Times 26989 - One of the fifty ways?

Time: 27 minutes
Music: Mingus at Antibes

Greetings, all.   I am acting tonight as a last-minute substitute for Ulaca, who is otherwise engaged.  Usually, when you get a puzzle you are not normally scheduled to blog, it turns out to be a toughie, but this was not the case this time.  I did feel a little like I was gliding through with knowledge rather than solving skill, as many of the clues lend themselves to that approach.   If you see 'where elopers once wed', and instantly think of Gretna Green, you will do well too.

Tonight's music was recommended by a poster on the VinylAsylum.   It is the type of jazz that can only be described as 'out there', but if you like Ornette Coleman or the later Coltrane, it may be to your taste.   How do I solve while listening to such a dreadful cacophony?   It loosens up your brain, I say, and causes you to make unexpected connections.

Across
1	Like GBS, brought up to keep a lot of drink in quarters? (11)
	BEWHISKERED - B(E(WHISK[y])E)RED, a rather convoluted cryptic most solvers will just biff - that is, if they recognized Shaw's initials and know what he looked like!
7	Old crone’s coarse tobacco lacking substance at first (3)
	HAG - [s]HAG, made famous by Sherlock Holmes.
9	Irregular rule a girl violated (9)
	GUERRILLA - anagram of RULE A GIRL
10	Pulpy food rejected always at university (5)
	PUREE - EER UP backwards.
11	Composer run into in hospital area (7)
	SMETANA - S(MET)AN + A.   There aren't many 7-letter composers famous enough to use in a crossword - the only other two I can think of are Strauss and Stamitz.
12	Governor’s girl displaying coarse fabric (7)
	HESSIAN - H.E'S + SIAN, that is, His Excellency's.   Evidently HE has chosen a Welsh lassie.
13	Board engaging medic in Eastern States (5)
	EMBUS - E(MB)US.   I constructed this from the cryptic, but did not recognize it until after I finished the puzzle.
15	Knocking back most of the drink, pine throughout dark hours (9)
	NIGHTLONG - TH[e] GIN backwards + LONG.
17	Model chap, one sent out to produce copy (9)
	ARCHETYPE - ARCH[i]E + TYPE, not an anagram as the opening ''model' might lead you to suppose.
19	Stratagem old magistrate employed to trap duke (5)
	DODGE - DO(D)GE.   Here in crosswordland, the doge and the reeve are old friends.
20	One covers crumbling ruins with hesitation (7)
	INSURER - anagram of RUINS + ER.   Not an &lit, but an apt description of most insurance compaies!
22	I enthuse endlessly about tucking into granny’s casserole (7)
	NAVARIN - NA(I RAV[e] backwards)N, a word I only vaguely knew, but an easy cryptic.
24	Conflict interrupting commercial settlement (5)
	AWARD - A(WAR)D, a settlement in the sense of what the court awards the plaintiff.
25	Rascal caught accomplice dipping into booty (9)
	SCALLYWAG - S(C + ALLY)WAG.
27	Consider senior cleric’s responsibility (3)
	SEE - double definition, obvious because we see a lot of sees around here, mostly Ely.
28	Hotchpotch of salmon pie in port? (11)
	MINNEAPOLIS - anagram of SALMON PIE IN.  UK solvers may be surprised that Minneapolis is a port, but it is.  It's certainly a long way down the Mississippi to New Orleans.

Down
1	Agent involved in spying? It makes you sick! (3)
	BUG - Double definition.
2	At which place heroin used to be around (5)
	WHERE - W(H)ERE.
3	Way to stop nearly half of 20’s hostile attacks (7)
	INROADS - IN(ROAD)S[urer], a simple but rather uneeded cross-reference.
4	Dispatch English composer unknown in Irish town (9)
	KILLARNEY - KILL ARNE + Y.  Sorry, he's immortal, and so is Beerbohm Tree!
5	Contact a companion about being on top (5)
	REACH - RE  + A CH, where CH = Companion of Honour.
6	Carefully place silicon in store (7)
	DEPOSIT - DEPO(SI)T.
7	English novelist pronounced on poet’s boldness (9)
	HARDIHOOD - Sounds like HARDY + HOOD, a poet who is not much read nowadays.   You could look him up.
8	Woman politician covering northern village where elopers once wed (6,5)
	GRETNA GREEN - GRET(N)A + GREEN, i.e. a random female name and a politician from the Green Party.   Few will bother with the cryptic, unless Gretna Green is unknown, in which case they will probably struggle.
11	Female child-minder reportedly profits, ignoring one’s roguishness (11)
	SHENANIGANS - SHE + sounds like NANNY + GA[i]NS.
14	Support for men only available ultimately behind the scenes (9)
	BACKSTAGE - BACK + STAG + [availabl]E.
16	Good to get involved carrying about fruit (9)
	GREENGAGE - G (RE) ENGAGE, a fruit found mainly in crosswords.
18	Listener originally lambasting sixties youth over title (7)
	EARLDOM - EAR + L[ambastig] + MOD upside-down.   I suppose that  by now, the crosswords editor is receiving angry letters from dukes, marquesses, viscounts, and barons - "What about us!!"
19	Cultivate head of dogwood the first lady cut off (7)
	DEVELOP - D[ogwood] + EVE + LOP.
21	Adhesive substance son squeezed into part of tack (5)
	RESIN - RE(S)IN, the 'tack' used in stables, that is.
23	Break top off hand tool making spiked wheel (5)
	ROWEL - [t]ROWEL.
26	Atlantic state’s supplier of heat and light (3)
	GAS - GA'S, where knowledge of the standard two-letter abbreviations for the states of the USA is most  helpful.