No 12424, Tuesday 18 Sep 2018, Arden

ACROSS
1   Settle before paper's out, amount unknown (6) PREPAY {PAPER*}{Y}
4   Oddly, redfin caught in Venetian waterway lands up in Rome (8) CARDINAL {CA{ReDfIn}NAL}
9   It enables purchase at the lowest level (6) ANCHOR [CD]
10 A workover, say for a renegade (8) APOSTATE {A}{OP<=}{STATE}
12 A planet has to have constant source of methane (5,3) MARSH GAS {MARS}{H{G}AS}
13 Cling on to him in the middle (6) COHERE {CO{HE}RE}
15 Diner's fine over the cape (12) DELICATESSEN {DELICATE}{NESS<=}
18 Bet Hank will clean up the casino (5,3,4) BREAK THE BANK {BET+HANK}* [RA]
21 Idiots, second rate (6) ASSESS {ASSES}{S}
22 British capital picks a tory leader — it's a gamble (8) BACCARAT {B}{ACC{A}RA}{Tory}
24 Approximate time to get fibre content (8) ROUGHAGE {ROUGH AGE}
25 Arab men stop you entering inside initially (6) YEMENI {YE}{MEN}{In...e}
26 Jump into castle wharf when sea gets rougher (8) CHOPPIER {C}{HOP}{PIER}
27 Draw second boat (6) SKETCH {S}{KETCH}

DOWN
1   Sadly mop ground singing hymns (8) PSALMODY*
2   Red case, part is green (8) ESCAROLE {CASE*}{ROLE}

3   Doctor they approach regularly stops at the pharmacy (11,4) APOTHECARYS SHOP {THEY+APPROACH+StOpS}*
5   Starts again, lofty peaks evacuated in Europe (4) ALPS {Ag..n}{Lo..y}{PeakS}
6   Found Count posing danger to the king (10,5) DISCOVERED CHECK {DISCOVERED} {CHECK}
7   Tidy up, initially not to be consumed (6) NEATEN {Not}{EATEN}
8   No truth in the German song (6) LIEDER {LIE}{DER}
11 Dish — it's repeated quietly (7) MANTRAP {MANTRA}{P}
14 A silent river overruns, what's left here are coffin nails (7) ASHTRAY {A}{SH}{T{R}AY}
16 Tries art design, it's extremely sticky (8) TARRIEST*
17 Lampoon — it's funny Henry should get nervous (8) SKITTISH {SKIT}{ITS*}{H}
19 Nothing at all to it, crib about the material (6) FABRIC {FA}{CRIB*} Anno for FA pending See comments
20 Mock up when they're outstanding in work (6) PSEUDO {O{DUES}P}<=
23 Fit, not very dim (4) AGUE vAGUE

GRID

No 12423, Monday 17 Sep 2018, Arden

ACROSS
1   Endangered? Holler and head off to save your skin (9,5) VANISHING CREAM {VANISHING} {sCREAM}
10 Left with a river bird (5) OUSEL {OUSE}{L}

11 Put in menu, placed it on table periodically (9) NEPTUNIUM*
12 Man in America protects only criminal (7) HEINOUS {HE}{IN}{US} over {O}
13 Block blocks to block bird? On the contrary (3,2,2) LET IT GO {LE{TIT}GO}
14 Man's drowning in booze, discharge (5) RHEUM {R{HE}UM}
16 Nursemaid gets a fee, one is deeply religious (9) AYATOLLAH {AY{A}{TOLL}AH}
19 Cocoon them endlessly, keep recovering (2,3,4) ON THE MEND [T]
20 Refuse ballet, evenly missing the count perhaps (5) NOBLE {NO}{BaLlEt}
22 They are sung by sycophants (7) PRAISES [CD]
25 Herb loves to bottle anger, somehow (7) OREGANO {O}ANGER*}{O}
27 Gets around in a small function, feeling gloomy (9) SATURNINE {TURN} in {A}{SINE}
28 Bloodsucker stalks a girl (5) ALICE {A}{LICE}
29 In tandem Carbon becomes genetically engineered (11,1,1,1) RECOMBINANT DNA*

DOWN
2   Wanting to save money, is off booze (9) ABSTINENT {ABS{TIN}ENT}
3   One left covered in sticky stuff, it's freezing in here! (5) IGLOO {1}{G{L}OO}
4   Greeting as men fish (9) HANDSHAKE {HANDS}{HAKE}
5   Friend trailing by two points on land... (5) NEPAL {N}{E}{PAL}

6   ...nobility's pensive, it's before the race (9) COUNTDOWN {COUNT}{DOWN}
7   Fatwa — finally the grand mufti appeared before court (5) EDICT {thE}{g..nD}{m..tI}{CT}
8   Big man faces bullets — starts the hunt (7) MAMMOTH {M}{AMMO}{The}{Hunt}
9   Harry's book choice (6) BOTHER {B}{OTHER}
15 Eddy recreated Moslem art (9) MAELSTROM*
17 Stars found in Paris and Rome daily (9) ANDROMEDA [T]
18 House republican in a fix, he has to handle huge volumes (9) LIBRARIAN {LIBRA}{R}{IN+A}*
19 Is he against work? That's the question (7) OPPOSER {OP}{POSER}
21 Short boy had to run, ran away (6) ELOPED {E{LOPE}D}
23 Heard old joke (5) ANTIC (~antique)
24 "Bizarre Sacrifice" — don't care for such movies (3-2) SCI-FI SaCrIFIce*
26 Beat up? Time to make a law (5) ENACT {CANE<=}{T}

GRID