan) — imbibing a sip of vodka and beginning to savour the spirit of the sea (4,5) DAVY JONES {DA{Vo..a}Y}{Jan}{ONE}{Sa...r}

19 Put on location after Bill goes missing (5) DRESS adDRESS

22 Angry zamindar boots out raving mad court official (5) NAZIR {ZamINdAR}*

23 Try charming with text first (9) PROSECUTE {CUTE}<=>{PROSE}

25 Resident of Nazareth beheaded old British leader (7) ISRAELI dISRAELI

26 Cool bar has core of gilt embedded (7) INBUILT {IN}{BU{gILt}T}

27 One leaving will finally get peace, say (7) T?S?A?E (Addendum - TESTATE {geT}{peacE}{STATE} - See comments)

28 Fantastic deliveries by quick bowler, so near one’s stumps (7) YORKERS [CD?] (Addendum - &lit Tail Acrostic Anagram - See comments)

DOWN

1   Mythological article found in East Indian temple town north of Cuttack (7) PURANIC {PUR{AN}I}{Cu...k}

2   Admitting India, ASEAN upset Chinese (7) SINAEAN {S{IN}AEAN*}

3   Just stupid — introduction of corporate tax, supporting peers, essentially (5) EXACT {Co...e+TAX}*<=>{peErs}

4   Vicious, silent, evil bugs (7,2) LISTENS IN {SILENT*}{SIN}

5   Runs down, say (5) FLEES (~fleece)

6   Oils on the counter — limited bottles prepared afresh (9) RETRAINED {RET{RAIN}ED<=} Rain/Oils? Not sure of Anno (Addendum - {RE{ART<=}INED} - See comments)

7   Trimmed, pale olive-coloured sacs (7) ALVEOLI {pALe}{OLIVE*}

8   Stone tools obtained from the soil (7) EOLITHS* Semi&lit

14 Terrible, energy-filled Vajrayudha cut devilish Vritra’s feet in this ancient Indian text (9) YAJURVEDA {E+VAJRAYUDha}*

16 Beginnings of virulent intestinal cytosis possibly leads to thickness in blood, perhaps? (9) VISCOSITY VISCOSITY {Vi...t}{In...l}{CYTOSIS*}

17 Bridge maker-cum-canal operator? (7) DENTIST [CD]

18 Five magicians vanished with masks (7) VIZARDS {V}{wIZARDS}

20 Learned European’s not educated about sex (7) ERUDITE {E}{RUD{IT}E}

21 Corrupt, ruthless minister eventually ducks CBI officers (7) SLEUTHS rUTHLESS*

23 Small amount of money when cutting cake evenly (5) PAISE {AS} in {PIE}

24 Ashes — commonly seen in the last 2 months (5) EMBER {novEMBER&decEMBER}

Reference List

Books = NT, Small = S, Line = L, Bill = AD, Cool = IN, India = IN, Energy = E, With = W, European = E, Sex = IT