No 13749, Thursday 29 Dec 2022, Avtaar

Artwork by Prasanna

Rangoli by Gowri

Solution to 8D 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   Try out Uber's video app (7) YOUTUBE [T]

5   Dry, soft and bent (7) PARCHED {P}{ARCHED}

9   Writer John, reflecting over preface to story (1,1,5) T S ELIOT {TOILE{St..y}T<=}

10 International retreats visited by head of venture funds (7) INVESTS {I}{N{Ve...e}ESTS}

11 Institute books large property without specifying who will take over (9) INTESTATE {I}{NT}{ESTATE}

12 Fire I kindled, imbibing alternative therapy (5) REIKI [T]

13 Staff blend fruit (5) MANGO {MAN}{GO}

15 Passage in fort that is next to river, seized by Don Al (9) CAPONIERE {CAPON{IE}{R}E} 

17 Blue sheet, blankets, black tee - for frequent flyers? (3,3,3) THE JET SET {THE{JET}SE*}{T}

19 Small reclining bed to accommodate one patient (5) STOIC {S{C{1}OT<=}

22 Fills vessel with fresh tea (5) SATES {S{TEA*}S}

23 Like a Greek hero, a South American chains rebel's foot (9) ACHILLEAN {A}{CHIL{r..eL}EAN}

25 Have issue with relatives? (7) INBREED [CD]

26 Wine, say, fermented somehow or the other (7) ANYWISE*

27 Returned close to boundary and stopped the ball after suppressing force (7) YIELDED {b...rY}{fIELDED}

28 Thousands covering up swindle about working age (5,2) KNOCK ON {K}{CON<=}{K}{ON}

DOWN

1   Removing black earth from this element yields a silvery metal (7) YTTRIUM YTTeRbIUM

2   Left on the table after dinner? In the end, you clean up (7) UNEATEN {yoU}{NEATEN}

3   Portions from nuts I distributed (5) UNITS*

4   Gates is tense about restricting scuttled programming language (9) ENTRANCES {ENT{RAN}{C}ES*}

5   Cardinal, prince and king making an ascent (5) PRIME {P}{EMIR<=}

6   People like Spooner run ... always on top of targets (9) REVERENDS {R}{EVER}{ENDS}

7   Unfriendly news-anchor irritates leading experts at the start (7) HOSTILE {HOST}{Ir...s}{Le...g}{Ex...s}

8   Secret circle rescinded decree (7) D?S?I?E (Addendum - DESTINE clanDESTINE - See comments)

14 Vendors juggling with limits of price bust cost budget (9) OVERSPEND {OVERS{PricE}ND*}

16 Impossible to see? Drop position, says Spooner (5-4) PITCH-DARK {~ditch park to pitch dark)

17 Irritable about wife shedding clothes for show (7) TESTIFY {TEST{wIFe}Y}

18 Teen waves, holding flag in city near Lake Victoria (7) ENTEBBE {ENT{EBB}E*}

20 Doctor likes fancy stone pillar (7) OBELISK {OB}{LIKES*}

21 Worry almost immediately after entering well-known nuclear research centre (7) CONCERN {C{ONCe}ERN}

23 Confused student dropped supplementary (5) ADDED ADDlED

24 Inexperienced tyro discharged order to stop sailing (3,2) LAY TO {LAY}{TyrO}

Reference List

Soft = P, John = TOILET, International =I, Institute = I, Books = NT(New Testament), River = R, Black = JET,  Tee = T, Small = S, Vessel = SS, Force = F, Thousand = K, Black = B, Earth = E, Prince = P, Run = R, Docyor = OB, Student = L