No 9624, Monday 31 Aug 09, Nita Jaggi

One more to go
ACROSS
 1 - Worker to secretly leave the horned mammal (8) - {ANT}{ELOPE}
 5 - Dishonest scheme firstly surely cons another manager (4) - {S}{C}{A}{M}
 9 - Channel Islands new man is back about with the spice (8) - {CI}{N}{NAM<-}{ON}
10 - Kind of matter added to augment weight (6) - FILLER [CD]
12 - The present fruit (4) - DATE [DD]
13 - Relieved lad, leave it in a different style (10) - ALLEVIATED*
15 - Hand over the short people noticed, dropping hundred named earlier (5-9) - {AB}{OVE(-r)*} {MEN}{TIONED(-c)*} Why 'the' short and what's the connection between AB and HAND?
17 - Giving up almost the red fabric covering the queen is Her Majesty in the capital of Tibet (14) - {RE(-d)}{LIN{QU}{IS}{HM}EN}{T}
21 - Organise initially to spread titans out in a remote area (10) - {O}{UTSTATION*}
22 - Bomb’s first particle (4) - ATOM [DD]
25 - Take at first an hour at tea-time for the tree at last to grow well (5) - {T}{HR}{IV}{E}
26 - Friendly American is in charge of the sailor and the French (8) - {AM}{IC}{AB}{LE}
27 - A narrow way in Louisiana in the north-east (4) - {LA}{NE}
28 - It surely needs to be sealed to be posted (8) - ENVELOPE [CD]
DOWN
 1 - Arrive with the small tree in the passageway (6) - {AR}{CADE}
 2 - Basic belief heartlessly the teen discovers (5) - {T(-he)}{ENET} Impossible annotation
 3 - Weight of the cargo (4) - LOAD [DD]
 4 - Difficult to question student held with money (7) - {PROB{L}E}{M}
 6 - Writers often face such disapprovals (10) - CRITICISMS [CD]
 7 - No ailment to destroy the hormone (9) - MELATONIN*
 8 - Said without one covering the right hand of the musical instrument (5) - SA(-i){RO}D
11 - Position inside a male anatomy (4) - LEAN [T]
14 - Mutually settled the number of events in sequence (6,4) - {EVEN} {STEVEN*}
16 - Liberal at developing two groups (9) - BILATERAL*
18 - Busy with the tax officer following the superior (2,2) - UP {TO}
19 - Quiet woman to dance with an entertainer (7) - {SH}{OWMAN*}
20 - Prevent one member journalist in England (6) - {I}{MP}{ED}{E}
21 - Commander has time to notice a group of eight (5) - {OC}{T}{ET} What's the link between ET and notice?
23 - Mark on a social outcast (5) - TABOO [CD]
24 - Came out to the highest point (4) - ACME*