An enjoyable and rather unusual crossword in that I solved it quite fast from definitions and seeing what fit rather than immediately understanding all the clues. Do not understand 4 down though. (Thanks, Ken Owen for explaining this) (There’s a Nina in the puzzle - I won’t give it here in case you want to look again at the puzzle, but will put it after the clue explanations)

Solving time: 16 mins

ACROSS

* = anagram < = reversal

9 TWEETER A loudspeaker t for s in sweeter.

11 REHAB Hidden - the singer referred to having featured in media reports re alcohol problems.

12 HORSE HAIR horse = frame

13 PEACH MELBA It was named after her - an Australian opera singer.

16 UGLY First and last letters

19 NON (French for no i.e. from Jean) CHALANT (Chantal)*

22 SPO ((KEN Livingstone) Funded) OR

24 K A BUL(garian) Capital of Afghanistan (which later turns up as a clue!)

26 P (ROSA) IC Colonel Rosa Klebb (From Russia with Love - James Bond book/movie)

27 AFGHANI Unusual. Hidden, if that’s the right word - it’s the basic currency of the country, so capital in a different sense to 24 across.

28 S (Y MPH) ONY TV producer was nicely misleading.

29 (SYL) P H (Sly)*

DOWN

1 RAT-TRAP Rats! less s

2 OBE (alternate letters of Zombies) AH ha(lf)<

3 AUTOBAHN (hang about)* less g (the acceleration due to gravity)

4 “Severe, hot-headed Canadian photographer” HARSH = severe, I think, but do not understand the wordplay, thought there might a Can ph called Arsh with h above it, but can’t find anything.  (Thanks, Ken Owen. It’s H for K in Karsh - a Can ph - tho I think the instruction to replace letters is a little indirect)

6 A W (AK) EN London being the Great Wen The Ford Ka<

14 A STRON(g) O (of = o’) MY

15 EX OFF (start) I (international) C(I)O

17 D (Dutch) ARK (state in short - abbrev for Arkansas) AGES Oppressed is a link word in this down clue, I think.

20 T (ALLIS(s))H Peter Alliss - ex-player and now commentator on golf.

23 READY Both parts of the clue, like the answer, are informal words for money.

25 BRAWL Even placed letters in “barman will”

(Diagonal spells out REBECKAH)

Rufus at his best. Took about 15 minutes, with fewer cryptic definitions than usual, but his skill in that department evident in the ordinary definitions - well concealed, with a high proportion using ambiguous words to mislead.  

ACROSS;

1. RUB ICON. The Italian river that gave us the phrase ‘crossing the rubicon’ when Julius Caesar crossed it in 49BC as an act of war (so says Wikipedia anyway).

9. TEAM MATE. Excellent clue. I first thought of ’cold cuts’, then an anagram of ‘meats’ - in fact it’s two anagrams of ‘meat’. 

10.S(ALL)OW. I wated this to be mallow, but this is a name for a willow, and the greedy creature is ’sow’. 

12. COLD SHOULDER. Two defs - one of them being ‘cut’.

17. RIO. I assume, but can’t see why. I’m sure it’s nothing to do with Duran Duran.

22. EXTRA SPECIAL. Both words for a late edition of a newspaper.

26. RANK ER. I was called by this name the other day, by a funny chap who couldn’t pronounce his Rs.  

28. RHESUS. (RUSHES*).

29. THE(AT)RE. AT in ETHER*.

DOWN:

2. B(E)AR. I think it’s this, anyway - I can’t quite see how ’show’ defines ‘bear’, but both words have so many meanings that it seems quite possible.

3. COMPOUND. Again, the second definition seems close but not exact, but I may be wrong.

7. SOLIDARITY. IS ADROITLY*. Nice anagram.

11. WHEELS. The last one I got. Ref ‘wheels within wheels’.

13. FATAL ERROR. CD, true in the literal sense!

14. IM(P)ORTANCE. (CREMATION*). Another misleadingly deployed definition. 

16. SCRAPE. Lovely stuff - a scrape you get into is a jam, but you can also have ‘a scrape of butter’.

21. GATEAU. Maybe the weakest link for me - ‘Nice’ refers to the French town.

24. KNOT. Two defs - it’s a seabird.

25. ADZE. Sounds like ‘ads’.