No 13872, Tuesday 23 May 2023, Dr. X

Solution to 21A 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.

Open for anyone to answer, if not solved by 1 PM.

ACROSS

1   Safe golfer's reason for not hitting long shots? (3,2,3,5) OUT OF THE WOODS [DD]

8   Battle to seize heroin by force in dock (5) WHARF {W{H}AR}{F}

9   Extremely calm couple, so different after drinking bit of rum (9) SUPERCOOL {COUPLE+SO}* over {Rum}

11 Blind date accepted by rebellious woman going astray (3,7) RED HERRING {H{D}ER<=}{ERRING}

12 Initially, just attach image file format (4) JPEG {Just}{PEG}

14 Inaugural gift - stylish and select clothes (7) HANDSEL [T]

16 Unscrupulous hero ditching model (7) IMMORAL IMMORtAL

17 Active agent in toxin (7) ANTIGEN*

19 Once more going around river with a famous waterfall (7) NIAGARA {AGAIN<=}{R}{A}

21 Extremely tight at first binge (4) T?O? (Addendum - TOOT {TOO}{Ti..t} - See comments)

22 Wistful in hospital, overwhelmed by difficult time with bad flu (10) THOUGHTFUL {T{H}OUGH}{T}{FLU*}

25 Desire to check out attractive person having lunch with hot woman (5,4) DEATH WISH {D{EAT}{H}{W}ISH}

26 Surprise! Abruptly captures knight and mates (5) TWINS {TWI{N}St}

27 Distressed by breaking fingers conducting stunt on top of elevator (5-8) GRIEF-STRICKEN {FINGERS}* over {TRICK}{El...r}

DOWN

2   African thug and anarchist caught (7) UGANDAN [T]

3   Silly gaffes with some not following approved party line (3-7) OFF-MESSAGE {GAFFES+SOME}*

4   American in lounge keeled over - it's shocking! (5) TASER {RES{A}T<=}

5   Spread rumour about stealing kiss on sleepover (9) EXPANSION {NOISE<=} over {X}{NAP<=}

6   Losing head, yells and rows (4) OARS rOARS

7   Daughter designed proper tube for dispensing liquid (7) DROPPER {D}{PROPER*}

8   Raw red meat cooked over hour becoming tender (11) WARMHEARTED {RAW+RED+MEAT}* over {H}

10 Smart lawyers and members drinking beer and shaking a leg (5,6) LEGAL EAGLES {LEGS} over {ALE}{A+LEG}*

13 Understanding what makes one vomit over trail (10) EMPATHETIC {EM{PATH}ETIC}

15 Left on edge by cutback in vital parts (9) LINCHPINS {L}{INCH}{SNIP<=}

18 Chief takes a little while to reveal poker hand (3,4) TWO PAIR {T{Wh..e}OP}{AIR}

20 A female on vacation inviting fine character for liaison in France (7) AFFAIRE {A}{Fe..lE} over {F}{AIR}

23 Show drug dealer quietly escaping (5) USHER pUSHER

24 Loafer in love, captivated by woman (4) SHOE {SH{O}E}

Reference List

Heroin = H, Force = F, Date = D, Model = T, River = R, Hospital = H, Time = T, Attractive person = DISH, Hot = H, Woman = W, Knight = N, American = A, Kiss = X, Daughter = D, Hour = H, Fine = F, Quietly = P