Taps (Solution No. 3,285)

If you've solved these puzzles before, this one was easy.  If you only solve block puzzles Hex and other   "by the book" cryptics, you probably had trouble.  This one was full of rule-bending wordplay.

Themework: none that I noticed

Musical content: 1a

Political content: 8d

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; “§” heteronym, “¶“ letter bank

Across

1a	BEN(JAM)IN | BRIT | TEN	JAM (“to play jazz”) contained in (“in”) BENIN (“West African nation”) + BRIT (“Englishman”) + TEN (“one who’s extremely attractive”)
9a	*IMPULSE	*I PLUS ME (anagram indicated by “perverse”)
10a	<TOS< | TADA	<SOT< (“drunkard,” reversal indicated by “returns”) + TATA (“voila!”) Exclamation point in part to go with “voila!” and in part because “voila!” indicates that the definition is following.
11a	_ERR_OR_	h_ERR rOR_sach (hidden word indicated by “reveals”) The error is that there are three Rs in the hidden word.
12a	*RUDENESS	*SEND USER (anagram indicated by “off”)
14a	MULL | *IGAN	MULL (“consider”) + *GAIN (anagram indicated by “possible”) In golf, a mulligan is a ‘do over’ of your tee shot.  I’m familiar with those.
16a	KIM | ONO	KIM (“Korean dictator” [Kim Jong Un]) + ONO (“Yoko”)
19a	*IGNITE	*I GET IN (anagram indicated by “shaken”)
20a	<GOLF< | CLUB	<FLOG< (“beat,” reversal indicated by “back”) + CLUB (“beat,” non-reversal indicated by “forth”) Definitely a Hot and Trazom wordplay.
22a	*DIAGNOSE	*SAN DIEGO (anagram indicated by “in turmoil”) One of my lectures is called “Think Like a Diagnostician,” and it features an improv segment where I ask a member of the audience to take an object out of pocket or purse and I use it in an example of a diagnostic decision.
24a	{A{}M}PLE	}M}{A{PLE (“tree,” switch of first two letters indicated by “exchange in front”) More wordplay.
27a	T(RUMP)ET	RUMP (“behind”) contained in (“in”) TET (“holiday”)
28a	SPIN | A | C_H	SPIN (“turn”) + A (†) + ^C^rawfis^H^ (first and last letters indicated by “shell”)
29a	PRESSING CONCERN	Pun

Down

1d	*BRIDESMAID	*ADMIRED SIB (anagram indicated by “potentially”) Obvious exclamation point.
2d	<_NO PAR_<	ult_RA PON_zi (hidden word indicated by “concealed in”, reversal indicated by “return”) No-par is a term relating to the "par value" of stock.
3d	_ALLER | GIST	_t_ALLER (†, omission of first letter indicated by “take a little of the top of”) + GIST (“heart”) Good misdirection, especially for someone like me who works with cardiologists often.
4d	ICE CREAM	Wordplay: “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.” Another Hot and Trazom special.
5d	BET | IDE_	BET (“risk money on”) + IDE_a_ (“thought,” omission of last letter indicated by “unfinished”)
6d	I B S E N	^I^nto ^B^ar ^S^cene ^E^very ^N^ight (first letters indicated by “heads off”)
7d	*TOADST(O)OL	*LOTTO ADS (anagram indicated by “deceptive”) containing (“around”) ^O^ctober (first letter indicated by “beginning of”)
8d	NO AM	Pun: Noam Chomsky, linguist and leftist activist
13d	DOUBLE CHIN	Pun: “chin chin” is sometimes said as a toast
15d	*LONGITUDE	*LED OUTING (anagram indicated by “engineer”)
17d	IN | FLAT_ION	IN (†) + FLATI_r_ON (“notable New York building, omission of R indicated by “without resistance”) The Flatiron Building at Fifth Avenue and 22nd Street is an early 20th century skyscraper.
18d	*FORENSIC	*CONIFERS (anagram indicated by “chopped up”)
21d	<WON TON<	<NOT NOW< (“some other time,” reversal indicated by “coming up”)
23d	G_ | APES	^G^orillas (first letter indicated by “leader”) + APES (“tailless monkeys”)
25d	~PLANE	~PLAIN (“ordinary”) homonym indicated by “”)
26d	<STEP<	<PETS< (“the dog and cat,” reversal indicated by “toward the attic”)