Financial Times 15,922 by Mudd

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of July 28, 2018

I occasionally come across a puzzle that seems nearly impossible to get started on only to find it easy going once I do get started.  This was one such.  It does require some slightly uncommon knowledge such as in 1ac (CHITTERLINGS) and 11ac (ANGLIAN).  My clue of the week is 8dn (LAUGHING STOCK) and I also particularly like 10ac (ARSENIC), 26ac (CHICAGO) and 17dn (CONSOMME).

ACROSS
1 Sticks skewering bat entrails (12)
CHITTERLINGS -HITTER (bat) in (skewering) CLINGS (sticks).  Seems to me that the skewering here is backwards.  Chitterlings, best known in the American South, are the smaller intestines of a pig or sometimes another animal, cooked as food.
10 As team without a left back, one caught for a substitute? (7)
ARSENIC – ARSEN[al] (team without a left back) with I C (one caught) substituted.  As is the chemical symbol for arsenic.
11 Roman article between two from Britain, old English (7)
ANGLIAN – GLI (Roman article) in AN AN (two from Britain).  ‘Gli’ is a form of the plural definite article in Italian.  ‘Anglian’ refers to a group of dialects of Old English.
12 Bird wings in slime, beside gunk (5)
GOOSE – GOO (gunk) + S[lim]E
13 Set new compass to direct in the opposite direction? (8)
ESTRANGE – anagram (new) of SET + RANGE (compass)
15 Where food is stuffed, being aggressive (2-4-4)
IN-YOUR-FACE – double definition
16 Ultimately, banquet to arrange for functions etc (4)
TRIG – [banque]T + RIG (arrange)
18 Spy originally infiltrating corporation, a blow (4)
GUST – S[py] in (infiltrating) GUT (corporation)
20 Local tenor embarrassing Berkshire band (4,6)
ETON COLLAR – anagram (embarrassing) of LOCAL TENOR with a clever but rather loose cryptic definition
22 Supporters, fifty by the way carried by planes, say? (8)
TRESTLES – ST (the way) + L (fifty) together in (carried by) TREES (planes, say)
24 Poached eggs for starters, many flipped over (5)
STOLE – LOTS (many) backwards (flipped over) + E[ggs]
26 US city where Marx has buried silver (7)
CHICAGO – AG (silver) in (has buried) CHICO (Marx)
27 Glowing ember at heart in expression of grief (7)
LAMBENT – [em]B[er] in LAMENT (expression of grief)
28 Something fragrant in undisguised anger? (12)
FRANKINCENSE – FRANK (undisguised) + INCENSE (anger)

DOWN
2 Welcome bit of news, gone (7)
HISTORY – HI (welcome) + STORY (bit of news)
3 Naked vagrant carried by sheep, drunk (6,2)
TANKED UP – anagram (vagrant) of NAKED in (carried by) TUP (sheep)
4 Score in basket challenged (4)
ETCH – hidden word
5 Bound to get back added time (4,6)
LEAP SECOND – LEAP (bound) + SECOND (back)
6 Queen briefly standing for country (5)
NIGER – REGIN[a] (queen briefly) backwards (standing)
7 Top criminal nicking piano (7)
SPINNER – P (piano) in (nicking) SINNER (criminal)
8 Butt having dislodged a gunsight, bolt securing it (8,5)
LAUGHING STOCK – anagram (having dislodged) of A GUNSIGHT in (securing it) LOCK (bolt)
9 Staff restrained by guards rent new stockings, perhaps? (13)
UNDERGARMENTS – MEN (staff) in anagram (new) of GUARDS RENT
14 As receiver taken to one side, no longer accused (3,3,4)
OFF THE HOOK – double definition
17 Prisoners order me soup (8)
CONSOMME – CONS (prisoners) + OM (order, i.e. Order of Merit) + ME (me)
19 Short line typed about hard and strong lawman (7)
SHERIFF – H (hard) in SERIF (short line typed) + F (strong)
21 Nothing in family seems empty for African female (7)
LIONESS – O (nothing) in LINE (family) + S[eem]S
23 Half a crown to invest, as riches accumulating initially (5)
TIARA – T[o] I[nvest] A[s] R[iches] A[ccumulating]
25 Family line preserved, it’s inferred? (4)
CLAN – L (line) in CAN (preserved, it’s inferred)