No 13678, Thursday 06 Oct 2022, Arden

Solution to 7D has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered only by a non-regular / novice commenter, with proper annotation. Those who have answered earlier in the week, please give others a chance.

ACROSS

1   Joint rusted perhaps, tough to use it (7,6) KNUCKLE DUSTER {KNUCKLE}{RUSTED*} 

10 Glass very transparent, inside can see some light (5) LASER {gLASs}{vERy}

11 Englishmen batting - can ashes follow third test? (9) SASSENACH {CAN+ASHES}* after {teSt}*

12 The sharpener went with those working (9) WHETSTONE {WENT+THOSE}*

13 Certain to hide the defect (5) TAINT [T]

14 Valet comes apart, he has no place to stay (7) VAGRANT {VA(let=grant)GRANT}

16 Worker on the moon - a Shakespearean character (7) ANTONIO {ANT}{ON}{IO}

18 First place in balance left for the knife (7) SCALPEL {SCAL{Pl..e}E}{L}

20 Move now and aim, it'll help the opponents (3,4) OWN GOAL {NOW*}{GOAL}

22 Harsh and dry outside, cold inside (5) ACRID {A{C}RID}

24 One less - an alternative is solitude (9) ALONENESS*

26 Deal with China - refuse something to eat (9) ENCHILADA {DEAL+CHINA}*

27 It's not true about students in French city (5) LILLE {LI{LL}E}

28 Be without teacher, copy writing on top of it is punishable (9,4) STATUTORY RAPE {STA{TUTOR}Y} with {APE}<=>{R}

DOWN

2   Information gathering, cops come up with reserves (4,3) NEST EGG {G{GETS}EN}<=

3   Cheat Spooner's piece of fish (4,5) CARD SHARP (~ shard carp to card sharp)

4   Rope in all criminal associates... (5) LASSO [T]

5   ...changing speed, watch the criminal (9) DESPERADO {SPEED*}{RADO}

6   Fish in the past had this characteristic (5) SMELT [C&DD]

7   Happiness after writing off mother-in-law perhaps (7) E?A?I?N (Addendum - ELATION rELATION - See comments)

8   Vest is allowed, could be a superstition (3,5,5) OLD WIVES TALES*

9   Somehow got there to cover the explosion - it was a boombox (6,7) GHETTO BLASTER {GOT+THERE}* over {BLAST}

15 Sharp rim with raised border, how to differentiate? (4,5) TELL APART {T{EL}{LAP}ART} (Addendum - {T{PALLE<=}ART} - See comments)

17 Bank employee receives usually new notes to start with- his is boring work (9) TUNNELLER {T{Us...y}{New}{No..s}ELLER}

19 Used coir as stuffing, suitable for fruit (7) APRICOT {AP{COIR*}T}

21 Coincide with closed loop (7) OVERLAP {OVER}{LAP}

23 Inside is the believer (5) DEIST [T]

25 Broadcasting is over, look! (2,3) ON AIR {ON}{AIR}

Reference List

Moon = IO, Left = L, Cold = C, Student = L, Writing = R, Information = GEN, Cops = GETS

Special, Wednesday 05 Oct 2022, Ajji

Three answers per commenter till 6 PM (Annotations compulsory) 

Please submit all your answers in one comment.  

(COMMENTS ENTERED WITH LESS THAN THREE ANSWERS/ANNOTATIONS WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT NOTICE, UNLESS THE COMMENTER SPECIFIES THAT IT IS A COMPENSATION FOR A REPEAT)

Enjoy.