No 12399, Saturday 18 Aug 2018, Arden

Across

1. Strategy for serving at tennis, say (7,4) WAITING GAME {WAITING}{GAME}
7. The patient advised to swallow a bit (3) TAD (T)
9. Remains so unstable, recoils (5) RELIC {SO+RELIC*}={RECOILS} [CA]
10. The spirit of self-proclamation in a country (9) ANIMATION {A}{N{I'M}ATION}
11. Any one can get irritation (9) ANNOYANCE {ANY ONE CAN*}
12. Mad to forego school, is stupid (5) INANE {INsANE}
13. First bit is offensive (7) NOISOME {NO 1}{SOME}
15. James, say starts doing exercises again now (4) DEAN (Acrostic}

18. Juliet's left quickly, not so sure (4) IFFY {jIFFY}
20. It's idiocy to make changes in a team (7) AMENTIA {IN A TEAM*}
23. Pre-delivery exertion? (3-2) RUN-UP (CD)
24. Thrill returns, but they're illegal (9) KICKBACKS {KICK}{BACKS}
26. US city's evil grip over Asian island (9)  BALTIMORE {BAL{TIMOR}E}
27. Second man to cross the peak in bad weather (5) STORM {S{TOR}M}
28. Mistake? Happy to stand exposed (3) ERR {mERRy}
29. He is not known for his literary work (11) GHOSTWRITER (CD)

Down

1. Wrinkle is not because of too much makeup (3,5) WAR PAINT {WAR P}{AIN'T}
2. Central stimulus is no substitute for state (8) ILLINOIS {fILLIp}{IS NO*}
3. Hard to move into new city, gets restless (5) ITCHY {CITY*} around {H}
4. She maybe earning her pension... (7) GRANNIE {EARNING*} &lit
5. ...and has understood Herb (7) ANISEED {AN{I SEE}D}
6. Time to give orders, no time to remove (9) ERADICATE {ERA}{DICtATE}
7. Paint used to catch a snake (6) TAIPAN {PAINT*} around [A}

8. Doctor takes cover, 50% in Colorado (6) DENVER {D{ENVElope}R}
14. Spoilt before season, that’s an issue (9) OFFSPRING {OFF}{SPRING}
16. Not top choice to go into big project (5,3) STICK OUT {ST{pICK} OUT}
17. Norms are broken, he pays the price (8) RANSOMER {NORMS ARE*}
19. First year it's allowed — loves taking on a peace activist (4,3) YOKO ONO {Year}{OK}{O {ON}O}

20. Old heir gets inheritance (7) ANCIENT {ANCIENT+HEIR}={INHERITANCE} [CA]
21. Horse runs regularly, is productive (6) ARABLE {ARAB}{fLeEs}
22. Red alert has a name, is it horn? (6) ANTLER {ALERT*} around {N}
25. More cruel king, understand? (5) BASER {BASE}{R}

Reference List

Self-proclamation=I'm, School=S, First=No 1, Juliet=J, Second=S, Man=M
Hard=H, Time=T, Loves=OO, Name=N, King=R

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

Bhargav's Talepiece

The bouncer and the dancer - Part 102

Clement was always busy in his work, thinking about KICKBACKS and ways to serve the BASER instincts of many.

His wife and daughter were a TAD disappointed with the WAITING GAME. Clement's daughter showed her ANNOYANCE and at times came up with NOISOME protests. She was bored to constantly watch the ANIMATION cartoons on TV.

Finally they made the long holiday road trip from ILLINOIS to BALTIMORE to enjoy the Inner Harbour and view the ANCIENT ships and the submarines.

On the way back after visiting the Shenandoah Caverns they were found singing John DENVER'S  "Take me home, country roads."

What happened next?

No 12398, Friday 17 Aug 2018, Arden

NEW RULES FOR POSTING ON FRIDAY ONLY

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 in the annotation someone will correct it with the right annotation.

Each commenter is requested to post only 3 answers thereby giving others also a chance to participate. Please provide all your answers in one comment.

Regular solvers/Veterans can post 1 answer each, but after 11 AM only.

The regular blog will replace the clues at 2 PM.

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

ACROSS
6   Throw up writing, make an impression (5) RETCH {R}{ETCH}
7   Soon the lawyer assumed Bill is a South American resident (8) ANACONDA {AN{AC}ON}{DA}

10 Credit allowed in former name of business (7) CONCERN {C{ONCE}R}{N}
11 Killer Fish, sort of reproduced parrot-fashion (7) PIRANHA {PARROT-FASHION - (sort of)}* [CA]

12 First one in the dock (7) PIONEER {PI{ONE}ER}
13 Soldiers retreat — essentially oppose revenge (7) NEMESIS {MEN<=}{rESISt}
14 Favourite cover for a smuggler (5-6) FRONT-RUNNER {FRONT}-{RUNNER}
19 Show friend about what's good, no force used (7) MATINEE {MAT{fINE}E}
21 Time allowed to intercept text message for a Dutch theologian (7) ERASMUS {ERA}{SM{U}S}
23 Do imbibe, lift a tumbler (7) ACROBAT {AC{ROB}{A}T}
25 Show of devotion — not over, OK? (7) TONSURE {NOT<=}{SURE}
26 Girl's husband — he is from Limerick (8) IRISHMAN {IRIS}{H}{MAN}
27 Empty container at the back of the boat (5) CRAFT {Co...eR}{AFT}

DOWN
1   Way one will lift impasse (8) STANDOFF {ST}{AN}{DOFF}
2   Asked to say it before you're shot — opposing churches find peace finally (6) CHEESE{CH}{SEE<=}{p..cE}
3   Coffee breaks for underground public utility (10) LAUNDRETTE {LA{UNDER*}TTE}
4   Complain about fish (4) CARP [DD]
5   One is protecting a criminal, God! (6) ADONIS {A}{DON}{IS}
6   Cooking rice, provide tips (6) RECIPE {RICE*}{Pr...dE} Semi&lit
8   Warning to take back most of the boat crew (7) OARSMEN {O{ARSe}MEN}
9   Resident of Australia — he made a pact with the devil (5) FAUST [T]
13 New gold chairs are disgusting (10) NAUSEATING {N}{AU}{SEATING}
15 An anthology on public transport (7) OMNIBUS [DD]
16 Noted scientist had a doubt about fruit (8) RAMBUTAN {RAM{BUT}AN}

17 Capital infusion in Tammany Hall, say (5) AMMAN [T]
18 Look, a group keeps quiet! (6) ASPECT {A}{S{P}ECT}
20 Bullfighter gets rent on half the place (6) TORERO {TORE}{ROom}
22 Can air become balmy? (6) ARNICA*
24 Book millions in digital form (4) TOME {TO{M}E}

GRID