No 12061, Monday 17 Jul 2017, Afterdark

ACROSS
1   In leader's absence, ready to take offence (6) RESENT pRESENT
4   Adamant leader hiding in disguise (6) MANTLE [T]
9   Lies spread by man, perhaps (4) ISLE*

10 Reinforce road on New Guinea soon (10) STRENGTHEN {ST}{RE}{NG}{THEN}
11 Stick to company at this place (6) COHERE {CO}{HERE}
12 Day crowd at a club is impressive (8) DRAMATIC {D}{RAM}{AT}{1}{C}
13 Swans tend to swim to booth (9) NEWSSTAND*
15 Macho guys become leaders without advantage (2-3) HE-MEN HEadMEN
16 Producer is from Udma, Kerala (5) MAKER [T]
18 At the beginning, in zest I get worked up to have spirit (9) ZEITGEIST {In+ZEST+I+GET}* 'At the' is superfluous
22 During exercise, have sliced carrot to keep going (8) PROTRACT {CARROT}* in {PT}
23 Out of nothing, playboy manufactured an incidental activity (6) BYPLAY PLAYBoY*
25 Expect the French at the deckhouse, say (10) FORECASTLE {FORECAST}{LE} Why say?
26 Letters from Arul edited as a practice (4) RULE [T]
27 Lawrence gets drunk before rave begins, in confusion (6) LITTER {LIT}{TE}{Rave}
28 Treasurer seen in vehicle, right inside with a Republican (6) BURSAR {BU{R}S}{A}{R} We used to have a 'Bursar' in our school

DOWN
1   Replace trees or perish (7) RESTORE*
2   Situation is said to be watched (5) SCENE (~seen)
3   Developing a new heady perfume (7) NASCENT {A}<=>{N}{SCENT}
5   Yearly, it's heard that you go out to gather energy and strengthen (6) ANNEAL ANN(-u+e)EAL
6   Three railway officials having drink, after removing their caps, in privacy (4-1-4) TETE-A-TETE {TEA} in {tTE}(TEA}{tTE}{tTE}
7   Before joining university engineer was a recluse (7) EREMITE {ERE}{MIT}{E}
8   Agitated teens pointlessly misbehaved across road at a commercial complex (7,6) TRADING ESTATE {AGITATED+TEeNS}* over {R}
14 Second, minute; time one spent to take a sip of tea and cake, perhaps (9) SWEETMEAT {S}{WEE}{TiME}{A}{Tea}
17 Car oil applied in order to reduce heat (3-4) AIR-COOL {O} in {CAR+OIL}*
19 Record; Australia is two down (7) TABLEAU {TABLE}{AU}
20 Instrument is a small drum, used often in allegro (7) STAPLER {S}{TAP}{aLlEgRo}
21 Kelvin had one rupee before, now empty hand in Tokyo (6) KARATE {K}{A}{R}{ATE}
24 Stops at the grounds (5) PARKS [DD]

GRID

Special, Sunday 16 Jul 2017, Samurai Pony

Welcome to our new setters Samurai Pony. Bouquets and brickbats welcome.

Three answers per commenter as usual till 6 PM (Annotations compulsory)
Please provide all your answers in one comment.

ACROSS
1   Cheerful,rich,eccentric and extremely pretty (6)
4   Babies lisp so funnily (6)
9   Guy's a failure at love ultimately (4)
10 Notice man working by a shack being rebuked (10)
11 Extremely parsimonious and backward partner's a pest (6)
12 An associate's message leads to rancour (8)
13 Picture beast turning and starting to chase deer (9)
15 Mostly passionionate, young and crafty (4)
16 Tableau's clever (4)
17 Old wagons going back is initial mark of rejection (9)
21 &lit? maybe not figuratively speaking (8)
22 Hallowed but cares about devil basically (6)
24 Need I feed cynic nuts? (10)
25 Video about expelling English poet (4)
26 Listen, Giselle's back holding seal (6)
27 Injured citizen ignores 101 helpline's main tip (6)

DOWN
1   Officer at International organization regularly steals information (7)
2   Model lied about having anorexia to start with (5)
3   Old monarch played harp at Opera House initially (7)
5   Want to rush back after training on the 4th of July (6)
6   One conman is disturbed and restless (9)
7   Relentlessly scheming to catch bird (7)
8   Merman breasts may cause discomfort (13)
14 Could be a frog's good fortune? (9)
16 In this image, I am left alone..forever (7)
18 Balance Yemen, Libya & Egypt leaders to evolve (7)
19 Say,blueberry cheesecake as described in Stockholm (7)
20 First awkward online controversy (6)
23 Sexy Indian top! heads of corporates helplessly ogle like idiots (5)

Across Lite version can be accessed at SAMURAI PONY 1

Enjoy.