Special, Sunday 16 Feb 2020, Novice

Three answers per commenter till 6 PM (Annotations compulsory)
Please submit all your answers in one comment.

ACROSS
6   Search reveals a curve (3)
8   Instigating trouble awkwardly headless brings a mess about (6-7)
9   Ghost! Husband lets out a gasp and recites mantra (7)
10 Vapour magic we hear is from the stomach (7)
11 At home, right inside, no more out of fear (2,5)
12  Pirates dare sir at sea  (7)
13 Publication, reportedly of a time when sun there never sets, on a time when the sun had set! (2,3,2,8)
18 Experts of investigation agency return dull (7)
19 Mostly vocal in a party about pulpy fruit  (7)
22 Fragmented trace after topless sex remains (7)
23 Be all ears listen to kiwi skipper (7)
24 Indian politician on operations research takes time out and has his throat operation (6,7)
25 Snowman has no one so far (3)

DOWN
1   Traveling sailor on bumpy road (6)
2   Dress of revolutionary going around a great deal  (6)
3   Unfairly blamed for housing picture (6)
4   Country of endless projection by area say (8)
5   Make up defeat convincingly as tips go wrong inside (8)
6   Oppress giver to break within a period (8)
7   A derogatory way to address women? Fowl (6)
8   Agent of insurance company gets a copy (7)
14 Spirits driver to be around most core operations (8)
15 Route to impress mother? Prepare first (1,4,3)
16 Old British comic to confront pain (8)
17 Person mixed up around circle mixes words for special effects (7)
18 Somewhat small to house royal (6)
19 Image of Andhra Pradesh getting warm over capital (1,5)
20 Operating space during sabbatical (2,1,3)
21 Request internal task force (3,3)

Across Lite version can be accessed at NOVICE 2

Enjoy.

The Sunday Crossword No 3087, Sunday 16 Feb 2020

ACROSS
1    A loud attack? Well, sadly, yes (6,2) AFRAID SO {A}{F}{RAID}{SO}
5    Wipes beer mats less regularly (6) ERASES {bEeR+mAtS+lEsS}
10 Perhaps Netanyahu is PM losing backing of Likud (7) ISRAELI dISRAELI
11 Engage some dim Merseybeaters (7) IMMERSE [T]
12 After review, hotel won’t accommodate screeching infant (5) OWLET [T<=]
13 Discerning acts of love (6,3) MAKING OUT [DD]
14 Hide with Star Trek character getting emaciated (4,3,5) SKIN AND BONES {SKIN}{AND}{BONES}
18 She’d start off falteringly, less likely to get job done (5-7) SHORT-STAFFED*
21 Cook cassoulet? It’s not worth the effort (4,5) LOST CAUSE*
23 Back-to-back houses leading to a fuss (3-2) HOO-HA {HO}{HO<=}{A}
24 Draw what to put on horse, an ornamental trinket (3-4) TIE-TACK {TIE}{TACK}
25 Increases likelihood of popular verse in, for starters, Times Educational Supplement (7) INVITES {IN}{Ve..e}{In}{TES}
26 Composed, seated, relaxed (6) SEDATE*
27 Vacantly using authoritarian dogma, nicks Africans (8) UGANDANS {Us.iG}{Au...aN}{Do.mA}{Ni.kS}

DOWN
1    A child’s key (1,5) A MINOR {A}{MINOR}
2    Once in a blue moon, rate cut in half by bank (6) RARELY {RAte}{RELY}
3    Bizarrely, I twice knitted image of suspect (6-3) IDENTI-KIT {I+I+KNITTED}*
4    What’s seen with floating torsos? (8,6) SWIMMING TRUNKS {SWIMMING}{TRUNKS} [CD]
6    Type such as Abramovich (5) ROMAN [DD]
7    Gentleman with symbol of potency: red meat (8) SIRLOINS {SIR}{LOINS}
8    ‘Most fragrant’ wife involved as judge presides over trial (8) SWEETEST {S{W}EE}{TEST}
9    Single fine king uneasily delivers premonition (7,7) SINKING FEELING*
15 He arranged veg on hot cooker (9) BEETHOVEN {BEET}{H}{OVEN}
16 Vis-à-vis Ola, Tess largely makes interaction impossible (8) ISOLATES [T]
17 Relaxed with name dropping? Something to explain (5,3) LOOSE END LOOSE(-n)E(+n)ND
19 Cirro-strati partially forming platforms (6) ROSTRA [T]
20 Passes, lacking energy, making errors (6) LAPSES eLAPSES
22 Gold is one asset initially included in valuation (5) COAST {CO{As..t}ST}

Reference List
Loud = F, Well = SO, House = HO, Hot = H, Name = N, Energy = E