No 13694, Wednesday 26 Oct 2022, Avtaar

Solution to 5A 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   Attacks by burning picture (7) MUGSHOT {MUGS}{HOT}

5   Central American State locks up a mine (7) ?A?I?A? (Addendum - CAPITAL {C{A}{PIT}AL - See comments}

10 Most of us consume protein-rich food (4) TOFU [T]

11 Ram's shaving equipment? (4-6) WOOL-SHEARS [CD]

12 Yankee factory hand missing wife's delivery (6) YORKER {Y}{wORKER}

13 Naive engineer grants sign-on without limits (8) IGNORANT {gRANTs+sIGNOn}*

14 Extremely clunky irons that symbolise death (9) CYPRESSES {Cl..kY}{PRESSES}

16 Poem about enthralling, endless song (5) RHYME {R{HYMn}E}

17 Guts of Osama when rattled (5) OMASA*

19 Stall in church is set on its dais (9) STASIDION*

23 Astrologer welcomes son, a composer of devotional songs (8) PSALMIST {P{S}ALMIST}

24 Swallows tea, nuts and alcoholic drink (4,2) EATS UP {TEA*}{SUP}

26 Surprisingly, her stand on ousting National Government is perverse (10) HEADSTRONG {HER+STAND+On}{G}

27 Kid daughter goes missing in moor (4) MOCK {d{M}OCK} See comments for M

28 Token from OTP, my spouse saves after withdrawal (7) SYMPTOM [T<=]

29 Exposed Unionist called, trapping Republican (7) UNARMED {U}{NA{R}MED}

DOWN

2   Study covering difficulties encountered in passing? (7) UROLOGY [CD]

3   Smuggled note in sponge (5) SNUCK {S{N}UCK}

4   Old knight charges ahead (7) ONWARDS {O}{N}{WARDS}

6   A school's chief visiting faculty is not to be seen (6) ABSENT {A}{B{S}ENT}

7   Buried Iraqi near the dog shelters (9) INEARTHED [T]

8   Shortened name of old city adopted by American civil rights movement's leaders (7) ACRONYM {O}{NY} in {Am...n}{Ci..l}{Ri...s}{Mo...t}

9   Freshly cut, sliced potato in can (6,7) POLICE STATION {SLICEd+POTATO+IN}*

15 Large corroded plates crackled (7,2) RUSTLED UP {RUST{L}ED UP}

18 It is difficult to grasp Avtaar's tale involving hate ultimately overcoming love (7) MYSTERY {MY}{ST(-o+e}ERY}

20 Shooter packs ten gunny bags (7) STENGUN [T] Enu should be (4,3)

21 'Endless Hope" - cryptic clue about Shelley's first minor work (7) OPSUCLE {hOPe}{U{Sh...y}CLE*}

22 Tea-shop broadcast introduction of bajra rotis (6) BISTRO {Ba..a+ROTIS}*

25 Watch money getting deposited in bank (5) TIMER {TI{M}ER}

Reference List

Yankee = Y, Wife = W, About = RE, Son = S, National = N, Government = G, Daughter = D, Missing = M, Unionist = U, Republican = R, Note = N, Old = O, Knight = N, School = S, Faculty = BENT, Money = M