No 14211, Wednesday 26 Jun 2024, Hypatia

Solution to 12A 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   Wrong claims about university being harmonious (7) MUSICAL {M{U}SICAL*}

5   Against discharge dumped in river (7) DESPITE {DE{SPIT}E}

9   Sanskrit text, originally from Srinagar, contains Persian art (7) SHASTRA {Sr...r}{HAS}{ART<=}

10 Jumping over every other tree of jungle, he's one seeking a safe place (7) REFUGEE {tReE+oF+jUnGlE+hE}

11 Needs ten Chiclets to mask bad smell (6) STENCH [T]

12 Man, nearly fired stealing founder's capital (8) ?E?S?N?I (Addendum - HELSINKI {HE}{L{SINK}It} - See comments)

14 Auditor's extremely lively and ahead of time (5) EARLY {EAR}{Li..lY}

16 Loved touring city's stadium (9) VELODROME {LOVED*}{ROME}

18 Classic tales of French alongside romance novel (9) DECAMERON {DE}{ROMANCE*}

19 Conservative veils maiden drops in tubs (5) CASKS {C}{mASKS}

20 Expecting UN leader to follow behind China (8) ASSUMING {Un}<=>{ASS} and {MING}

22 Start from word Carl's playing in Scrabble (6) SCRAWL {Word+CARLS}*

26 Soldiers at Ground Zero in American city (7) ORLANDO {OR}{LAND}{{0}

27 Browsing thread in gossip groups (7) READING [T]

28 Heading to Republic Day parade finally kept on account of time in iconic location (3,4) RED FORT {Re...c}{p...dE}{Day}{FOR}{T}

29 Sign left above hospital ward (7) PORTENT {PORT}{ENT}

DOWN

1   Old man sometimes careless, forgetting lost item (5) MOSES SOMEtimeS*

2   Film degree (5) SCALE [DD]

3   Doctor acts calm tackling emergency, ultimately a disaster (9) CATACLYSM {ACTS+CALM}* over {e...cY}

4   Lounge for cake (4) LOAF [DD]

5   Competitive exam held in favourite city (10) DARJEELING {DAR{JEE}LING}

6   Seekers ultimately following Islamic spiritual principles! (5) SUFIS Acrostic &lit

7   Smart and trendy say, raising new loans (9) INGENIOUS {IN}{EG<=}{N}{IOUS}

8   They draw viewers - clearly! (9) EYELINERS [DD]

13 Turned veto around - it's done! (4,3,3) OVER AND OUT* 

14 Try and finish each volume belonging to us (9) ENDEAVOUR {END}{EA}{V}{OUR}

15 How to make idols firm? (4-5) ROCK-SOLID {IDOLS}* [RA]

17 Spooner said, "Scrutinize risk: one could lie here" (4,5) DECKCHAIR (~ check dare to deck chair)

21 Delicious fruit among bananas (5) MANGO*

23 Put up American offer at the start of elections (5) ABIDE {A}{BID}{El...s}

24 Switch to the other side to fix match (5) LIGHT (-r+l)LIGHT

25 Trim growth (4) CROP [DD]

Reference List

University = U, Of in French = DE, Conservative = C, Maiden = M, Soldiers = OR, Time = T, Ward = ENT, Trendy = IN, Say = EG, New = N, Each = EA, Volume = V