No 13747, Tuesday 27 Dec 2022, Hypatia

Rangoli by Gowri

Solution to 25A 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   Slips of lawyers (6) BRIEFS [DD]

4   Leader of America in revolting roles (6) SATRAP {PART{A}S<=}

9   Food containing starch and no flatulence, from the East (4) SAGO {0}{GAS}<=

10 Cutlery to frustrate girls, per Spooner (10) CHOPSTICKS (~stop chicks to chopsticks)

11 Scan hurried upon finding time inadequate, basically! (6) SHUFTI Acrostic &lit

12 Relatives try to get daughter married before son lands (8) KINGDOMS {KIN}{G{D}O}{M}{S}

13 Striking for author's books (9) PROMINENT {PRO}{MINE}{NT}

15 Cry of a little kitten born inverted (4) KEEN {Ki...n}{NEE<=}

16 Part of wonderful nature (4) ULNA [T} Semi&lit

17 Sculpture of novelist outside Cuba's borders (9) SCRIMSHAW {S{C}{RIMS}HAW}

21 Plant in avenue containing small exercise area (5,3) SWEET PEA {S{WEE}T}{PE}{A}

22 Return without catching kite, gutted in winds (6) SNAKES {SNA{KitE}S<=}

24 Olympic medallist strangely ran up via Rome's centre (5,5)  PAAVO NURMI {RAN+UP+VIA+rOMe}*

25 Disregard first half of eccentric story teller (4) L?A? (Addendum - LIAR pecuLIAR - See comments)

26 Sexy secretary on vacation jammed with band (6) STEAMY {Se...rY} over {TEAM}

27 Frequently knock off beers to join close friend (6) BESTIE {BeErS}{TIE}

DOWN

1   Alert Bahrain using Twitter (7) BLATHER {ALERT+BH}*

2   Foul stroke in snooker starts to irritate nasty old fellows (2,3) IN OFF {Ir...e}{Na..y}{O}{FF}

3   Group providing advance for current novels, say (7) FICTION F(-a+i)ICTION

5   Crabs entering burrows faraway (6) ABSENT [T]

6   See red run in washing Santa's drawers? (9) REINDEERS {SEE+RED+R+IN}*

7   Composition features little kid performing as Pikachu, say (7) POKEMON {PO{Kid}EM}{ON}

8   Comfortable seats in his car (7,6) ROCKING CHAIRS {HIS+CAR}* [RA]

14 Pilot scheme (9) MANOEUVRE [DD]

16 One French woman sings and strips (7) UNWRAPS {UN}{W}{RAPS}

18 Trendy father has power to impress (7) INSPIRE {IN}{S{P}IRE}

19 Say, "grow up"? That's mean (7) AVERAGE {AVER}{AGE}

20 English horse gets lead in movie - Black Beauty perhaps (6) EPONYM {E}{PONY}{Mo..e} &lit

23 Note awful pants oddly selected (1,4) A FLAT {AwFuL+pAnTs}

Reference List

America = A, Daughter = D, Married = M, Son = S, Books = NT(New Testament), Born = NEE, Cuba = C, Exercise = PE, Area = A, Bahrain = BH, Old = O, Fellow = F, Advance = A, Current =I, Run = R, One in French = EN, Woman = W, Power = P, English = E