No 10633, Saturday 01 Dec 12, Sankalak

 On Sankalak days we run out of superlatives.

ACROSS

1   Performer in music, say, is tense, beginning to extemporise (7) ARTISTE {ART}{IS}{T}{E}

5   A cruel one with a red-head side by side (7) ABREAST {A}{B{R}EAST}

9   Old movie about neutering a young deviant (5,3,4,3) ANNIE GET YOUR GUN*

10 They happen when there is an opening between two points (6) EVENTS {E}{VENT}{S}

11 Would an insect run away with a mammal? (8) ANTELOPE {ANT}{ELOPE} They would if they were politicians.

13 An outcome the editor brought about (8) EFFECTED {EFFECT}{ED}

15 Great old king who took Penny to a Mediterranean island (6) CYPRUS {CY{P}RUS}

18 A pail, lethal when kicked! (6) BUCKET [CD]

19 Constructed afresh by the arbiter with computer memory and edited (8) REFRAMED {REF}{RAM}{ED}

22 Form a labour body? No use in island formation (8) UNIONISE {NO+USE+IN+IS}*

24 A facet that troubles spectator losing a third (6) ASPECT SPECTAtor*

27 What a Cyclops would surely have lacked (9,6) BINOCULAR VISION [CD]

28 Noisy dogs replace head of aides with an unknown (7) YELPERS (-h+y)YELPERS

29 Clumsy, heartless work in a part of the hospital (7) AWKWARD {A{WorK}WARD}

DOWN

1   The environment of the university made a chief engineer uncomfortable (7) ACADEME {MADE+A+CE}*

2   A bit of colour seen in art in general (5) TINGE [T]

3   Select cap adjusted for public display (9) SPECTACLE*

4   Affirmative sounds heard from observers (4) EYES (~ayes)

5   Tom, Dick or Harry? (6) ANYONE [CD]

6   The way of the debaucher with time (5) ROUTE {ROU{T}E}

7   Rama going crazy for a diagnostic aid (9) ANGIOGRAM*

8   Passages through darkness, with the hope of light at the end? (7) TUNNELS [CD]

12, 17  Fashionable people with a partiality for air travel? (3,3) JET SET [CD]

14 In reality, girl student is characterised by dissent (9) FACTIONAL {FACT}{IONA}{L}

16 The measure that makes London detectives start sleuthing and make a positive mark (9) YARDSTICK {YARD}{S}{TICK}

17 See 12

18 Depressed lad — a Gainsborough (4,3) BLUE BOY {BLUE} {BOY}

20 Crazy one set up in performance is out of alignment (7) DETUNED {DE{TUN<=}ED}

21 Book of sacred poems (6) PSALMS [E]

23 Here is the place for a bionic he-man (5) NICHE [T]

25 Old Argentine personality who set up nameless indigenous one (5) EVITA EVITAn <=

26 The product of the two sides, say (4) AREA [E]

LINK TO SOLUTION GRID