Tasting menu (Solution No. 3,271)

After introducing us to letter banks a few weeks ago, Hot and Trazom give us another one, this time with bells on it.  There are several other nice clues here (9a, 10a, 15a to name a few), and it looks like the rest of the puzzle was put together to let those entries shine.  An example of everything, more or less.

Sort of a "sampler," though I wonder now why that word got used to describe a needlework project where all the work is done in cross-stitch.  Shouldn't a sampler include some embroidery and crochet as well?  "Tasting menu" might be more appropriate, sort of like the omakase at Morimoto (right), something that TODM and I have been fortunate enough to have on a few occasions.

puzzle solution and annotation below the fold

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

Across

1a	¶VENISONIVOROUS	Letter bank on SOUVENIR, indicated by “use and reuse pieces” This is as easy as a letter bank is ever going to be.
9a	*SI(X)TH	*HITS (anagram indicated by “smash”) containing (“getting”) X (“a mark”) Sixth refers to the sixth letter of the alphabet.  “A mark like F” is prime misdirection.
10a	<INAMORATA<	<AT A ROMAN I< (“near top-grade ego”, reversal indicated by “returning”) “roman I” parses as “translate ‘I’ into Latin”
11a	TROLL | OPE_	TROLL (“monster”) + OPE_n (“outspoken,” omission of last letter indicated by “largely”)
12a	*CINEMA	*ICEMAN (anagram indicated by “remake”)
14a	HIKER	Pun
15a	LO | AN}S{ | HARK	LO  AN{D} HARK (“look and listen”), exchange (†) of D (“daughter”) for S (“son”) Lovely combination: lo and hark
17a	MAN | IF | *ESTO	MAN (“guy”) + IF (“with condition”) + *TOES (anagram indicated by “broken”)
19a	E_N | TRY	E_dmonto_N (first and last letters indicated by “borders”) + TRY (“attempt”)
20a	P | AVERS	P (“quiet”) + AVERS (“maintains”)
22a	SUN | BURNS	SUN (“star”) + BURNS (Ken Burns, filmmaker)
25a	GEORGE III	GoEs On ReGrEt It If I (alternate [odd] letters indicated by “unevenly”)
26a	REA(L)M	REAM (“stack of paper”) contains (“covers”) L (“large”)
27a	*AMERICAN GOT | HIC_	*RAIN CAME (anagram indicated by “unexpectedly”) + GOT (caught) + HIC_k_ (“provincial”, omission of last letter indicated by “most of”)

Down

1d	V | IS IT	V (“fifth”) + IS IT (†)
2d	<NEX(T) O< *F KIN	<OXEN< (“farm animals”, reversal indicated by “raised”) containing (“keeping”) profi^T^ (last letter indicated by “last bit”)
3d	S | *CHOLAR	^S^core (first letter indicated by “first bit”) + *CHORAL (anagram indicated by “arrangement”)
4d	NAIL | POLISH	NAIL (“secure”) + POLISH (“from Krakow”) Krakow is a beautiful city, which was largely spared by the war.  The old castle on the Vistula, St. Mary’s Church, and the Market Square are all worth a visit.  Krakow is also home to the Jagiellonian University, one of the oldest universities in the world.
5d	~VIAL	~VILE (“low,” homonym indicated by sounds) I was stuck on “vein” here for a while
6d	*ROOMIES	*MOROSE I (anagram indicated by “disturbed”)
7d	USA | GE	USA (“American”) + G.E. (“corporation”)
8d	MAL(ARK)E | Y	MALE (“he”) contains (“clutches”) ARK (“chest”) + Y (“yes”)
13d	LABOR UNION	Pun
14d	HO(ME) P | AGE	HOP (“skip”) + AGE (“many years”) containing (“involving”) ME (“this writer”)
16d	*AF(TERM)ATH	*FATAH (anagram indicated by “reconsidered”) containing (“limiting”) TERM (“tenure”)
18d	FOR(A)GER	FORGER (“someone falsifying documents”) containing (“restricts”) A (†)
19d	E(MBA)RGO	ERGO (“therefore”) with MBA (“manager with a degree”) contained (“goes in”)
21d	V | ROOM	V (“victory”) + ROOM (“space”)
23d	SUM | AC	SUM (“whole”) + AC (“air conditioning”) “plant” is a very well chosen word
24d	ZIN | C_	ZIN (“wine”: zinfandel) + ^C^heese (first letter indicated by “at first”)