No 13613, Wednesday 20 Jul 2022, Dr. X

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

1   Make-up woman's technique to conceal stitch (3,5) WAR PAINT {W}{AR{PAIN}T}

5   Fuddy-duddy conducting the Spanish entrance examination (6) PRELIM {PR{EL}IM}

10 Seek treatment of colitis (7) SOLICIT*

11 Liaison can go wrong in European city (7) ROMANCE {ROM{CAN*}E}

12 Right side of uniform, covered by brown stain (5) S?E?R (Addendum - SMEAR - {S{u...rM}EAR} - See comments)

13 Mastery shown by South in playing spade ten (9) ADEPTNESS {S} in {SPADE+TEN}*

14 Dined with group in perfect bar (8,4) WATERING HOLE {W{ATE}{RING}HOLE}

18 Trained flyer struggling on MiG, hoping to control plane finally (6,6) HOMING PIGEON {ON+MIG+HOPING}* over {p..nE}

21 Scandalous diaries about prince and teenager finally cause ruination (9) DISREPAIR {DIARIES}* over {P} followed by {t...eR}

23 Ball for example turned after gripping pitch (5) GLOBE {G{LOB}E<=}

24 Consume whiskey shot and let loose (7) WHITTLE {W}{HIT}{LET*}

25 Head of university backing rogue in outcry about skintight garment (7) UNITARD {Un...y}{NI{TAR<=}D<=}

26 Turning unhappy about life on reflection, start to modify beliefs (6) DOGMAS {SAD<=} over {GO<=}{Mo...y}

27 When overwhelmed by raging desire, they provide moral instruction (8) EDIFIERS {ED{IF}IERS*}

DOWN

1   Most clever fellow is establishing stores (6) WISEST [T[

2   Substitute judge accepting perjury (6) RELIEF {RE{LIE}F}

3   Identify and trace rogue involved in a crime (9) ASCERTAIN {TRACE}* in {A}{SIN}

4   Stand no chance, like an atheist? (3,4,1,6) NOT HAVE A PRAYER [DD]

6   Suspend member involved in revolting row (5) REMIT {TI{M}ER<=}

7   Capturing pawn finally, strengthen situation for knight (8) LANCELOT {LA{pawN}CE}{LOT}

8   Fellows around university finishing off new hard cheese (8) MUENSTER {M{U}EN}{STERn}

9   Consuming grass, trendy girls start to raunchily dance in den (8,6) BREEDING GROUND {B{REED}{IN}{GG}{Ra...y}OUND}

15 Oh no! Blunder crossing ridge recklessly (4,5) GOOD GRIEF {GOO{RIDGE*}F}

16 Stalked woman after a party in shack (8) SHADOWED {W}<=>{A}{DO} in {SHED}

17 Squeal about pound crashing (8) SMASHING {S{MASH}ING}

19 Self-confidence of man winning gold (6) MORALE {M{OR}ALE}

20 Rough edges rounding old crystal-filled cavities (6) GEODES {GE{O}DES*}

22 Next raise includes bonus (5) EXTRA [T]

Reference List

Woman = W, The in Spanish = EL, South = S, Prince = P, Whiskey = W, Member = M, University = U, Grass = REED, Trendy = IN, Girl = G, Party = DO, Gold = OR, Old = O