No 13994, Friday 13 Oct 2023, WrdPlougher

RULES FOR POSTING COMMENTS ON FRIDAYS ONLY

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ACROSS

1   Spokespersons briefly starting to speak about additional premium electronic ID (6) PAPERS {PRo}{Sp..k} over {A}{P}{E} A/Additional? P/Premium? 

5   Once again following fashionable cues, badly lacking confidence (8) INSECURE {RE}<=>{IN} and {CUES*}

9   Caution in war, in essence, concealed (8) WARINESS [T]

10 Ball in endless chamber, part of building (6) CORBEL {C{ORB}ELl}

11 Lingerie lost, Cher nude, possibly... (12) UNDERCLOTHES*

13 ... present, covered in her enigma (4) HERE [T]

14 Tailless felines, first pair, of ancestry unknown, caught wrapped in rugs (4,4) MANX CATS {ANc...y}{X}{C} in {MATS}

17 Not now, initially Deutsche Welle's broadcast in American city centre (8) DOWNTOWN {NOT+NOW+De...e+We..e}*

18 Sounded somewhat strange (4) RANG [T]

20 X tweet, essentially, I mean, confused about the tenth question (5-7) CROSS-EXAMINE {CROSS}{twEet}{I+MEAN}* over {X} X is Ten or Tenth?

23 Embarrassed about fight in front of prison guard (6) WARDER {RED<=}<=>{WAR}

24 Peeled lime after briefly fasting, losing fat, beginning to starve — one calorie causing harm (8) INIMICAL {lIMe}<=>{fastINg} and ({1}{CAL} The usual convoluted clue

25 Passionate doctor checking stitch, even on vacation (8) VEHEMENT {VE{HEM}{EveN}T}

26 "Divide achieved, Mr. Spooner?" (6) SUNDER (~ done sir to sunder)

DOWN

2   Moody being, perhaps, rising Aussie cricketer (4) AGAR Anno pending

3   Great manure, not primarily for luxurious spreads? (9) EPICUREAN {EPIC}{mANURE}* What's the Anind?

4   Awkward dates, shy, finally going strong (6) STEADY {DATES}*{shY}

5   One who pulls strings, perhaps struts in — male nit (15) INSTRUMENTALIST*

6   Feeding young bird with a bit of salmon instead of daughter (8) SUCKLING (-d+s)SUCKLING

7   Wagon carrying some amphetamines, around 200 mg (5) CARAT {CAR{Am...e}T}

8   Turning around, Vencat regularly offering more time in office (10) REELECTING {REEL{vEnCaT}ING} Is this definition correct?

12 Cut up carved lemon duck, alternatively scarf down gateau, so to speak? (6,4) DEVOUR CAKE {CARVED+lEmOn+dUcK}*

15 Red stone I can learn about (9) CARNELIAN*

16 In release, assured of success (4,4) HOME FREE {HOME}{FREE}

19 Insist on protests (3-3) SIT-INS* What's the Anind?

21 Slide casually, move along the edge (5) SIDLE*

22 Decline southern maiden, awed to some extent (4) WANE [T<=]

Reference List

Electronic = E, Again = RE, Fashionable = IN, Unknown = X, Caught = C, Cross = X, Daughter = D, In = HOME