No 14900, Thursday 17 Sep 2026, Arden

Sent late by Prasanna. Being used for Vishwakarama Puja

Solution to 8D 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

9   Warm layer is savage (7) HEATHEN {HEAT}{HEN}

10 Capital housing - last letter follows greeting from Ginger, perhaps (7) RHIZOME {ROME} over {Z}<=>{HI}

11 Relaxation by the river sipping wine (7) DETENTE {DE{TENT}E}

12 Run away velocity of a horny creature (7) VAMOOSE {V}{A}{MOOSE}

13 Rifleman's job is to protect store (9) CARBINEER {CAR{BIN}EER}

15 Rob on average, shows no anger (5) REAVE Anno not clear  (Addendum - {RE}{AVErage} - See comments)

16 Country song about soldiers (7) ARMENIA {AR{MEN}IA}

19 In money collection, company shows thrift (7) ECONOMY {E{CO}NOMY*}

20 Pen stand? (5) STALL [DD]

21 Spinner of yarns right in front of a working counter (9) RACONTEUR {R}{A}{COUNTER*}

25 Added about hundred and formed froth on top (7) SCUMMED {S{C}UMMED}

26 Drop line for a scapegoat (4,3) FALL GUY {FALL}{GUY}

28 Force one to come in and sign up for jury duty (7) IMPANEL {IMP{AN}EL}

29 Checked regular trend to follow German car (7) AUDITED {TrEnD}<=>{AUDI}

DOWN

1   Language of north central Africa fashionable to adopt nowadays (6) CHADIC {CH{AD}IC}

2   Parrot became a bird of prey (6) RAPTOR*

3   Feature of a country, in brief (4) CHIN CHINa

4   Girl takes old boyfriend in her wing (6) ANNEXE {ANN{EX}E}

5   Fantastic treasure trove - taking wrong route to cross (8) TRAVERSE {TRAVERSE+ROUTE}*=TREASURE TROVE [CA]

6   Adjust dimmers - have to cool it (6,4) SIMMER DOWN {DIMMERS}*{OWN}

7   American influence on a party and state (8) COLORADO {COLOR}{A}{DO}

8   Banks' same rate - note lady does it calmly (8) ?E?E?E?Y (Addendum - SERENELY {samE+RatE+NotE+LadY - See comments))

14 Writer's tragic life - one enters China (3,7) IAN FLEMING {I{AN}FLE*}{MING}

16 Both sides like to secure pole position - wrongdoing is a killer (8) ASSASSIN {AS}{S}{AS}{SIN}

17 Paul came out to admit mistake (3,5) MEA CULPA*

18 A terrier gets refreshed with a beer (8) AIREDALE {AIRED}{ALE}

22 Able to cover the backside with a robe (6) CAFTAN {C{AFT}AN}

23 Maybe they can drink one gallon - that's four times score (6) EIGHTY {E{1}{G}HTY*}

24 On fourth day, I returned the partly paid up capital (6) RIYADH [T<=]

27 Marriage vow by the lake fountain (4) LIDO {I DO}<=>{L}

Reference List

Wine = TENT, Velocity = V, Right = R, Hundred = C, Nowadays = AD, Old boyfriend = EX, Party = DO, Pole = S, Gallon = G, Lake = L