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26d "Sun" = Sol [Latin, I think]
"Very eager initially" = initials of Very Eager = SOLVE

Thanks, Quisling I had completely missed the extra G. I wonder if "gets" could be read as G (the first letter of gets). This would take both A and G out of AGGRESSIVE.
This is a bit tenuous perhaps.

Thank you for your reply.

You're welcome.
Re:5across, I think SPARED could mean "held back" as in being spared an ordeal, say, or perhaps being kept as a spare? This isn't totally satisfying to me but "balls" = anagram and I can't think of another anagram of "spread".

Thank you for your replies.

Thank you for your reply

I agree about spared, btw. Chambers defines spare as to refrain from using, so I think held back is okay