Financial Times 12886 / Quark

The puzzle didn’t pose much difficulty. For me the bottom left corner was the last to fall.

Across

1 NICETIES  – nice,ties
5 RUSTIC  – (citrus)*
10 PENAL  – pen,a,l
11 OVERDRAWN – two def. – In the online version, there is an unnecessary space betwen the last word and the question mark. It is not a matter of style as it is not followed elsewhere in the text.
12 EXTRA TIME – (I am t exert)*
13 ROGUE  – r(og<)ue – In the online edition, I think the space between ‘wrong’ and ‘un is missing.
14 NITWIT  – nit,wit
15 RATCHET  – (chatter)* – familiar anag. fodder.
18 MATINEE  – Solved from def. I am yet to see the homophone. Help!
20 AWNING  – (-y)awning
22 GLEAM  – Solved from def. I am yet to grasp the wordplay. Help!
24 PATRIARCH – (chair part)*
25 LIBELLOUS – li(“lie”),bello(-w),u/s 
26 GENES  – (sen, e.g.)< 
27 RAREST  -R(a)R,est. – Purists may frown on one = a – In India we use ‘estd’, not ‘est’, for ‘established’.
28 VERY WELL – two def.

Down

1 NEPHEW  – ne,phew
2 CONSTRICT – con,strict
3 TILT AT WINDMILLS – cryptic def., but not so cryptic
4 EGOTIST  – (eg is OTT)*
6 UNDERSTANDINGLY – cryptic def.
7 TWANG  – two def. It is an unstated instrument that must be highly strung
8 CONCERTO – c(once)r, to – Here and in 21dn an abbreviation, a small component, is a container rather than a contained. Does this happen often in crossword clues? I don’t recall but my memory is notoriously short.
9 METEOR  – (remote)* – familiar anag. fodder
16 HINDRANCE – (dancer in h.)* – ‘after accident” is an appropriate anag. signal
17 SMUGGLER – cryptic def. – I am not carried away by this clue.
19 EMPLOY  – em,ploy – Do we come across en, the other measure in printing, as often as em?
20 ARTISTE  – (a sitter)* – nice anag. signal in ‘fluffing’
21 CHISEL  – hise, anag. of ‘he is’, in cl.
23 EMBER  – (-m)ember – Thank goodness the last months are left alone.