Music to eat by? (Puzzle No. 3,249)

Link to puzzle: http://www.thenation.com/article/169495/puzzle-no-3249

Hozom’s comment: "In the Mail," in which a solver declares victory in a way much more meaningful than the crass "brag posts" over at the WSJ and NYT puzzle blogs.

Themework: I’m not finding a theme here: did I miss something?  If so, then post it in the comments.

Difficulty (by standards of this weekly puzzle): Easy

Political content: Maybe we should keep track of Trazom’s musical content instead…

Solvers’ note from Braze: Craig in Adelaide now has a note up at his site telling us that his Crossword Helper had to be shut down because he needed the server for work purposes.  I’ll let you know if there is any further news.  Got a good alternative?  Share it with me in the comments.

Solution below the fold.  Need hints?  Ask in the comments.

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

Across

1a	CONNECT | I | CUTER	CONNECT (“associate”) + I (“one”) + CUTER (“better looking”)
9a	RAN | GE	RAN (“managed”) + G.E. (“lightbulb maker”)
10a	ENG | ROSS | ED	ENG (Eng Bunker, one of the original “Siamese Twins” of Ringling Brothers fame, his brother’s name was Chang) + ROSS (“Perot”, two-time presidential candidate) + ED (“Koch”, former New York mayor)
11a	AG | LITTER	AG (“Silver”) + LITTER (“trash”)
12a	ASS | *IGN	ASS (“idiot”) + * GIN (anagram indicated by “to mix”)
14a	LAS (T) S	LASS (“young woman”) containing (“taking”) T (“time”)
16a	PRO GENIES	Pun
17a	VENI | *AL SIN	VENI (Latin for “I came”) + *SLAIN (anagram indicated by “brutally”)
19a	*UNFIT	*FUN IT (anagram indicated by “crazy”)
22a	VE | <SSEL<	V.E. (“victory in Europe”) + <LESS< (“without”, reversal indicated by “returned”)
23a	MENSWEAR	Pun on “men swear” (if my ref partner Maddie is representative, women swear too!)
26a	CAR | GO | CU(L)T	CAR (“wheels”) + †GO + CUT (“notch”) containing (“around”) idoL (last letter indicated by “base”)
27a	rAMBLE	rAMBLE (“run on”, removal of first letter indicated by “late start”)
28a	MARTIN (A HING) IS	AH-ING (“expressing audible admiration for”) contained in (“amid”) MARTINIS (“cocktails”) Martina Hingis (b. , Switzerland, won )

Down

1d	CURT | AIL	CURT “short” | AIL (“to be sick”)
2d	NONPLUS	visual pun: the minus sign is not a plus
3d	*ERECT	*CRETE (anagram indicated by “destroy”)
4d	THE TEMPEST	pun
5d	C | AGE	C (“one hundred”) + AGE (“years”)
6d	T | ROUSSEAU	T (“true”) + ROUSSEAU (Jean Jacques Rousseau, philosopher)
7d	<ROSSINI<	<spaIN IS SORely< (hidden word indicated by “in”, reversal indicated by “reactionary”)
8d	A | DON | IS	†A + DON (“professor”) + †IS
13d	*PO (INSET) TIA	INSET (“embedded”) contained in (“in”) *PATIO (anagram indicated by “dilapidated”)
15d	<ST (sAGE D) OOR<	<ROOTS (“cheers”) containing (“engulfing”) DEGAs< (Edward Degas, French painter, last letter omission indicated by “most of”): the whole thing is reversed (“rising”)
17d	V | IV | ACE	V (“5”) + IV (“4”) + ACE (“expert”)
18d	<NO< | STRUM	<ON< (reversal indicated by “contrary”) + STRUM (“play the banjo”) I suppose some players strum a banjo, but finger-picking is more typical for that instrument.
20d	FEEDBAG	visual rebus using the notes on a staff (I gave Sabre that one to solve)
21d	TURnKEYS	TURnKEYS (“jailers”), omitting (“tossing”) N (“neutron”)
24d	SWAM | I	SWAM (“did not sink”) + I (“me as a subject”)
25d	<SUFI<	<IF (“provided”) + US< (“you and me”): the whole thing is reversed (“with uplift”)