Times 25459

Solving time: About 80 minutes, but I was way too tired to give this a proper go. If I hadn't been blogging, there's no way I would have even attempted it. It was as much as I could do just to stay awake, let alone solve the clues! I was too tired to even write the blog afterwards, so I had to go to bed and write it in the morning.

It seemed like there were some good clues in here. 4d & 5d were both quite clever, but 9a made me smile so I'll give that my COD. I wasn't keen on 14a but that's probably just me.

I didn't know PANTOCRATOR, and was only dimly aware of CAERLEON, but otherwise the vocab seemed quite reasonable. ANENT may not be familiar to everyone.

cd = cryptic def., dd = double def., rev = reversal, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as (--)*, and removals like this

Across
1	STRICTURE = STRUCTURE (building) with U (leading university) swapped for I (one)
6	F + ETCH
9	TABLEAU = "TAB LOW" - It took me a while to cotton on to this one, but it made to smile when I did.
10	PIN + B + ALL
11	NE + PAL
13	P + ERM + ANENT - Anent is one of those words that I've only come across through crosswords.
14	CONSONANT - I think this is just a dd - 'Something like G', i.e. not a vowel, and 'B and D sounding well together' as in harmonious
16	W(E)AR
18	B(L)OW
19	D(I + SHONe)OUR
22	TORCHeS + ON + G
24	COYPU - cd - because it's half COYote and half PUma
25	OUTSIZE = OUT + "SIGHS"
26	SNUBBED = SUBBED (assisted with editing) about guardiaN
28	SUR(G)E
29	A + FOREHAND
Down
1	SATANIC = (AS I CAN'T)* - a fairly obvious reference to the line in William Blake's poem Jerusalem, and a nice easy starter.
2	cRIB - 'pirate' and 'crib' both mean 'to copy', but they have quite different senses. I'm not sure I could come up with a sentence where either could be used.
3	CAERLEON = (EARL ONCE)* - A town in South Wales which is believed to have been the locations of King Arthur's castle, and probably his round table.
4	USURP = (RUmPUS)* = (PURSUe)* - i.e. an anagram of the common letters of the two words. An interesting and unusual clue.
5	EU + PH + RATES - 'One running' is the well-disguised definition
6	FUN + GAL
7	TEA CEREMONY = (CREATE)* + (MONEY)*
8	HOLSTER = (THOSE + R/L)*
12	PANTO CReATOR - Not a word I knew, butonce I had all the checkers in place, it seemed the only option.
15	AND + ROME + DA
17	CONCLUDE = CON + "CLUED"
18	BUTTONS - dd - The traditional name of the kindly butler in the pantomime Cinderella
20	gROUNDED
21	THRIVE = (VI + R) rev in THE
23	GUSTO - hidden
27	BOAt - A smack being a fishing boat