No 13224, Saturday 17 Apr 2021, Arden

 Across

1 Second of April every year, that’s fine (6) PEACHY {aPril}{EACH}{Y}
4 Dance with a Kuwaiti in desert (8) SARABAND {S{ARAB}AND}
9 Rule, say, kept in cold storage (6) REGIME {R{EG}IME}
10 Soldier, is ahead by small number (about five hundred) (8) COMMANDO {COMMA}{N{D}O}
12 Controlled some of them from there in Edinburg (6,2) REINED IN (T)
13 Gullible people are crazy from top to bottom, like direction to follow (6) ADMASS {(-m)AD(+M)}{AS}{S}
15 The establishment in place, everyone comes in (12) INSTALLATION {IN}{ST{ALL}ATION}
18 Doctor Hammond Stein gets a reprimand (12) ADMONISHMENT {HAMMOND+STEIN*}
21 Get on, fix bait inside (6) OBTAIN {O{BAIT*}N}
22 Song of songs able to amuse when heard (8) CANTICLE {CAN}{~TICKLE}
24 He refuses to strike — pitch onside (8) BLACKLEG {BLACK}{LEG}
25 Died — one’s nameless at the rim (6) FELLOE {FELL}{OnE}
26 Honestly done, or not so honestly done (2,3,3) ON THE SLY {HONESTLY*}
27 Time taken to go through high command (6) THRALL {T{HR}ALL} Thanks to Col.

Down

1 Left it — involving artist for painting (8) PORTRAIT {PORT}{RA}{IT}
2 Granite’s broken, extremely cross (8) ANGRIEST {GRANITE'S*}
3 Standard tools? (6,3,6) HAMMER AND SICKLE (CD) (Correction - [DD] - See comments)
5 Rising star gets a flower (4) AVON {NOVA<=} Flower=One that flows=River
6 Rebuilt the tattered home, has the best equipment to fight (5,2,3,5) ARMED TO THE TEETH {THE+TATTERED+HOME*}
7 Make things hard for boy to support girl (6) ANNEAL {ANNE}{AL}
8 Swelling comes down over the years (6) DROPSY {DROPS}{Y}
11 Happiness buried under ice by spoil sport (7) KILLJOY {KILL}{JOY}
14 Moral make up of the Indian state (7) ETHICAL {THE*}{I}{CAL}
16 Bill, Harry, Paul follow me in admitting guilt (3,5) MEA CULPA {ME}{AC}{PAUL*}
17 See the real picture, part of it is exquisite (8) ETHEREAL (T)
19 Say no to limited editions (3-3) BOO-BOO {BOOk}{BOOk} Definition OK?
20 Finally, time to support a titan (2,4) AT LAST {ATLAS}{T}
23 Separated himself — at heart is a rogue (4) HEEL {HE}{sELf}

 

Reference List

Year=Y, ','=Comma, Small number=No, Five hundred=D, Like=As, Direction=S, Onside=Leg, Name=N, Time taken=Hr
Left=Port, Artist=RA, Boy=Al, Girl=Anne, Years=Y, Ice=Kill, Indian=I, State=Cal, Time=T, A titan=Atlas, Him=He

Colour/Font Scheme

Definition, Solution, Component letters, Embedded links, Theme word,  Reference list word, Anagram Indicator, C/C indicator, Reversal Indicator, Hidden word Indicator, Letter Pick indicator, Deletion Indicator, Homophone Indicator, Movement Indicator, Positional Indicator, Substitution, Indicator, Opposite indicator, Link/Connector, Extraneous