An Underwriter? (Puzzle No. 3241)

Link to puzzle: http://www.thenation.com/article/168016/puzzle-no-3241

Hozom’s comment: “Cryptic Parlor Game” http://www.thenation.com/blog/168062/cryptic-parlor-game.  A primer on charades: one of the main types of cluing.

Difficulty (by standards of this weekly puzzle):  hard

Political content: How do you smuggle a wordplay like "Elect Ron" into The Nation?  Imply it's a negative.  

solution and comments below the fold

Legend: "*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed; "( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue, “^” first letter or letters, “{“ relocated letter or letters

Across

1a	SUBSCRIBE	Pun on “under-writer”
6a	B (O) OTH	†BOTH containing (admitting) eg^O^
9a	REDO | *UBT	REDO (“decorate again”) + *BUT (anagram indicated by “differently”
10a	*TOURIST	*TROUT IS (anagram indicated by “is stewed”)
11a	B | ROOD	^B^ishop + ROOD (“crucifix”)
12a	REIN | STATE	REIN (“to control”) + STATE (“government”)
13a	OF LATE	twO FLAT Eels (Container indicated by “captured”)
14a	PER | SPIRE	SPIRE ("steeple") following ("chasing") <REP< ("agent", reversal indicated by "in retreat") This one pushes the envelope a little, putting the hint and the operator on it in a single word.
17a	ELECTRON	Pun on "Elect Ron [Reagan]"
19a	*MESCAL	*CAMELS (anagram indicated by “chewed”)
22a	*RET (ICE) NCE	ICE (“to chill”) contained in (“in”) *CENTER (anagram indicated by “chaotic”)
24a	*T (H) UDS	H (atomic symbol for “hydrogen”) contained in (“in”) *DUST (anagram indicated by “storm”)
26a	AT | TEMP | T	†AT + TEMP (“interim worker”) + bayone^T^
27a	F (*ACTO) | ID	*COAT (anagram indicated by “shabby”) contained in (“involved in”) F (“false”) + ID (“identification”)
28a	H (YEN) A	YEN (“urge”) contained in (“fills”) HA (“laughter”)
29a	HANDLEBAR	Pun on “handle bar”

Down

1d	SH | RUB	SH (“quiet!”) + RUB (“massage”)
2d	BEDROLL	Pun on “bed roll”
3d	*COU(P) D’ETAT	*ACTED OUT (anagram indicated by “subversive”) containing (“limiting”) ^P^artisan
4d	wINTERS	_Jonathan w_INTERS Jonathan Winters (b. 1925) has appeared in scores of films and TV shows.
5d	*ENT | WINED	*TEN + WINED (“offered alcohol”)
6d	*BLUES	*[BUS + EL] (joint anagram indicated by “in transit”).  “El” is the east coast spelling of an elevated railway: compare to the Chicago “L”
7d	ORIGAMI	tO RIG A Midshipman (container indicated by “cargo”)
8d	*HOT CEREAL	*THE ORACLE (anagram indicated by “stirred”)
13d	OVER}R} EACH	}R}OVER +
15d	S (KEPT) IC | AL	†KEPT contained in (inside) SIC (“incite”) + AL (“Capone”)
16d	<TOP | NOT< C_H	<TON ("heavyweight") + POT ("container")< (reversal indicated by "lift") + ClotH (first and last letters indicated by "wrapper"
18d	*ENTITLE	*TEEN LIT (anagram indicated by “compendium” of letters) “Entitle” in this case means “give a title to”
20d	*COULOMB	*COLUMBO (anagram indicated by “mistreated”) Charles-Augustin de Coulomb (1736-1806) was a French physicist, for whom the SI unit of electrical charge is named.
21d	<DE (A | F) EN<	†A + F (forte: “loud”) contained in <NEED< (“cry for”, reversal indicated by “mounting” (container indicated by “going outside”)
23d	COMMA_nd_	ND (“North Dakota”) removed (“secedes”) from COMMAND (“jurisdiction”)
25d	SE (D) ER	SEER (“prophet”) containing (“takes”) ^D^rink By tradition in the Passover seder, a cup of wine is left for Elijah