No 14582, Saturday 6 September 2025, Arden

 ACROSS
9 Order ready to retreat - that was a long time back (4,3) YEAR DOT {READY}*{TO<}
10 Country gets bulk organic neem - regularly ordered (7) UKRAINE bUlK oRgAnIc NeEm
11 Runs into drug addict to pocket some money illegally (7) TROUSER {T{R}O}{USER}
12 Pressure to continue taking order (7) DRAGOON {DRAG O{O}N}
13 Lots to follow after Jerry, say, gets romantic (9) CANOODLES {OODLES}<=>{CAN}
15 Starts flowing into reservoir - small trickles initially (5) FIRST [Acrostic]
16 Track yen with vigour (7) PANACHE {PAN}{ACHE}
19 Ring me in - ring for a cathartic (7) CALOMEL {CAL{O}{ME}L}
20 Set free including soldier (5) RIGID {RI{GI}D}
21 Point check over comfortable environment (9) ECOSYSTEM {COSY} in {E}{STEM}

25 Essentially those with a girl praise the Lord (7) HOSANNA {tHOSe}{ANNA}
26 Industry supremo occasionally comes in - creates a mess (7) TURMOIL {sUpReMo} in {TOIL}
28 The disadvantage of following a domain-specific language is that it's cumbersome (7) AWKWARD {DRAW<}<=>{AWK} disadvantage=drawback
29 Scientist's equipment initially could be stored outside (7) OERSTED {STORED}* outside {Equipment}

DOWN

1 God! It's back to Catholic saint (6) MYSTIC {MY!}{IT'S<}{C}
2 Drill book - a blessing (6) BABOON {B}{A}{BOON}

3 Chances of Democrats getting very big coverage (4) ODDS {O{D}{D}S}
4 Way stories come up about a chemical (6) STEROL {ST}{LORE<}
5 Could lose ring - cover up leads to nowhere (3,2,3) CUL DE SAC {CoULD}{CASE<}
6 Frightfully bad end - go through from cover to cover (10) DREADFULLY {baD}{READ FULLY}
7 Weight mark up as I log in (8) KILOGRAM {I LOG} in {MARK<}
8 New born melody queen's ascent under light (8) NEONATAL {LATA<}<=>{NEON}
14 Western production - do cancel it (10) OCCIDENTAL*
16 Share greeting with one from ancient kingdom (8) PARTHIAN {PART}{HI}{AN}
17 City with a tragic past - ask again to rebuild (8) NAGASAKI*
18 A visual feast to look at Charlie with Andrew (3,5) EYE CANDY {EYE}{C}{ANDY}
22 Not even once the vessel briefly raised a duty (6) OCTROI {OnCe}{IORTa<} iorta or aorta?
23 Liked someone? It's alright overall (4,2) TOOK TO {TO{OK}TO} overall=in toto
24 Complaint by a boy in setter's custody (6) MALADY {M{A LAD}Y}
27 Unusual - it's close to four and time's up (4) RARE {fouR}{ERA<}

REFERENCE LIST

Runs=R, Order=O, Soldier=GI, Point=E (Compass point, East), Catholic=C, Very Big=OS(outsize), Book=B, Democrat=D, Ring=O, One=An, Charlie=C, Andrew=Andy, Setter's=My. 

No 14581, Friday 05 Sep 2025, Hypatia

HAPPY ONAM

Pookolam by Gowri

RULES FOR POSTING COMMENTS FOR 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.

PLEASE NOTE, SOLUTIONS WITHOUT ATTEMPTING THE ANNOTATIONS WILL BE DELETED

Each commenter is requested to post only 5 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.

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

ACROSS

8   Expatriate returning in party clothes (6) BANISH {BA{IN<=}SH}

9   Leader's book concluding in bar made reforms (8) AMBEDKAR {booK} in {BAR+MADE}*

10 Recurring letters from old Naik touring hill station (10) KODAIKANAL* Letterbank

11 Hard disk caches regularly get loaded (4) RICH {haRd+dIsk+CacHes}

12 Spooner's watchman moved towards Solitaire, say (4,4) CARD GAME (guard came to card game)

14 Bits of South Asian made oily, stuffed and savoury snack (6) SAMOSA Acrostic 

15 Copies Arabic men in neighbourhoods (7) PARROTS {PAR{OR<=}TS} Arabic to indicate Right to Left

17 Somewhat bright sun amidst natural disaster (7) TSUNAMI [T]

20 Refuse to take a lift (6) REPEAL {REPE{A}L}

22 Someone else called the same guy on the counter close to expensive wine (8) NAMESAKE {MAN<=}{e...vE}{SAKE}

24 Fling vessel (4) BOWL [DD] 

25 Flaunting his gown (7,3) SHOWING OFF {HIS+GOWN}* [RA]

27 Dilemma in quiz session involving university online? (8) QUANDARY {Q AND A} over {U} with {RY

28 "Recruit" cast striking with Winslet (6) ENLIST wINSLET*

DOWN

1   Perhaps not available in ordinary artist's farewell (8) SAYONARA {SAY}{O}{NA}{RA}

2   Travel permit is taken to enter Venezuela, on vacation (4) VISA {Ve...{IS}...lA}

3   Meditation centre in Karachi, almost bombed (6) CHAKRA KARACHi*

4   Caretakers sheltering orphan in quarters (7) NANNIES {N}{ANNIE}{S}

5   Order exotic silks and needles (8) OBELISKS {OBE}{SILKS*}

6   Fuss by nurse and staff emptying tables for fancy accessories (10) ADORNMENTS {ADO}{RN}{MEN}{Ta..eS}

7   Europeans welcome start of camping trips (6) DANCES {DAN{Ca...g}ES}

13 Competitive exam in favourite city (10) DARJEELING {DAR{JEE}LING}

16 Tawiz, say mostly with soldier protecting lives (8) TALISMAN {TALk}{MAN} over {IS}

18 Hurry and prepare to observe Ramadan (4,4) MAKE FAST {MAKE}{FAST}

19 Opposite of many? Not wrong! (7) ANTONYM*

21 Revolutionary act in old American flight (6) EXODUS {DO<=} in {EX}{US}

23 Nominated criminal - not this lady (6) MAIDEN {noMINAtED}*

26 Quietly, bear picked up swallow (4) GULP {P}{LUG}<=

Reference List

Men = OR, University = U, Line = RY, With = W, Ordinary = O, Artist = RA, Quarters = N,S, Order = OBE, Nurse = RN(Registered Nurse), Old = EX, Quietly = P