Financial Times 12,934 / Phssthpok

This puzzle is none-too-easy. In the allotted time, four clues are still to go. Can’t put on the thinking cap all the time! I am sure my friends will fill me in.

Across

1 SUNGLASSES – sung (turned an informer), lasses – But have you ever used the rare form “sung” (in the sense ‘informed’) in a sentence?
7 COWL – c, owl
9 REEF – two def. – ‘reef’ in the sense of ‘gather up’ is a term from sailing.
10 BOOBY PRIZE – booby, “pries” – one that is offered to the least successful in a competition.
11 WEIRDO – anag. of “wire”, do
12 GREMLINS – I solved this w/o difficulty but as I am writing the blog the justification doesn’t come quickly. “Beams” gives ‘grins’, electromagnetic EM; but how about L? Thinking!
13 Not solved. Of course I have some guesses but the justification is eluding me.
15 AIDA – aid,a
17 Not solved
19 APPLYING – ap(ply)ing
22 BEGINNER – be(gin,n)er
23 EULOGY -sEqUeL tO uGlY – ‘eulogy’ is not just a speech but a speech in praise.
25 SCAPEGOATS – Soluble from the def. itself – anag. of ‘case go past’
26 MIEN – mi, en – When did I first come across this word? In the poem “The Beggar Maid” that my father read to me when I was a boy of 12.
27 Not solved
28 AMELIORATE – rev. hidden from “puRE TAR OIL EMAmanated”.

Down

2 USELESS – read: use less.
3 GO FOR – I think this is two def.
4 AMBROSIA – a, plus ‘bros.’ in ‘mia’ (rev. of ‘aim’ (‘object’ n.))
5 SHOTGUN MARRIAGE – anag. of ‘as rougher mating’ – I can understand a ‘shotgun wedding’ but a ‘shotgun marriage’? How common is the latter phrase? While wedding is an event, whether under coerced circumstances or not, marriage is something we work on for years!
6 STYLED – two def? – I am unable to explain the ‘pen light’ part of it.
7 COROLLARY – co,roll, a, r(-epl)y – ‘discontented’ is del. ind. Cf. ‘disheartened’, ‘hollow’, ’empty’.
8 WIZENED – wi(ze)ned – “Zambians’ is a typo in the online version for “Zambian” – ‘treated’ – read: ‘treated to drinks’ (giving ‘wined’) One can wine and dine but can someone wine another?
14 Not solved – But I don’t want to sleep with a politician even on one side.
16 APRES-SKI – a, press,K, I – I think I (one) is from ‘late night’ – Please confirm – ‘night’ could also be part of def. as an apres-ski is a late evening party after the day’s skiing
18 TREACLE – anag. of ‘Electra’ – ‘complex’ is the anagrind.
20 NEGLECT – n, e.g.,le, ct. – Read ‘say first name’ as “put ‘n’ before ‘e.g.'”
21 ENIGMA – anag. of ‘magine’ after deleting ‘i’ from ‘imagine’ – ‘solution’ is nounal anagrind.
24 LEMUR – le, mur (Fr.) – no rev. in this down clue though ‘climbs’ might suggest it. In MND, if you remember, there is punning over ‘mural’ and ‘wall’