Woulda, shoulda, coulda (Puzzle No. 3,254)

When I got 13a in this week's puzzle, I thought "that would have made a great theme," but nothing else picked up on it.  Still some enjoyable and clever wordplay for you though, plus Trazom's obligatory composer reference at 18d and a name-check for Willz and for Hozom's boss at 27a.

Link to puzzle: http://www.thenation.com/article/170161/puzzle-no-3254

Hozom's comment: "Lit Parade," in which our constructors explain the convention of an exclamation point in a clue denoting "& lit" (literally, "and literally": a clue where both the definition and wordplay are contained in the same clue words.  I didn't know that our friends Hex don't use the exclamation point.  They think it's bragging, but I think it's an important signal to novice solvers.  Please go join the debate over at Word Salad.

Degree of difficulty: I didn't find this one too hard, though some might have a time of it parsing 14a.

Themework: Four puns in the solution, none of them real groaners.

Trazom's obligatory music content: 18d

Solution and annotation below the fold.

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	~SEEMS	~SEAMS (“veins”, as in veins of ore, homonym indicated by “in the ear”)
4a	D (EB) ATING	DATING (“going out”) containing (“around”) E.B. (“East Broadway”, initials indicated by “at first”)
8a	<AE (ROBE) S<	ROBE (“dress”) contained in (“is engulfed by”) <SEA< (“water”, reversal indicated by “receding”)
9a	*BELU | GAS	GAS (“CO2, for instance”), preceded by (“trails”) *BLUES
11a	*ENGRAVERS	*VERSE RANG (anagram indicated by “free”)
12a	*VIRGO	*VIGOR (anagram indicated by “renewed”)
13a	<FI DO<	<OD (“overdose”) + IF (†) < (reversal indicated by “making a comeback”); definition cross-referencing 20d, “PET NAME”
14a	F_ALSE START	F_alse start (inverted clue: “F” is the start of “false”)
17a	HIS | TRIO | NIC_	HIS (“man’s”) + TRIO (“small combo”) + NICe (“pleasant”, omission of last letter indicated by “largely”)
19a	O_ | PEN	O (“O’hara”, first letter indicated by “chief”) + PEN (“writing implement”)
22a	A_T_E_U_P	At ThE cUsP (odd letters indicated by “oddly”)
23a	TOOK NOTES	Pun (double definition)
24a	<T (SARI) NA<	SARI (“wrap”) contained in (“grabbed by”) <ANT< (“soldier”, reversal indicated by “returning”) A sari is a traditional woman’s costume from India, wonderfully colorful.
25a	N (IRV) ANA	NANA (“Grandma”) containing (“hugs”) IRV (“Irving”) Easy, but satisfying, clue.
26a	*FASTENER	*FEARS NET (anagram indicated by “broken”)
27a	SH | EDS	EDS (“editors”: ref. to Will Shortz, puzzle editor of the NYT, and Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation) following (“pursuing”) SH (“silence”)

Down

1d	STATE | OF T | HE ART	STATE (“announce”) + OFT (“frequently”) + LOVE  (“heart”)
2d	*ENRAGED	*ANGERED (exclamation point since “angered” anagrams to “enraged
3d, 23d	*SUBWAY TRAIN	~SUBWEIGHT (“light”) + ~REIN (“check”), homonym indicated by “discussed”
4d	*DESPE | *RADO	*SPEED (anagram indicated by “reckless”) + *ROAD (anagram indicated by “winding”)
5d, 21d	BABES IN ARMS	Pun (double definition)
6d	TE (LEVIS) E	LEVIS (“jeans”) contained in (“wearing”) TEE (“shirt”)
7d	<NI | GE | RIA<	<AIR (“song”) + E.G. (“for example”) + IN< (“popular”), reversal indicated by “retro”)
10d	SHOOTING STARS	Pun (double definition)
15d	SHI (POW) NER	POW (“bam!”) contained in (“sports”) SHINER (“black eye”)
16d	TRAPPIST	Pun (double definition) The fur trader would be more properly called a “trapper.”  Trappist monks and nuns (a suborder of the Benedictines) are known for their crafted products including beers, breads, and jellies and preserves.
18d	_S MET AN A_	brahmS MET AN Austrian (hidden word indicated by “inside”) I had always thought Bedřich Smetana was Czech rather than Austrian.  His most famous composition, “Má Vlast” (“My Homeland”) is decidedly Czech, and his opera “The Bartered Bride” was written in Czech, not German.  (update: see comment, Hot is right)
20d	PET (<NAM<) E	PETE (“Pete” Rose, baseball player) containing (“holding”) <MAN< (reversal indicated by “up”) “Pet name” is another phrase for a “term of endearment.”
21d	See 5d
23d	See 3d