No 13825, Wednesday 29 Mar 2023, Hypatia

Solution to 12D 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

9   Game played by Beijing Airport security? (7,8) CHINESE CHECKERS [DD]

10 Minute tear at the edges stops sail flapping in wind (7) MISTRAL {M}{{IS{TeaR}AL*}

11 Secure line to hold uniform in washing (7) LAUNDRY {LA{U}ND}{RY}

12 Finally crack math problem with university's capital (9) KATHMANDU {c..cK}{MATH*}{AND}{U}

14 Cook pasta or light snacks (5) TAPAS*

17 A bit of mushroom in pizza, say - not hot pepper (7) PIMENTO {PI{Mu...m}E}{~ThO} (Correction - {PI{Mu...m}E}{NOT*} - See comments)

19 Quarantine taxis Ola temporarily parks inside (7) ISOLATE [T]

21 Could be a lot closer to a lion's claw! (5) TALON {A+LOT}*{lioN}

23 Separate dirt from trifle (6,3) FILTER OUT {TRIFLE}* [RA]

25 Bottle thrower (7) PITCHER [DD]

27 Start to talk about rings like novel author (7) TOLKIEN {Talk}{O{LIKE*}N}

30 Very small amount of what a scuba diver may want? (1,4,2,3,5) A DROP IN THE OCEAN [DD]

DOWN

1   Scheme conning average man, basically! (4) SCAM Acrostic &lit

2   Prejudice oddly seen in Brit also (4) BIAS {BrIt+AlSo}

3   Say, gondolier's cheerful supporter, per Spooner (8) FERRYMAN (~merry fan to ferryman)

4   Cook often covering large non-stick surface (6) TEFLON {TEF{L}ON*} Teflon is a trademark name

5   Snack service in India's massage retreat (8) BHELPURI {HELP} in {I}{RUB}<=

6   Sex after a conservative queen becomes free (6) ACQUIT {IT}<=>{A}{C}{QU}

7   Persuade courier to take book for son (4) BEND (-s+b)BEND

8   Cycle right outside parking spot (4) ESPY (-y}ES(+y)Y over {P}

12 Kilometre over a place's gone (5) K?P?T (Addendum - KAPUT {K}{A}{PUT} - See comments)

13 Dog biting master's tongue (5) TAMIL {TA{M}IL}

15 Starting from Paris, the French essentially stop philosopher (5) PLATO {Pa..s}{LA}{sTOp}

16 Writer entering empty set, exhausted (5) SPENT {Se{PEN}T}

18 Cancelled European band's subscription (8) OFFERING {OFF}{E}{RING}

20 Forget to supervise (8) OVERLOOK [DD]

22 Broken mobile phone stores nothing (2,4) NO HOPE {N{O}HOPE*}

24 Cool it! Chill..Have some fruit (6) LITCHI [T]

25 Request and switch sides in game (4) PRAY P(-l+r)RAY

26 Basically tournaments use really fresh grass (4) TURF Acrostic

28 Judgement of advocate initially taken down (4) IDEA (-a)IDE(+a)A

29 Nobody listened to sister (4) NONE (~nun)

Reference List

Minute = M, Line = RY, Uniform = U, University = U, Large = L, India = I, Sex = IT, Conservative = C, Queen = QU, Book = B, Son = S, Parking = P, Kilometer = K, Master = M, The in French = LA, European = E