No 12451, Saturday 20 Oct 2018, Neyartha

 Neyartha reminds us of our salad days 

Across

7. Rewrote DIG's manual for a cooked mixed salad (10) SALMAGUNDI {DIGS+MANUAL*}
9. Boil yoghurt partially covered with grease (4) OILY (T)
10. Antibiotic, not fully digested, after time's lost at the start (2,6) AB INITIO {ANTIOBIOtIc*}
11. Conversation returns to the auditor's note in front of an item subject to steeping (3,3) TEA BAG {~TE }{GAB<=}
12. Young man concealing the cut in a small British cottage (5) BOTHY {BO{THe}Y}

13. Knight leaves the Yank's building to dig after internal turmoil in a place of worship (9) SYNAGOGUE {YANkS*}{GO(-u)G(+U)E} Thanks Col. for the anno
14. Arrest the conservative trapped in a cloudburst with the Oriental (7) OCCLUDE {CLOUD*} around {C}+{E}
17. Environmental conditions making an apprentice get rid of the wife's jacket material (7) LEATHER {(-w+L)EATHER}
20. Holy cigar smoked in a state governed by a small exclusive class (9) OLIGARCHY {HOLY+CIGAR*}
22. Connected with Oscar to get entertained by a wind instrument from the east (5) ABOUT {TUBA<=} around {O}
25. Leaders of the European states considered under Donald's outreach get some African currency (6) ESCUDO (Acrostic)
26. Value embedded in a Christmas song on the merry-go-round (8) CAROUSEL {CARO{USE}L}
27. Cow generating consistent profit? (4) CASH (CD)
28. Freed from bacteria and made infertile (10) STERILISED (DD)

Down

1. Graduate upset by a follower getting immersed in an abridged book on a hollow reed (6) BAMBOO {B{MA<=}{B}OOk}
2. Flag a teenager for hiding a gemstone (5) AGATE (T)
3. Heavy load carried by a northbound tropical Asian bird from, say, start to finish (7) ANTONYM {MYNA<=} around {TON}
4. Strain in a process to box up a pastry (8) FILTRATE {FIL{TART<=}E}
5. Hot one is best handled immediately (6) POTATO (CD)
6. Confident request sent to the top could deliver delight (8) PLEASURE {PLEA}{SURE}
8. Crystalline alcohol prepared by dissolving thorium in lemon juice (7) MENTHOL {LEMON*} around {TH}
15. Acts to pull up son after a mine product's reported in the shredded cabbage (8) COLESLAW {~COAL}{S}{LAW<=} {~COAL}{(+S)LAW(-s)} See comments

16. Room used freely by a rodent (8) DORMOUSE {ROOM+USED*}
18. Absolution at sea after son leaves to get a Mediterranean dish (7) TABOULI {ABsoLUTIOn*}

19. Airplane pre-boarding requirement making one trade places with an Asian bird (7) CHICKEN {CH(-e+I)CK(-i+E)N}
21. Cowboy Oscar replaced by the Oriental lacking social polish (6) GAUCHE {GAUCH(-o+E)
23. Crooked nun excitedly welcoming the first woman ... (6) UNEVEN {NUN*} around {EVE}
24. ... getting benefit from a plant product (5) FRUIT (DD)

Reference List

Time=T, Note=Te, Knight=K, Conservative=C, Oriental=E, Apprentice=L (Learner), Wife=W, Oscar=O
Graduate=MA, A follower=B, Thorium=Th, Son=S, One=I, Asian=E, The first woman=Eve

Colour/Font Scheme

Definition, Solution, Component letters, Embedded links, Theme word,  Anagram Indicator, C/C indicator, Reversal Indicator, Hidden word Indicator, Letter Pick indicator, Deletion Indicator, Homophone Indicator, Movement Indicator, Positional Indicator, Substitution, Indicator, Link/Connector, Extraneous

GRID

Special, Friday 19 Oct 2018, Karthikeyan

Three answers per commenter as usual till 6 PM (Annotations compulosry)
Please provide all your answers in one comment

PREAMBLE

This crossword variant has three extra features added to the standard THC and the instructions to solve are given below:

1. Each four letters clue’s wordplay indicates one extra letter (appearing anywhere) not required in its solution; for e.g. if the clue reads " Amusement with small wine (4) " wordplay leads us to the answer SPORT; delete the first letter S from SPORT and fit the grid with PORT as the solution; it could also be SPOT after deleting R or SORT after deleting P.

The letter deletion could be anywhere in the answer got from wordplay; solver has to make the appropriate decision on which letter should be deleted as per the solution grid; Also the resultant four letters arrived at will be meaningful.

All such 4-letter clues are starred and they are 10 in count. Across: 10,12,17,20,25,29;    Down: 4,6,26,28.

Rest of the clues are to be solved in normal manner.

2. The letters from the outermost squares upon completion spell out six-word phrase (8,3,5,4,3,5); It is an extra clue to be solved, but only to be announced after the grid is solved.

3.  All the key words of the phrase fit in Across: 13,19,27. Hence no clues are given for them. Fit the phrase words appropriately in the solution grid.

ACROSS

8   Turned outwards after old resort is renovated (8)

9   Mae West demanded "______ , peel me a grape" (6)

10 Behind it, there are no gowns in Washington* (4)

11 Unsound coins concerned with sound (5)

12 Distribute 100 each from treasury* (4)

13 Refer instruction No. 3 (8)

15 Acey-ducey or blitz in football (3,3)

17 Leavening agent, though containing arsenic* (4)

19 Refer instruction No. 3 (5)

20 Italian sauce extracted regularly from press ethos* (4)

21 Sort of confrontation in which pullet is full of flap (4,2)

22 Laud inca playing an organ stop (8)

25 Letter of intent finally generated heat* (4)

27 Refer instruction No. 3 (5)

29 Scoff at gold carried by explosive* (4)

30 Abundant divests initially one-third for a grammatical case (6)

31 Medico needs work permits to administer drips (8)

DOWN

1   Old pronounced fire to soon disappear (6)

2   Delayed expert performed outside Turkey (10)

3   French American volunteers design truncated cones (6)

4   Occupy heart of a foreigner* (4)

5   Starters made from organic beet & spinach salad contain remedy for blinds (8)

6   House fly genus or a small constellation* (4)

7   Heavyweights boxing painful, yet they move faster than light (8)

14 FIFA18 semifinalist, dropping no good runner in South Africa (5)

16 Of French publicity, one against can be suppressible (10)

18 Sadly Leo leaves ruined stately home, to find a purple quartz (8)

19 Racketeer permits tax to be levied in violent anger (8)

23 Electronic brain reflected from despot, palely (6)

24 A lack of practice in cricket or a reason enough not to go fishing (2,4)

26 A court procedure mostly seen in courts* (4)

28 Aborigine's daughter surrounded by Hindu scripture* (4)

Acrosslite version can be accessed at KARTHIK 6

Enjoy.