No 13876, Saturday 27 May 2023, Hypatia

ACROSS

7   "Fire and Ice" cast separated by killing dynasty’s first heir (11) BENEFICIARY {FIRE+ANd+ICE} in {BY}

8   Starts to ease, nudging Dhoni to finish (3) END Acrostic

10 Force a boundary (4) EDGE [DD}

11 Handy protection close to sitting duck (5) GLOVE {s...nG}{LOVE}

12 Had returned a robe Romans wore (4) TOGA {GOT<=}{A}

13 Mistakes of fielders (5) SLIPS [DD]

15 Not really certain it's complicated (9) INTRICATE*

16 Place from East shelters brown behemoths (6) TITANS {TI{TAN}S<=}

18 Huge group of soldiers led by American soldier (6) GIANTS {ANTS}<=>{GI}

21 Starts to tremble, really terrified about what cannibals do in therapy (9) TREATMENT {Tr...e}{Re...y}{Te...d} over {EAT MEN}

23 Characters of play organized around August (5) ROYAL [T<=]

25 Check couple twirling rings (diamonds) (4) EDIT {TI{D}E<=}

26 Farewell notice that is posh (5) ADIEU {AD}{IE}{U}

27 Black bird in sink (4) BOWL {B}{OWL}

28 Supply runs in the morning (3) ARM {A{R}M}

29 Swiss general's left to reform rivals (11) CHALLENGERS {CH}{GENERALS+L}*

DOWN

1   He led win batting in city (3,5) NEW DELHI*

2   Just a lake (4) MERE [DD]

3   Relatives protecting grand rulers (5) KINGS {KIN{G}S}

4   Rejects plant kept in rows (7) DISOWNS {DI{SOW}NS}

5   Animal at liberty to plod per Spooner (4,4) TREE FROG (~ free trog)

6   Ponder about attracting German nobleman (6) KNIGHT {TH{G}INK<=}

9   Like cuddling felines going back and forth making noise (8) STACCATO {S{TAC<=>CAT}O}

14 Nice lake missed by small farmers (8) PEASANTS {PlEASANT}{S}

17 Comfort extremely shy husband, in Hindi medium earlier (8) SYMPATHY {ShY}{PATHY}<=>{M}

19 Coiled snake inhabiting tree in harmony (8) TEAMWORK {TEA{(+m)MWOR(-m)}K}

20 He questions moving lower down to catching position (7) INFIELD INFI(-d)EL(+d)D

22 Qualifications for jockeys (6) RIDERS [DD}

24 Excellent meal softly polished off (5) SUPER SUpPER

27 Defects in vehicle consuming gallons (4) BUGS {BU{G}S}

Reference List

Notice = AD, Posh = U, Black = B, Runs = R, Swiss = CH, Left = L, Grand = G, German = G, Lake = L, Small = S, Husband in Hindi = PATHY, Medium = M, Down = D, Softly = P, Gallons = G