No 13819, Wednesday 22 Mar 2023, Afterdark

 

Artwork by Prasanna

Rangoli by Gowri

Solution to 1A 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   Civil engineer with guards surround (from the rear) a morally corrupt place (8) C?S?P?O? (Addendum - CESSPOOL {CE}{SS}{LOOP<=} - See comments)

5   Move through the text in parchment (6) SCROLL [DD]

10 Student's expressive? Not very, limited (5) LOCAL {L}{vOCAL}

11 Dinosaur dug an onion (not new) hurriedly (9) IGUANODON {DUG+AN+ONIOn}*

12 Headgear of graduate's hundred thousand at an American city and state (9) BALACLAVA {BA}and {CL}{A} in {LA}{VA} (Addendum - {BA}{LAC}{LA}{VA} - See comments)

13 Covered by Andre runner gets broadcast again (5) RERUN [T]

14 A Marathi lady reached China to join international martial arts (3,3) TAI CHI {TAI}{CH}{I}

15 Hapless counsellor has no cue on deodorants, say (4-3) ROLL-ONS {cOuNSeLLER}*

18 Old coin given by provident fund employee primarily to procure new gin cocktail (7) PFENNIG {PF}{Em...e}{N}{GIN*}

20 Respect to one German in flat, say (6) HOMAGE {HOM{A}{G}E}

22 Correct old law (5) EXACT {EX}{ACT}

24 It's neuron? Not exactly, some other particles (9) NEUTRINOS*

25 Portions of brain has a cell developed to absorb fresh beer (9) CEREBELLA {A+CELL}* over {BEER}*

26 Group of singers at Switzerland return to port city (5) CHOIR {CH}{RIO<=}

27 Sailor to procure object (6) TARGET {TAR}{GET}

28 Perhaps light at a laboratory entrance shows it's related to newborns (8) NEONATAL {NEON}{AT}{A}{La...y}

DOWN

1   Stars' celebrations without provisions (6) CELEBS CELEBrationS

2   Bored? Go off (4,5) SICK LEAVE {SICK}{LEAVE}

3   Cop's endless rules, primarily expected to keep criminals list (6,9) POLICE CONSTABLE {POLICy}{Ex...d}{CONS}{TABLE}

4   Paperwork on migration to leave Thailand navy to be redone (7) ORIGAMI MIGRAtIOn*

6   Cuba airmen learn act amended by Mexican, perhaps (7,8) CENTRAL AMERICAN {C}{AIRMEN+LEARN+ACT}*

7   Direction class (5) ORDER [DD]

8   Lady, one with cape is in seclusion (8) LONENESS {L}{ONE}{NESS}

9   Gold set for babysitter (2,4) AU PAIR {AU}{PAIR}

16 Paper frequently left in front part of the church (5,4) ORGAN LOFT {ORGAN}{OFT}<=>{L}

17 A blow for meal, leader left to shave (8) UPPERCUT {sUPPER}{CUT}

19 67% of males are kind (6) GENTLE GENTLEmen

20 Gain time for transportation (7) HAULAGE {HAUL}{AGE}

21 Somewhat last rally was associated to the stars (6) ASTRAL [T]

23 Atmosphere at Ecuador outskirts could be drier (5) AIRER {AIR}{Ec...oR}

Reference List

Civil engineer = CE. Guards = SS, Very = V, New = N, Marathi lady = TAI, China = CH, International = I, Provident fund = PF, German = G, Switzerland = CH, Sailor = TAR, Criminals = CONS, Thailand = T, Navy = N, Cuba = C, Lady = L, Cape = NESS, Left = L