No 13960, Saturday 02 Sep 2023, Arden

ACROSS

1   Coal is used at-home (6) SOCIAL*

4   Is under arrest, carrying tin pot (8) CANNABIS {IS}<=>{NAB} under {CAN}

9   Make it hard for boy to stalk girl (6) ANNEAL {AL}<=>{ANNE}

10 There is lot of foot tapping as the sergeant comes under fire (8) FLAMENCO {NCO}<=>{FLAME}

12 John's despatch said to be getting unscrewed (8) LOOSENED {~ loo send)

13 Baby fattening? Get off, off! (6) INFANT FATteNINg*

15 I am, say, now on edge (7,5) PRESENT TENSE {PRESENT}{TENSE}

18 Blessed men, natural to be advocating supreme papal authority (12) ULTRAMONTANE* 

21 Lese Majesty, time to argue (6) REASON tREASON 

22 One is better peeled and savoured after a meal (8) ANISETTE {AN}{IS}{bETTEr}

24 Cross with first class travel (8) BESTRIDE {BEST}{RIDE}

25 Felt taking a short time with animal handler (6) MAHOUT {MA{HOUr}T}

26 Salad, sell a salad in neat package (8) COLESLAW {CO{SELL+A}*W}

27 A party the communist loved (6) ADORED {A}{DO}{RED}

DOWN

1   Queenies, behold hiding among head hunter's trophies (8) SCALLOPS {SCAL{LO}PS}

2   Study carried out by democrats overlooked (8) CONDONED {CON}{DONE}{D}

3   Possibly false alarm, wrote novel (1,8,2,4) A FAREWELL TO ARMS*

5   Cut outside length of shaft (4) AXLE {AX{L}E}

6   Saw that everyone is inter-dependent (2,3,2,2,6) NO MAN IS AN ISLAND [C&DD]

7   In the beginning brave, and not timid, a man turns chicken (6) BANTAM Acrostic

8   Terrible place to live, admit not rude (6) SNOTTY {S{NOT}TY}

11 Teach manoeuvre on area (7) HECTARE {TEACH}*{RE}

14 Proper European English? (7) GERMANE {GERMAN}{E}

16 Whiskey that's drunk plus our energy! (4-4) WATT-HOUR {W}{THAT*}{OUR}

17 Game in fact not liked at all (8) DETESTED {DE{TEST}ED}

19 Maybe anaerobic, lost one tongue (6) ARABIC  AnAeRoBIC*

20 Not more, a time to come up with a decorative piece (6) TASSEL {LESS}{A}{T}<=

23 Thought one was carrying fish (4) IDEA {A}<=>{IDE}

Reference List

Time = T, Neat = COW, Party = DO, Behold = LO, Study = CON, Democrat = D, Length = L, On = RE, English = E, Whiskey = W

No 13959, Friday 01 Sep 2023, Arden

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PLEASE NOTE, SOLUTIONS WITHOUT ATTEMPTING THE ANNOTATIONS WILL BE DELETED

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

ACROSS

1   In short "A tale" - there is no interest for it (7,7) CURRENT ACCOUNT {CURRENT}{ACCOUNT}

10 Winger's lift at home (5) ROBIN {ROB}{IN}

11 Reverberates - another reason for failure? (9) RESONATES {REASON*}{SET<=}

12 Left one in lead, only a sugar pill (7) PLACEBO {P{L}{ACE}B}{O}

13 Stop! Nothing to hold me back! (7) EMBARGO {O}{GRAB}{ME}<=

14 What is held by United States, say in reparation? (5) ASSET [T<=] Semi&lit

16 Walk way to retain billboard? Follow intuition, perhaps (9) ESPLANADE {LAN{AD}E}<=>{ESP}

19 Seamstress will eat wearing short gloves (9) MIDINETTE {MI{DINE}TTEn}

20 Show rejection in some hospital certificate (5) ECLAT [T<=]

22 Dictator in trial, looking extremely neat (7) TIDIEST {T{IDI}EST}

25 Sign of authority gets dubious respect (7) SCEPTRE*

27 Hottest in a way, sorted it out, right inside (9) TORRIDEST {SORTED+IT}* over {R}

28 Private meal, hasn't started (5) INNER dINNER

29 As Kurds danced, took weekend off for a pastime (5,3,6)  DUCKS AND DRAKES {AS+KURDS+DANCED+weeK}*

DOWN

2   Bin used as substitute - is it fair? (9) UNBIASSED*

3   Wash and go up anonymously (5) RINSE {RI{N}SE}

4   Shelter housing missile, extremely cramped (9) NARROWEST {N{ARROW}EST}

5   Beer drinking, is this a way? (5) AISLE {A{IS}LE}

6   Able to escape finally and stop at the thicket of bamboo (9) CANEBRAKE {CAN}{e...pE}{BRAKE}

7   Decapitated ram, say (5) UTTER bUTTER

8   Material that sets our ground (7) TUSSORE*

9   Drink with general consent to accept blame (6) GRAPPA {G{RAP}PA}

15 Endeavours to protect girl and hides here (9) TANNERIES {T{ANNE}RIES}

17 Urge male to hold the clothes in place (5,4) PRESS STUD {PRESS}{STUD}

18 Lancelot accepting a representation suddenly (3,2,4) ALL AT ONCE {LANCELOT+A}*

19 Transformed with time consumed in keeping dirt out (7) MUTATED {MU{T}{ATE}D}

21 Party takes him in principle (6) THEORY {T{HE}ORY}

23 Physicist finds it dry on the way up and cloudy (5) DIRAC {ARID<=}{C}

24 Connection with money that is invested (3-2) TIE-IN {T{IE}IN}

26 Around one acre to put up a plant (5) ERICA {ER{1}CA<=}

Reference List

A = Ampere = CURRENT, Left = L, Only = O, Billboard = AD, Right = R, Time = T, Cloudy = C