No 13514, Saturday 26 Mar 2022, Arden

ACROSS

1   Switching red lights on for a book title (4,2,3,5) LORD OF THE RINGS*

10 Biblical character very eager to pursue maiden (5) MAGOG {AGOG}<=>{M}

11 Be secular — anyway it’s the French, dammit! (5,4) SACRE BLEU*

12 Float in a river, one is hired by the army (7) DRAFTEE {D{RAFT}EE}

13 Fainted now, does become shaky (7) SWOONED*

14 Tax the thing inside (5) TITHE {T{IT}HE}

16 At home return it in line, that’s honesty (9) INTEGRITY {IN}{GET<=}{R{IT}Y} Return=Get back

19 Gabriel perhaps accepted a coin in both hands (9) ARCHANGEL {A}{R}{CHANGE}{L}

20 One last call from the middle — how does it sound? (5) NASAL {oNe}{lASt}{cALl}

22 Partners getting on peak again and again (7) NONSTOP {N}{ON}{S}{TOP}

25 Imbricate close friend to return (7) OVERLAP {OVER}{PAL<=}

27 Frigid but strangely not closed... (5-4) STONE-COLD*

28 ... not completely closed, it touches the same thing again (5) DITTO [T]

29 Prosit! Crossword fast to disappear inside a piece of furniture (5,2,7) CHEST OF DRAWERS {CHEERS} over {WORD+FAST}*

DOWN

2   Wild love making is tragic... (9) ORGIASTIC {0}{IS+TRAGIC}*

3   ... like sex could be from 0 to 9 (5) DIGIT {DIG}{IT}

4   Clasp quickly before 9 is lifted by gravity (9) FASTENING {FAST}{NINE<=}{G}

5   Hired cabs for reporters (5) HACKS [DD]

6   Instrument — one Gerard played (4,5) REED ORGAN*

7   “Material is not even yellow”— breaking news! (5) NYLON {N}{YeLlOw}{N}

8   Stupendously difficult to leave set up completely (7) SOUNDLY stupeNDOUSLY*

9   Barring uniform it’s a must to carry papers, among others (6) AMIDST {A}{M{ID}uST}

15 Do people in a hospital wing, get endorsement? (9) ENACTMENT {EN{ACT}{MEN}T}

17 Maybe later embrace God, not an easy thing to do (4,5) TALL ORDER {TAL{LORD}ER*}

18 Abuse or drink a glass, for example (9) INSULATOR {INSUL{A}T}{OR}

19 Cinemas playing “the absent minded...” (7) AMNESIC*

21 Reportedly jumped on a small amount of money (6) LEPTON (~leapt){LEPT}{ON}

23 It sniffs nothing inside the loop (5) NOOSE {NO{0}SE}

24 Confirmation for soft heart (5) PROOF {PRO}{sOFt}

26 Even when down and out, some of it you can give away (5) ENDOW [T]

Reference List

Maiden = M, Float = RAFT, Line = RY(Railway), Hands = R,L, Partners = N,S(In Bridge game), Love = 0, Sex = IT, Gravity = G, New = N, Uniform = U< Papers = ID, Hospital wing = ENT, Nothing = 0, Even = E

Colour/Font Scheme

Definition, Solution, Component letters, Embedded links, Theme word,  Reference list 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