No 2560, Sunday 29 Nov 09

Had a tough time as 1A and 1 & 8D had to be google searched, besides Googling for the names of which there were too many for my liking. 20A and 16D elude me
ACROSS
1 - Published, golfer Sam's extraordinary novel (3,3,4,5) – {PUT OUT} {MORE FLAGS*} Result of a google search
9 - Celebrity, first of them to get under way (5) – {STAR}{T}
10 - Poet (Porter, perhaps) penning peculiar dirge (9) – {COLE}{RIDGE*} Had to google Porter
11 - Swing with net facility, reportedly (7) – {TRAP}{EZE}(~ease)
12 - Dutch philosopher in Australia in health resort (7) – SP{IN}{OZ}A
13 - City forming part of Hesse-Nassau (5) – ESSEN [T]
15 - A variety of apple having no equal (9) – NONPAREIL [DD]
17 - New, surprisingly moderate cathedral (5,4) – NOTRE DAME*
20 - Give away canary, say (5) - ??A?S (Addendum - GRASS [DD]- See comments below)
21 - True, one crashed on the road (2,5) – EN ROUTE*
23 - Peer, young man in discomfort (7) – PA{LAD}IN
25 - Start to make a speech about one mother's ruin (9) – OR{I}{GIN}ATE My favourite drink GIN, never knew that it was also called Mother's ruin in the UK, see the link!!
26 - Tooled up, a revolutionary snatching millions (5) – {A}{R{M}ED}
27 - Geezer, once sober, can become a mean-spirited miser (8,7) – EBENEZER SCROOGE*
DOWN
1 - Even help those up in circulation to achieve more than seems possible (4,3,8) – PUSH THE ENVELOPE* Never heard this phrase before, had to google it out
2 - Ornamental band, one worn by Ms King in The Avengers (5) – T{I}ARA
3 - Demand more at school and then eat out (2,3,4) – {UP} {THE ANTE*}
4 - Educated man, fair novelist (7) – {MA}{CLEAN} Loved his books
5 - Car, all the rage, arrives (5,2) – {ROLLS} IN Anno for IN pending (Addendum {ROLLS} {IN})
6 - Language used in remote island set-up (5) – {FAR}{SI<-} )
7 - Flourishing on a madder plant (9) – ANDROMEDA*
8 - Pleaded, in a sense, for translation of an Italian saying (3,6,3,3) – SEE NAPLES AND DIE* Another google effort
14 - Dark planet in the East (9) – {SATURN}{IN}{E}
16 - Girl, Irish, eating hot pasta (5,4) – A???L ?A?R (Addendum - {ANGEL {H}A}{IR} - See comments below)
18 - Normal girl consumed by anger, blowing top (7) – (-r)A{VERA}GE
19 - Speak nonstop (7) – EXPRESS [DD]
22 - Marry a Parisienne full of sex appeal (5) – UN{IT}E
24 - Stupid duck in animated film (5) – {DUMB}{O} Nice clue


GRID