No 11727, Wednesday 15 Jun 2016, Aspartame

ACROSS
9   Spouse during a disagreement? (8,7) SPARRING PARTNER [CD]
10 Track down remote controlled vehicle collecting samples of extraterrestrial creatures (7) RECOVER {Ex...l}{Cr...s} in {ROVER}
12 Hindu father became French royalty (7) DAUPHIN {HINDU+PA}*
13 Bare males posing in a straight line — that’s hot (5,4) LASER BEAM*  Clue would have worked without 'in a straight line' also
14 Big dealer sold a building (5) ELDER DEaLER* Big or Bigger?
15 Ask Buzzer to have corner with cryptic hints, to begin with (7) BESEECH {BE{S}E}{Cr...c}{Hi..s}
18 Well-mannered but given to servile compliance (7) COURTLY [DD]
21 Was custard inside a container? (5) ASCUS [T]
23 Chord is produced from it (5,4) VOCAL CORD (~chord) &lit
25 I write about weapon that is land-based (7) PENGUIN {PEN}{GU{I}N} From the clue wording we get {I}{PEN} about {GUN}
26 Check trendy speaker (7) INVOICE {IN}{VOICE}
29 Aunts and tots ballet dancing is of lowest priority? On the contrary (4,3,3,5) LAST BUT NOT LEAST*

DOWN
1   Emperor obtained backing of a third of the Rastafarians (4) TSAR [T<=]
2   Cosmetic surgery on cat requires money (4) TALC {L} in CAT*
3   Cross-stitching on royal’s vest takes a bit of effort (8) TRAVERSE {A} in {R+VEST}* and {Ef...t} There's an R missing in the fodder
4   Right to enrol for a main course (6) ENTREE [DD]
5   When everyone gets a 16 (8) EPIDEMIC [CD]
6   Group of dancers march audibly (6) TROUPE (~troop)
7   Won’t he do the furnishing precisely? (2,3,3) ON THE DOT [T]
8   Unyielding Greyjoy lost happiness, became a shade (4,4) IRON GREY {IRON} {GREYjoy}
11 Encourage oriental to recall story from start to end (5) ELATE {ELAT<=}<=>{E}
15 Live with an Olsztynian resident who’s tall and thin (8) BEANPOLE {BE}{AN}{POLE}
16 About to break polished sink on Cockney head? That causes worry (8) SICKNESS {SI{C}KN*}{'ESS} Can Cockney head can lead to (-n)ESS or 'ESS
17 They own money? Not a single note (4-4) HAVE-NOTS {HAVE}-{NOT}{S} Anno not clear (Addendum - {HAVE}-{NOTeS}&lit - See comments)
19 A French learner too not right and not fair (8) UNLOVELY {UN}{L}{OVErLY}
20 Text lanky Yankee read in class bit by bit (5) LYRIC Acrostic
22 Small, plump, blunt (6) STUBBY {S}{TUBBY}
24 Earring made by thief worn on cheek (4-2) CLIP-ON {C{LIP}-ON}
27 I am a Muslim leader (4) IMAM {I'M}{A}{Mu...m}
28 Removes packaging, tastes broth of stomachs (4) EATS tASTEs*

GRID