No 11958, Saturday 18 Mar 2017, Afterdark

ACROSS
1 Vehicle essentially speeds on road race (6) CAREER{CAR}{spEEds}{R}
4 Craves for company with stranger to tour Venice primarily and get satisfied at the end (6) COVETS {CO{V}ET S}
9 Rising moon behind river's bit tarnished (4) RIOT {R}{IO{Ta...d}
10 Sparkling gold at source is waste, is no good; sources (10) GLITTERING {Gold}{LITTER I N G}
11 Live by law, love and by middle-age get fit (6) BELONG {BE}{L}{O}{aNd}{aGe}
12 Instruments to cut bone first and drill will fetch money (8) TRIPPERS {T}{RIP PE RS}
13 Relying on department head to collect engineer's due (9) DEPENDING {De...t}{E}{PENDING]
15 Light needs little current (4) LAMP {L}{AMP}
16 Son fixes a light source on snowmobile (4) SLED {S}{LED}
17 Imagining gossip, pun is horrible (9) SUPPOSING {GOSSIP+PUN}*
21 Subject overwhelmed by murderer, saved at the end by officers (8) CAPTAINS {C{APT}AIN}{Sa..d} Corrected. Please see comments below
22 Resistance by union leader at building accelerated (6) RUSHED {R}{Un...n}{SHED}
24 Setting ATM! nothing special in this place (10) ATMOSPHERE {ATM}{O}{SP}{HERE}
25 Some tax levied on pin (4) AXLE {Telescopic}
26 Relied on grass found around street (6) RESTED {REED around ST}
27 Book kept by that woman given to son, not you and me (6) OTHERS {OT}{HER}{S} Second son here, first one figuring in 16a

DOWN
1 Neighbour inches away, close to Pune (7) CHINESE {INCHES* punE}

中 国 人

2 Supplies short of allowance (5) RATIO {RATIOn}
3 Angry on losing Romeo, girl came on board and agreed to marry (7) ENGAGED {EN(+g-r)GAGED}
5 No teacher would accept a fiend, even for gain (6) OBTAIN {O}{BT}{A}{fIeNd}
6 Trump, reopen USA for the French, perhaps (9) EUROPEANS {(REOPEN USA)*}
7 Drink and incoherently rant in shade (7) SUNTRAP {SU(RANT*)P}
8 Noble eliminated and disposed old lover to go after princess' spell primarily (13) DISTINGUISHED { DI}{Spell}{exTINGUSHED}
14 Steel car damaged, article's missing, but working inside through subatomic particles (9) ELECTRONS {STEEL+CaR}* around {ON}
16 Instrument to repel woman but attract child in shower (7) SCATTER {S(-w+c)CATTER}
18 Recent development around political leader's one in hundred (7) PERCENT {RECENT}* around {Po...l}

%

19 Crooked news dealer, can be raw inside, provokes (7) NEEDLES {NEwS DEaLEr}*
20 It's easy for school-head to hold troublemaker at the middle of aisleway (6) SIMPLE {ais(School IMP)LEway]
23 Add a drop of honey in wine and stir (5) SHAKE {S(H)AKE} Bond would probably disagree that stirred and shaken are the same

GRID

No 11957, Friday 17 Mar 2017, Afterdark

ACROSS
1   Recruiter, volunteer fast to approach Supreme Court to get out (6,5) TALENT SCOUT {TA}{LENT} {SC}{OUT}
7   Bird tied in tree tops (3) TIT Acrostic

9   But termination withheld is unqualified (5) UTTER [T]
10 Opener's pager given by Spooner to apiarist (9) BEEKEEPER {(-k+b)BEE}{(-b+k)KEEPER}
11 Duration of life is determined by desire, brevity and killing brother (9) LONGEVITY {LONG}{brEVITY}
12 Mug's steaming, breaks when AGM drops (5) STEIN STEamINg

13 Stickler to observe female at America while starting (7) FUSSPOT {F}{US}{SPOT}
15 Brave lawyer faces creep regularly (4) DARE {DA}{cReEp}
18 Column by President Mark (4) POST {P}{OST} OST - Original Sound Track? See comments
20 Won't create a planned urban community (3,4) NEW TOWN [RA]
23 Letters from Honolulu pinned on plant (5) LUPIN [T]

24 Braggart's a hoodlum roaming around Pondy, say (9) LOUDMOUTH {HOODLUM}* over {UT}
26 Seek protection from buyout, borrow one hundred (4,5) TAKE COVER {C} in {TAKEOVER}
27 Supply cannula, no time to get man out (5) CATER CAtheTER
28 Layer of heroin found on nurse (3) HEN {H}{EN}
29 Venues destroyed by a barrage of darts from a daredevil woman (11) ADVENTURESS {VENUES+DARTS}*

DOWN
1   It’s realistic for outfielder to miss duke ball and get injured (4-4) TRUE LIFE {oUTFIELdER}*
2   Tardiness displayed by deadhead (8) LATENESS {LATE}{NESS}
3   Sues often to get chargeback in advance from support (5) NURSE {RUN<=}{SuEs}
4   Continue to sit clutching edge of the seat on reversing vehicle (7) SUBSIST {BUS<=}{SI{Seat}T}
5   Doyen's hurt, takes energy drug with half the vision perhaps (3-4) ONE-EYED {E}{E} in {DOYEN}*
6   Mammal lobbed around a fish, perhaps, rejected (4,5) TREE SHREW {SEER<=} in {THREW}

7   Delete clue on page once (6) TIPPEX {TIP}{P}{EX}
8   Crowd put out mostly at north Germany (6) THRONG {THROw}{N}{G}
14 I phone CIA in a frenzy to find old civilization (9) PHOENICIA*

16 Meat dish offered right away to flirtatious woman (8) COQUETTE CrOQUETTE
17 Type of mushrooms with tips off can be made as liquid containers (8) INKHORNS stINKHORNS Had to Google this mushroom to solve this one

19 A live TV broadcast in city (3,4) TEL AVIV*
20 Particle found in information transmitter is kind of square inside (7) NEUTRON {NEU{T}RON}
21 Blemish on lawyer, book and charge 33% (6) BLOTCH {BL}{OT}{CHarge}
22 Told Rod to head north (6) SPOKEN {SPOKE}{N}
25 Obama caucus withholding a region of China (5) MACAU [T]

GRID