No 14050, Wednesday 20 Dec 2023, Dr. X

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   Play with fool in tourney? No way! (3,2,4,4) NOT ON YOUR LIFE*

8   Curses a sot tottering outside hotel (5) OATHS {A+SOT}* over {H}

9   Engineer secures most fancy type of lens (4-5) WIDE-ANGLE {W{IDEa}ANGLE}

11 Clash with criminal chased by detective in plot (10) CONTRADICT {CON}{TRA{DI}CT}

12 Clubs missing in worthless stack (4) ?E?P (Addendum - HEAP cHEAP - See comments)

14 Royal duo largely abandoned venerated woman (3,4) OUR LADY {ROYAL+DUo}*

16 Conscript in river grabs floating structure (7) DRAFTEE {D{RAFT}EE}

17 Capitol riots, newsworthy (7) TOPICAL*

19 Rush to get one short dress and colourful African shirt (7) DASHIKI {DASH}{1}{KIt}

21 Husband ignored problem resulting in irritation (4) ITCH hITCH

22 Hold on, dear! Perhaps turn this to enter (4,6) DOOR HANDLE*

25 Catching girl about to steal son's phone (9) ENSNARING {AN{S}NE<=}{RING}

26 Smallest meadow beside street (5) LEAST {LEA}{ST}

27 Why seamstress could not sew? Stopped concentrating (4,3,6) LOST THE THREAD {DD}

DOWN

2   Trained for NEET more regularly (7) OFTENER*

3   Serve bacon salad in ceremony (10) OBSERVANCE*

4   Stunned after yacht initially swerved off course (5) YAWED {AWED}<=>{Ya..t}

5   Unsettled by wife leaving, dude winced painfully (9) UNDECIDED {DUDE+wINCED}*

6   Charge youth pocketing ring (4) LOAD {L{O}AD}

7   Improvisation by FBI agents involved in attack (7) FIGMENT {FI{G MEN}T}

8   Refashioned coronet with diamonds a few times (4,2,5) ONCE OR TWICE {CORONET}*{W}{ICE}

10 Need sex trip organised for former leader (2-9) EX-PRESIDENT*

13 American jazz pianist played after small whiskey, entertaining everyone (4,6) FATS WALLER {AFTER+S+W}* over {ALL}

15 Cry out primarily with hunger, getting slightly jaundiced (9) YELLOWISH {YELL}{Out}{WISH}

18 Famous painter's representation of spacious university released (7) PICASSO SPACIOuS*

20 Popular princess in American state (7) INDIANA {IN}{DIANA}

23 Good doctor, extremely honest (5) RIGHT {RIG}{Ho...sT}

24 Run diamonds and finesse (4) DART {D}{ART}

Reference List

Hotel = H, Clubs = C, Detective = DI, Husband = H, Son = S, Wife = W, FBI agents = G MEN, With = W, Small = S, Whiskey = W, Univesity = U, Popular = IN, Diamonds = D

No 14049, Tuesday 19 Dec 2023, Dr. X

Solution to 20D 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   One seen on beach with girl, holding hands nervously (8) SUNSHADE {SU{HANDS*}E}

5   Protective covering for shoe is finest, receiving excellent reviews (6) TOECAP {TO{ACE<=}P}

10 Champion cavorting nude with girl in Chinese city (7) CHENGDU {CH{NUDE+G}*

11 Sunken panel in ceiling of silver has a touch of class (7) LACUNAR {L{A}{Cl..s}UNAR}

12 One captivated by ring's revolutionary colour (5) LILAC {CAL{1}L<=}

13 Most foolish, at any rate (9) LEASTWISE {LEAST WISE}

14 Violent argument shall mostly lead to murder (12) MANSLAUGHTER {ARGUMENT+SHALl}* Semi&lit

18 Want smart clothes as well as traditional (4-8) LONG-STANDING {LONG}{ST{AND}ING}

21 Wise admen working for TV, papers, etc (4,5) NEWS MEDIA*

23 Blue heron in river (5) RHONE*

24 Talk in coach at terminus (7) CHATTER [T]

25 Move closer to woo stunner? All right (7) GOODISH {GO}{woO}{DISH}

26 Relaxed in lake beside ancient houses, extremely large (6) LOLLED {L}{OL{LargE}D}

27 Most cocky and audacious star entertains (8) BRASHEST {B{RASH}EST}

DOWN

1   Start to speak coldly in Italian region (6) SICILY {Sp..k}{ICILY}

2   Want case of larvae for bait (6) NEEDLE {NEED}{La..aE}

3   Intoxicated girl consuming cocaine of superior quality (4-5) HIGH CLASS {HIGH}{C}{LASS}

4   Sad and troubled about rule applied unfairly (6,8) DOUBLE STANDARD*

6   Round crater contains carbon in the work cited briefly (2,3) OP CIT {O}{P{C}IT}

7   Lies and scams involving head of state, it's pathetic (8) CONSISTS {CON{St..e}{ITS*}S}

8   Left abruptly to tackle mistake in arrangement of flower-beds (8) PARTERRE {PART{ERR}Ed} Had to cheat on this one

9   Secret about a spirit in mysterious grand lodge (5-3-6) CLOAK-AND-DAGGER {C} and {A}{KA} in {GRAND+LODGE}* 

15 Extremely large drink with rum - soon largely sozzled (9) GINORMOUS {GIN}{RUM+SOOn}*

16 Disinterested husband dumped! I can chill out (8) CLINICAL {I+CAN+ChILL}*

17 Small presently? Bit of bodybuilding gets everything to grow rapidly (8) SNOWBALL {S}{NOW}{Bo...g}{ALL}

19 Unable to play Yahtzee because of this? Impossible (2,4) NO DICE [DD]

20 Filmed again in house during vacation (6) ?E?H?T (Addendum - RESHOT {RES{HO}T} - See comments)

22 Captivated by some trendy rhythm (5) METRE [T]

Reference List

Girl = G, Lake = L, Cocaine = C, About = C, Spitit = KA, Husband = H, Small = S, House = HO