No 10678, Thursday 24 Jan 13, Arden

 A good opener from Arden, had me scratching around for a while in the NW corner today.

ACROSS

1   With sales force managed to cover shortest distance (2,3,4,5) AS THE CROW FLIES*

10 Farm machinery put in the bomb alert (5) BALER [T]

11 Wicked characters unsafe around Rio (9) NEFARIOUS {NEFA{RIO}US*}

12 Material arrived shortly on block, we are told (7) CAMBRIC {CAMe}{BRICk}(~brick)

13 The Yankee and the French follow others to arrange it all over again (7) RESTYLE {REST}{Y}{LE}

14 Shoots up a short line (5) SERIF <=

16 Epics tend to be rewritten and checked (9) INSPECTED*

19 Turn setter around, he makes her show you your place (9) USHERETTE {U}{S{HE}RETTE*}

20 Party hire will put out the fire (5) DOUSE {DO}{USE}

22 Rested when asked again (7) REPOSED RE-POSED

25 It is sweet to find Malcolm regularly involved in growth (7) TREACLE {TRE{mAlCoLm}E}

27 Homeliver I see is lifeless (9) INORGANIC {IN}{ORGAN}{I}{C}

28 British woman makes a mark (5) BREVE {BR}{EVE}

29 Campaigning on line, Greece got it all wrong (14) ELECTIONEERING {ON+LINE+GREECE+IT}*

DOWN

2   Sailor landed a month before in an effort to secure our freedom (9) SALTMARCH {SALT}{MARCH} Enumeration seems incorrect

3   Employer gets angry within an hour (5) HIRER {H{IRE}R}

4   Study what is written and sign up (9) CONSCRIPT {CON}{SCRIPT} Not voluntarily though!

5   Present man has authority but not in charge (5) OFFER OFFicER

6   Last staff member who is mostly regular in the estate (9) FARMSTEAD {F}{ARM}{STEADy}

7   Ridicule Pierrot regularly over Gotham (5) IRONY {pIeRrOt}{NY}

8   Hang the expense with American participation (7) SUSPEND {S{US}PEND}

9   A god of merriment bans child doing some basic maths…… (6) ABACUS {A}{BACchUS}

15 …… Because the crew has second vision (9) FORESIGHT {FOR}{E{S}IGHT}

17 Perhaps space and time oddly called as show (9) SPECTACLE {SPACE+T}*{CaLlEd}

18 Billy had time to escape with the guerrilla operating from behind (9) TRUNCHEON {T}{RUN}{CHE}{ON}

19 One country gets another country’s precipitation reportedly (7) UKRAINE {UK}{RAINE}(~rain)

21 Small island said to allow a rope through (6) EYELET (~islet)

23 Search for a soft dress (5) PROBE {P}{ROBE}

24 Wild one in a trading office (5) DINGO [T]

26 Some months end with some warmth (5) EMBER [CD]

LINK TO SOLUTION

No 10677, Wednesday 23 Jan 13, Buzzer

Another 24k offering from Buzzer, 24As anno being  the last to fall.

ACROSS

8   Medicine man seen in a theatre? Au contraire (6) CINEMA [T]

9   Archer has a contracted right to make up a story (4,1,3) TELL A LIE {TELL} {A} {LIEn}

10 Oxygen in area is cleaned finally and converted to fresh air (8) OZONISED {O+ZONE+IS+D}}

11 It is hopeless without alternative fuel (6) WOEFUL {WO}{FUEL*}

12 Software describing surgical procedures? (9,6) OPERATING SYSTEM [DD]

14 Retiring setter might delegate authority (7) EMPOWER {EM<=}{POWER}

16 Purposeful police force in action (7) DECIDED {DE{CID}ED}

19 Deftly catch a llama with this thingy (15) WHATCHAMACALLIT*

22 Relatively affected from regular airstrikes on resistance (6) ARTIER {AiRsTrIkEs}{R}

24 Something precious or merely diamonds for Juliet? (4,4) GOLD DUST {GOLD} {(-j+d)DUST}

25 Mercenary in Edinburgh lacking heart for execution (5,3) HIRED GUN EDINbURGH*

26 Unexpected deflection in tennis shot gaining a point (6) SWERVE {S{W}ERVE}

DOWN

1   Zap a dim ache in the end administering a tranquilliser (8) DIAZEPAM {ZAP+A+DIM+thE}*

2   One mourning a death is more devoted? (6) KEENER [DD]

3   Implants that feel weird when outside the mouths of some eaters? (5,5) FALSE TEETH {THAT+FEEL+Some+Eaters}

4   Performance is outstanding from French pupil (7) STUDENT {STU{DE}NT}

5   Killed a good deal (4) SLEW [DD]

6   Wears kit fit to ride the waves (5,3) WATER SKI*

7   Understand body image (6) FIGURE [DD]

13 Look at adopting quiet child without mum (10) SPEECHLESS {S{P}EE}{CH}{LESS}

15 Frequently ring newspapers (8) OFTTIMES {O}{FT}{TIMES}

17 Sending out electronic message (8) EMISSIVE {E}{MISSIVE}

18 Picture puzzle with ultimate twist I put up (7) IMAGINE {ENIG(-m)A(+m)M}{I}<=

20 Solitary success after overcoming hesitation (6) HERMIT {H{ER}{M}IT} 'M' from? (Addendum - {H{ERM}IT} - See comments)

21 Large snake and its game partner (6) LADDER {L}{ADDER}

23 Land of brigands (4) RIGA [T]

LINK TO SOLUTION