I’m not allowed to say that this was pretty much a doddle, because I’ll be accused of being a strutting peacock and Lord knows what all else… but (whisper it) it was pretty much a doddle, although not an unenjoyable one. A couple of the clues were a little on the tired side, but on the whole I had fun with this one.
ACROSS
1. CHARISMA I within char’s ma [cleaner’s mother]
6. WEAVER We [I and others] + aver [state positively]
9. GAMBIT MB [doctor] within gait [carriage]
10. TREATISE Stand [treat, in the sense of paying for something] + is + E [European]
11. IDLE I + anagram of led
12. TREAD WATER Anagram of we dart tear
14. COMPILER Anagram of clip more
16. TINY Tin [container] + (qua)y
18. FETA F [fine] + eta [Greek character]
19. PLEASURE Plea [excuse] + sure [certain]
21. EISTEDDFOD DD [Doctor of Divinity, theologian] within anagram of do see fit
22. ARCH March [procession] minus M [miles]
24. CENOTAPH Reversal of Pat [Irishman] + one within CH [church]
26. TRIBAL B(uchanans) within trial [court case]
27. ASCEND As [when] + C [clubs] + end [close]
28. TRAIN SET Train [teach] + set [group]
DOWN
2. HOARD O [zero, duck] within hard [firm]
3. RUBBER PLANT Anagram of blurb parent
4. SIT STILL Its within still [nevertheless]
5. AT THE DROP OF A HAT Anagram of after a hotpot had
6. WIELDS I [one] within welds [joints]
7. ACT A + Ct [court]
8. EASTERNER Sterne [Irish novelist Laurence] within ear [favourable attention]
13. ATTESTATION At + test [trial] + anagram of Tonia
15. ONE-LINERS On [aboard] + E [English] + liners [ships]
17. VENDETTA Valletta [Malta’s capital] with end [ruin] replacing all
20. EDWARD Double definition, referring to any of our eight King Edwards and to Edward Lear
23. CHASE H [hearts] within case [(law)suit]
25. OWE Hidden within ne’er-dO-WEll
I will join you in whispering that it was a doddle too! A bit chestnutty but enjoyable all the same. Thanks to Falcon and Ringo