No 13909, Wednesday 05 Jul 2023, 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.

Open for anyone to answer, if not solved by 1 PM.

ACROSS

1   A national armed struggle, aiming for prosperity and success (8,5) AMERICAN DREAM {AMERICAN}{ARMED*}

10 Framework without head or tail, gets you space at the very top (5) ATTIC lATTICe

11 Late hour entertainment in flight, perhaps close to one (9) NIGHTLIFE {IN+FLIGHT}*{onE}

12 Cold and hot and a lot in between - that's unfair criticism (5,4) CHEAP SHOT {C}{HEAPS}{HOT}

13 Not even once - treat eight of them (5) OCTET {OnCe+TrEaT}

14 Indent electronic surveillance cameras, top ones come down (7) DESCENT {D{El...c}{Su...e}{Ca...s}ENT}

16 Capacitance and resistance of a wire wound all around, they work at high altitudes (7) AIRCREW {C}{R} in {A+WIRE}*

18 End of Labour! Drunk tories paint the town red (7) ROISTER {l...uR}{TORIES*} 

20 Key to pick nice naked seducer (7) ENTICER {ENT{nICe}ER}

22 Question answer review - he had a story to narrate (5) AESOP {POSE}{A}<=

24 Love to revisit some of the Qatar-Omani ties (9) INAMORATA [T<=]

26 Blue sea with green fields at the bottom - is that a desire? (9) EAGERNESS {SEA+GREEN+f...dS}

27 Sparkle left in drink, time to follow (5) GLINT {G{L}IN}{T}

28 The teammates and I play simultaneously (2,3,4,4)  AT THE SAME TIME {TEAMMATES+I}*

DOWN

2   John has it, about time to get a pair of gloves (7) MITTENS {M{I{T}T}ENS}

3   He gets entire shot - accepting limited choice that comes up (9) RECIPIENT {RE{PICk<=}IENT*}

4   It's easy to move slowly by cycle (5) CINCH {INCH}<=>{C}

5   Bargain for one I get at random (9) NEGOTIATE*

6   Beer without head returned as old (5) RETRO pORTER<=

7   Flyer's on a peak, gets through (7) A?I?T?R (Addendum - AVIATOR  {A}{TOR} over {VIA} - See comments)

8   Children's book under fancy brocade found at the checkout counter (3,4,6) BAR CODE READER {READER}<=>{BROCADE}*

9   Orders to execute work, that draws near (5,8) DEATH WARRANTS*

15 Star goes off without eats, that is being sloppy (9) TARDINESS {TAR{DINES}S*}

17 He got hurt badly so reconsidered (9) RETHOUGHT*

19 Observation on where the sniper keeps the target (7) INSIGHT {IN SIGHT}

21 Magnetism is hidden (7) CHARISM {CHAR{IS}M} &lit

23 Fish where the bird sits (5) PERCH [DD]

25 Fool! Get up in the morning to have tea (5) ASSAM {A{ASS<=}M}

Reference List

Cold = C, Capacitance = C, Resistance = R, Left = L, Time = T, John = MENS, Cycle = C