No 13898, Thursday 22 Jun 2023, Dr. X

Solution to 15A 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 & 24 What yoga practitioner might do to make every effort (4,4,9) BEND OVER BACKWARDS [DD}

5   Fantastic feast, eating bit of rasgulla for dessert (6) AFTERS {AFTE{Ra...a}S*}

10 Crook stealing old boat (5) CANOE {CAN{O}E}

11 Leading criminal starting to unwind with cocaine in bar (9) CONDUCIVE {CON}{D{Un...d}{C}IVE}

12 Animal trainer brought back antiseptic to tackle rash (9) PREMATURE {P{TAMER<=}URE}

13 Turn to operate, taking second cut by surgical beam (5) LASED {DE{S}AL<=}

14 Long snake on island, extremely rare (6) ASPIRE {ASP}{I}{RarE}

15 Rebellious groom after union in flat - endlessly devoted (7) D?T?F?L () 

18 Enthralled by grass, extremely naive girl failed to keep a promise (7) RENEGED {RE{NaivE}{G}ED}

20 Queen loses special valuable, gets sad (6) RUEFUL {R}{UsEFUL}

22 A little cheeky and amorous? No, husband's old-fashioned (5) CORNY {Ch...y}{hORNY}

24 See 1

25 Restless prince in intimate romps (9) IMPATIENT {IM{P}ATIENT*}

26 Paris Hilton welcomes saint (5) RISHI [T]

27 Dropping anchor initially at sea, boatmen lay to rest (6) ENTOMB BOaTMEN*

28 Most glamorous fellow and female continue to entertain (8) FLASHEST {F}{LA{SHE}ST}

DOWN

1   Boy getting chills, having bit of pus in muscle (6) BICEPS {B}{ICE{Pus}S}

2   Nobody discovered snooper in topless bar (9) NONPERSON {iN{SNOOPER*}N}

3   See my post perhaps about assessing essential software (9,6) OPERATING SYSTEM  {SEE+MY+POST}* over {RATING}

4   Avoid consuming unknown drug in bar (7) EXCLUDE {E{X}{C}LUDE}

6   Tackling dispute, upset old ref utters horrible expletives (4-6,5) FOUR-LETTER WORDS {ROW<=} in {OLD+REF+UTTERS}*

7   Leaves foolish sexist wanting son (5) EXITS sEXIST*

8   Desperate aide meeting lady in filthy place regularly (8) STEADILY {AIDE}*{L} in {STY}

9   India's top director captivated by miss undoubtedly (6) INDEED {In..a}{N{D}EED} can also be {I}{N{Di...r}EED}

16 Shine brightly, cracking clues for bit of entertainment (9) FLUORESCE {CLUES+FOR}*{En...t}

17 Observe model making a comeback in contest under pressure (8) PRACTISE {RAC{SIT<=}E}<=>{P}

19 Touched by father carrying flag around (6) DABBED {DA{EBB<=}D}

20 Reading fantastic article (7) RECITAL*

21 Top hitters unfortunately losing energy (1-5) T-SHIRT HITTeRS*

23 Wanting right item to put plant in another container (5) REPOT REPOrT

Reference List

Old = O, Cocaine = C, Bar = DIVE, Second = S, Island = I, Girl = G, Queen = R, Special = S, Husband = H, Prince = P, Fellow = F, Boy = B, Unknown = X, Drug = C, Son = S, Lady = L, India = A, Director = D, Pressure = P, Energy = E, Right = R