No 12075, Wednesday 02 Aug 2017, Neyartha

Neyartha's touring the Horn!

ACROSS
1   Sail abroad to get entertained by a princess in a part of 15 Ac. (8) DJIBOUTI {JIB}{OUT} in {DI}

5   Letters from a thug and an officer in the country (6) UGANDA [T] What's the role of 'officer'?

9   Over-embellished disguise of plump deer (9) EMPURPLED*
11 Start an assault (5) ONSET [DD]
12 H.Sam's bad accident? (5-2) SMASH UP {H.SAM'S<=} (Correction HSAMS* - See comments)
14 Resolved anomalies before leaving the northeast part of 15 Ac. (7) SOMALIA AnOMALIeS

15 Anchor, off-air, is all at sea in the peninsula (4,2,6) HORN OF AFRICA*

17 Emphatic declaration by the aviators seen out of context (12) ASSEVERATION*
20 Anger over upsetting drawing featuring an Oriental in a part of 15 Ac. (7) ERITREA {IRE<=}{TR{E}A<=}

22 Mark's letter placed in front of the tomb (7) ENGRAVE {EN}{GRAVE}
23 Article on the reported merits of a farewell remark (5) ADIEU {A}{DIEU} (~due)
24 Fruit sugar and meat sent back with an insect got pulled in front for all to see (9) LAEVULOSE {VEAL<=}{(+u)ULO(-u)SE} Thanks to Google
26 Hydration arrangement's not to be avoided in this capital (6) RIYADH HYDRAtIon*
27 Greek character employs one sheltered by a Native American tribe in a part of 15 Ac. (8) ETHIOPIA {ET{H{1}OPI}A}

DOWN
1   Sharp and stylish Yankee under pressure to get rid of the uniform (6) DRESSY {DuRESS}{Y}
2   Casts a doubt on the overturned cargo truck carrying fruit (9) IMPEACHES {PEACH} in {SEMI<=}
3   Period of time in recital belonging to us (3) OUR (~hour)
4   No cell? Tap heel rhythmically for a way to communicate (9,4) TELEPHONE CALL*
6   Greeting at the breakfast table (4,7) GOOD MORNING [CD]
7   Facial bone of a model in a part of South Africa replaced by the chief surgeon (5) NASAL NA(-t+s)SAL
8   Bona fide openers in the Aussie cricket team under attacking Lindwall (6) ACTUAL Acrostic
10 Permits agenda correction and criticism (13) DISPARAGEMENT*
13 Boisterous equine play? (5,6) HORSE AROUND [CD]
16 Worker with the French revolutionary sneaks into a military takeover to supply fruit (9) CANTALOUP {C{ANT}{LA<=}OUP}

18 Withdraw the patch (6) REPAIR [DD]
19 Dutch spirit and resistance gets rid of five groups of closely related species (6) GENERA GENE(-v+r)RA
21 Mediterranean island's leader moving away in an aloof manner (5) ICILY sICILY
25 Inside the chateau, Zidane finds an Israeli firearm (3) UZI [T]

GRID

No 12074, Tuesday 01 Aug 2017, Arden

ACROSS
1   No end to happiness after a drink of wine (7) CHABLIS {CHA}{BLISs}
5   Weapon outside the modified weapon (7) MACHETE {MAC{THE*}E}
9   Unstable film (5) ROCKY [DD]
10 What happens in fall? Student must go and listen in (9) EAVESDROP {lEAVES}{DROP}
11 Poet's 'old king on the mountain top' (9) COLERIDGE {COLE}{RIDGE}
12 Ruler will be back shortly, will re-emerge (5) EMEER [T<=]
13 After a delay, it's back to celebration (4) GALA {A}{LAG}<=
15 Leverages one's achievements (8) EXPLOITS [DD]
18 Watch runs, they catch hooks (8) EYEBOLTS {EYE}{BOLTS}
19 Regular vet, likes animals (4) ELKS {vEt}{LiKeS}
22 It's a mistake to waste time out of fear (5) ERROR tERROR
24 Complaint about bill introduced in sequence (9) CHILBLAIN {CH{BILL*}AIN}
26 Flirtation could end a marriage (9) DALLIANCE {c...lD}{ALLIANCE}
27 Entrance to temple, features a sacred mast (5) TOTEM [T]
28 Oz cricket body excludes drug in play (7) MACBETH {M{ACB}ETH}
29 Foolishly tried to grab pole position, new driver always seeking support (7) TENDRIL {TE{N}DRI*}{L}

DOWN
1   Correctness of bill on minister's office (6) CURACY acCURACY
2   Can I rally to get some additional support? (9) ANCILLARY*
3   Agree to intervene between sides that are level (5) LAYER {L}{AYE}{R}
4   Flowering plant turning weed into a bit of magic (9) SPEEDWELL {SPE{WEED*}LL}
5   Act with one in a film... (5) MOVIE {MOV{1}E}
6   ...in case small part of food is kept in this (9) CASSEROLE {CA{S}SE}{ROLE}
7   Once I re-enter some of it goes up — it's weird (5) EERIE [T<=]
8   Perhaps once British representative in Ireland (6) EMPIRE {E{MP}IRE}
14 I argue with Ben on how to cook this vegetable (9) AUBERGINE {I+ARGUE+BEN}*
16 Dangerous to take false step, one's fast (9) PESTILENT {STEP*}{1}{LENT}
17 Imitate Rafter (4,5) TAKE AFTER {R}{AFTER} R for take? Anno pending See comments
20 Model models, but not very often (6) SELDOM*
21 Polish title in English and Latin (6) ENAMEL {E}{NAME}{L}
23 Remains a high priest in religion (5) RELIC {R{ELI}C}
24 Conservative measure for a piece of cake (5) CINCH {C}{INCH}
25 Staff raise no bill (5) BATON {NO}{TAB}<=

GRID