No 12293, Tuesday 17 Apr 2018, Spinner

Spinner has spun in a topical story today.

Answer and anno of 11A left for a rookie commenter till 10 AM.

ACROSS
1   Man who alerts when combat claims ranger occasionally (6) WARNER {WA{RaNgEr}R}
4   They speak softly — When man’s away, they speak audibly! (8) UTTERERS mUTTERERS
10 From the same family as dead, angry on the outside (7) RELATED {RE{LATE}D}
11 Come earlier to catch and eat (7) P?E?A?E (Addendum - PREDATE [DD] - See comments)
12 Depend on pinching money, of late! (8) RECENTLY {RE{CENT}LY}
13 Endless criticism follows Spinner’s cryptic (6) MYSTIC {MY}{STICk}
15 Produced offspring with wife (4) SOWN {SO{W}N}
17 Scheme gives prize after classes (9) STRATAGEM {STRATA}{GEM}
20 Retiring one trapped in firm’s coils (9) SOLENOIDS {SOL{ONE<=}IDS}
21 Hero turning traitor after onset of scandal (4) STAR {Sc...l}{RAT<=}
24 Order head coach to quit for good measure! (6) DEGREE DE(-c+g)GREE
25 Rough patches for pair of students trapped in lawsuits (8) CALLUSES {CA{LL}USES}
28 One who causes a stir after a bit of tape ends up in pant (7) TROUSER {Tape}{ROUSER}
29 Committing crime, hiding a piece of jewellery (7) EARRING {E{A}RRING}
30 Verdict replacing captain with keeper ultimately results in mockery (8) DERISION DE(-c+r)RISION
31 Engraves note into plastic sheet (6) ETCHES {ET{C}HES*}

DOWN
1   Combat gear for one watching over prisoners (8) WARDRESS {WAR}{DRESS}
2   Rice cooked with some lentils is a thing of historical significance (5) RELIC {RE{Le...s}IC*}
3   Filling oneself with ecstasy with a device when husband’s away (6) EATING {E}{A}{ThING}
5   Make use of a little earth on sticky strip (4) TAPE {TAP}{Ea..h}
6   Average person may never set! (8) EVERYMAN*
7   Approval for a cement construction on northeast borders (9) ENACTMENT {A+CEMENT}*{No...sT}
8   Foul smell from chest fluid surrounding base of nostrils (6) STENCH {STE{No...s}CH*}
9   Appreciation for mature person accepting a charge (9) ADULATION {ADUL{A}T}{ION}
14 Abrasive material appears and rightly, Australia’s leader sacked! (9) SANDPAPER {aPPEARS+AND}*
16 Grow red on turning into lawbreaker (9) WRONGDOER*
18 Misadventures of a piece of sandpaper breaking values (8) REVERSES {REVER{Sa...r}ES}
19 Foretells era taken over by media (8) PRESAGES {PRES{AGE}S}
22 Changed tendency to get upset by needs, every now and then (6) EDITED {TIDE<=}{nEeDs}
23 Scarlet liquid seen after beheading? (6) CLARET sCLARET* Semi&lit
26 Sadly, this overshadows man — one who is skilled! (5) SMITH {S{M}ITH*}
27 Thus reversed progress, partly (4) ERGO [T<=]

GRID

No 12292, Monday 16 Apr 2018, Aspartame

Answer and anno for 15D left for a rookie commenter till 10 AM.

ACROSS
9   Fares to account for trading costs? (5,2,8) RATES OF EXCHANGE {FARES+TO}* [RA & &lit]
10 Before entering wrestling, find an authority (7) SUPREMO {SU{PRE}MO}
12 Church deity to create ceremonial chow (7) CHALLAH {CH}{ALLAH}

By Aviv Hod - Own work, CC BY 3.0, Link

13 Groups of thieves incite a riot (9) CONSORTIA {CONS}{A+RIOT}*
14 Take animal's head out to make a mount (5) EASEL wEASEL
15 Substitute some florist and inspector (5-2) STAND-IN [T]
18 Death of infected mice is common in a region (7) ENDEMIC {END}{MICE*}
21 Harry's friend is going back in to get amber residue (5) ROSIN {RO{IS<=}N}
23 Han girls drawing a place of peace (7-2) SHANGRI-LA {HAN+GIRLS}*{A}
25 Swap sides of glass carrier (7) TUMBREL TUMB(-l+r)RE(-r+l)L

By Raffet - book : "La Guillotine en 1793" ; Hector Fleischmann ; 1906, Public Domain, Link

26 Made up a story — pain and little nausea, to get rest (3,4) LIE DOWN {LIED}{OW}{Na...a}
29 Students welfare revolt troubling for companion abroad (6,9) FELLOW TRAVELLER {LL+WELFARE+REVOLT}*

DOWN
1   Weaponry divisions (4) ARMS [DD]
2   A spinner is on ... (4) ATOP {A}{TOP}
3   ... large rock, tears are flowing over ODI gone bad (8) ASTERIOD {TEARS*}{ODI*}
4   American to offer shares to get out of financial difficulty (6) AFLOAT {A}{FLOAT}
5   Decry murder of retired union leader by artist (8) EXECRATE EXEC(-u+ra)RATE
6   Step right inside construction (6) PHRASE {PH{R}ASE}
7   He wants you to develop a new muscle (5,3) UNCLE SAM {A+N+MUSCLE}* Does he really?

By James Montgomery Flagg - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID ppmsca.50554. This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information. Public Domain, Link

8   This French caliph is somehow related to the head (8) CEPHALIC {CE}{CALIPH*}
11 Broadcast about military vessel (1-4) U-BOAT*
15 Saint gets thumbs up to make layers (8) S?R?T?F? (Addendum - STRATIFY {ST}{RATIFY} - See comments)
16 Build animal sign that is detailed (8) ASSEMBLE {ASS}{EMBLEm}
17 Space agency discovered youth showing abnormal voice resonance (7) NASALITY {NASA}{LIT}{Y}
19 Poetry about English lord consuming egg that's served up (8) DOGGEREL {E+LORD}* over {EGG<=}
20 Relative found in main lawn (2-3) IN-LAW [T]
22 Small passage (6) NARROW [DD]
24 Staying bright by listening to all-male song in the day (6) AGLEAM {A{GLEA}M}Anno pending (Addendum - (~glee){GLEA} in {AM} - See comments)
27 Glib leaders orate in large yacht (4) OILY Acrostic
28 Standard choice between new and medieval primarily (4) NORM {N}{OR}{Me...l}

GRID