No 12375, Saturday 21 Jul 2018, Arden

Across

9. Spurious drug — keep 50% in reserve (7) PLACEBO {PLACE}{BOok}
10. Show workers (7) PAGEANT {PAGE}{ANT}
11. He follows what is cast in the river (7) DEVOTEE {DE{VOTE}E}
12. Work's very regressive, problem for phalanger (7) OPOSSUM {OP}{SO<=}{SUM}

13. Drinks break, stump on pitch (5,4) SALES TALK {S{ALE S}TALK}
15. Window gives option to get money back (5) ORIEL {OR}{LEI<=}

16. One is envious hearing the bell (7) ANGELUS {AN}{~JEALOUS}
19. Overarm — It's disadvantageous and hurts (7) TWINGES {SET<=} over {WING}  Disadvantageous = Set back
20. Saying the Chinese leader only comes in the morning (5) AXIOM {A{XI}{O}M}
21. Heard after midnight, caught one's eye... (9) GLISTENED {niGht}{LISTENED}
25. ...As in races, perhaps (7) ARSENIC {IN+RACES*}
26. Countryman repatriated by European airline without hesitation (7) NAMIBIA {MAN<=}{IBerIA}
28. Wine is free inside plane (7) TRIDENT {T{RID}ENT}

29. Delay in animal retracting tongue (7) TAGALOG {GO{LAG}AT<=}

Down

1. Suit those for digging trenches (6) SPADES (DD)
2. "Wonder maiden", Ravel's composition (6) MARVEL {M}{RAVEL*}
3. Found it soft to touch (4) FELT (DD)
4. Smell of sweat emanating from old boozer (6) BODEGA {BO}{AGED<=}
5. First two sputniks, one with a wheel (8) SPROCKET {SPutnik}{ROCKET}
6. Expert on growth prospects — "After silver, iron most used" (10) AGRONOMIST {AG}{IRON+MOST*}
7. Has to throw, it's annoying (8) HASSLING {HAS}{SLING}
8. Simultaneous play, not one with a cue (8) STIMULUS {SIMULTANEOUS-{ONE+A}}*
14. Harry reads about the Frenchman's poker (10) SALAMANDER {READS*} around {LA+MAN}
16. A month end in Delhi for Herb (8) AMARANTH {A}{MAR}{ANTH}
17. Get up the platform when it's denied (8) GAINSAID {GAIN}{DIAS<=}
18. The wisdom of Washington, in a way supports the legend (8) SAGACITY {SAGA}{CITY}
22. Fire! I get in or out? (6) IGNITE {I+GET+IN*}
23. Cloud unable to burst (6) NEBULA {UNABLE*}
24. Girls get into horse drawn cart, find it boring (6) DRAGGY {DRA{GG}Y}
27. They were wise to join college, it was enchanting (4) MAGI {MAGI+C=MAGIC}

Reference List
Worker=Page, Worker=Ant, River=Dee, Work=Op, Very=So, One=An, Chinese leader=Xi, Only=O, Morning=AM, Hesitation=Er
Maiden=M, Smell of sweat=BO, Silver=Ag, The French=La, Girls=GG, College=C

Colour/Font Scheme

Definition, Solution, Component letters, Embedded links, 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

No 12374, Friday 20 Jul 2018, Arden

Today being Friday only the blank clues will be posted. All those who are not regular commenters but who are rookie commenters or silent followers of the blog are requested to post answers with annotations in the comments section. In your own interest please avoid looking up the answers from the interactive version. Don't hesitate to post your annotations, in case you make a mistake someone will correct it with the right annotation.

Each commenter is requested to post only 5 answers till 2 PM thereby giving others also a chance to participate. Please provide all your answers in one comment.

The regular blog will replace the clues at 2 PM after which anyone is free to comment.

Thanks for the response, here's the regular blog.

ACROSS
1   Time to review lack of interest in sex — it will blow you apart! (6) SEMTEX {S{TiME<=}EX}
4   Wine bottles — seal regularly missing from sideboard (8) CELLARET {C{sEaL}LARET}
9   Languages go into creative works (6) ARGOTS {AR{GO}TS}
10 Means to fight wild watchers (3,5) WAR CHEST*
12 Find abnormal gain in medicine (8) DIAGNOSE {D{GAIN*}OSE}
13 Two men find shelter (6) ALCOVE {AL}{COVE}
15 Sentence partly overlapping, pan India maybe (12) CONDEMNATION {CONDEM{N}ATION} Anno pending
18 Hijacked, need resolve — it portends danger (12) COMMANDEERED {COMMA}{NEED*}{RED}
21 Shops here are to protect heel (6) ARCADE {AR{CAD}E}
22 Maybe clean spike before the top (8) PINNACLE {PIN}{CLEAN*}
24 Delivery work on land (8) CHINAMAN {CHINA}{MAN}
25 Essentially kept to stop attack, it's settled (6) REPAID {R{kEPt}AID}
26 Fire on soldiers at the scene of warfare (8) RETRENCH {RE}{TRENCH}
27 Master's changing course (6) STREAM*

DOWN
1   Pomelo supplement for parting hair (8) SHADDOCK {SH{ADD}OCK}

2   Setter gulps second single malt, gets headache (8) MIGRAINE {M{sIngle}{GRAIN}E}
3   Need tolerance — it can lead to better relations (7,8) ENTENTE CORDIALE* &lit
5  Spurious cheese? (4) EDAM MADE<= (made up)
6   Can love over long term run the town council? (5,10) LOCAL GOVERNMENT {CAN+LOVE+LONG+TERM}*
7   Runner promoting drink is allowed (6) REEBOK {BEER<=}{OK}
8   Lead time, it's everywhere (6) TETHER {T}{ETHER}
11 Moving mountains? Not on, it could be catastrophic (7) TSUNAMI {MoUNTAInS}*
14 Engineer silent about Charlie's design (7) STENCIL {STEN{C}IL*}
16 Carry on, take care of the debris (8) WRECKAGE {W{RECK}AGE} 
17 Supplement to port — dig up soil to gain depth (8) ADDENDUM {AD{D}EN}{MUD<=}
19 American port's mark on the sailor (6) LASCAR {LA}{SCAR}
20 Writing sure to transform into holy books (6) SCRIPT {SCRIPT+SURE} [CA]
23 Lecture heard about a mineral (4) TALC (~talk)

GRID