No 12629, Saturday 18 May 2019, Bruno

Across

5. Dangerous snafu! Building's close to collapse (6) UNSAFE {SNAFU*}{collapsE}
7. Minister gets air-conditioner first, correct? (8) ACCURATE {AC}{CURATE}
9. Component of education that's less serious and ribald (8) LITERACY {LITE}{RACY}
10. As one.. yet free? Requires reversal of heart (6) UNITED {UN(T<=>I)ED}
11. Armchair general's speciality: find flag unit & march it around (12) FAULTFINDING {FIND+FLAG+UNIT*}
13. Throughout success or calamity, retained Western perspective (6) ACROSS (T<=)
15. Samurai Soldiers Started Swinging Shiny Steel Sabres? (6) SWORDS (Rebus - S Words)
18. Selfish aim of most Indians: to get tax breaks — ensure top-tier income tax is avoided, bottom-tier's collected... (2,3,2,5) AN AXE TO GRIND {INDIANs+TO+GET+TAX-(Tier  IT)*}around {tieR}
21. Boy runs and gets ready (6) BRACES {B}{RACES}
22. Her Majesty's son put on Navy's ultimate vessel (8) LADYSHIP {LAD}{navY}{SHIP}
23. First Oriental soldier — Chinese dynasty's threatening (8) ONCOMING {Oriental}{NCO}{MING}
24. How to make something colourful... even endlessly positive (3-3) TIE-DYE {TIED}{YEs}

Down

1. Last battle in ol' war to crush Napoleon? (8) WATERLOO {battlE} in {OL+WAR+TO*} &lit
2. Benefit of man putting on weight is being reviewed (6) BEHALF {FLA{HE}B<=}
3. Is living in plutocracies difficult when alt-Right is not around? (8) OCCUPIES {PLUTOCRACIES-{ALT+R}*}
4. Drawing after drinking beer #4 is not easy (6) TRYING {T{beeR}YING}
6. Problem with subtlety is... it's hidden (8) NUISANCE {NU{IS}ANCE}
7. Somebody's article — there's epilogue at the end (6) ANYONE {AN}{YON}{epiloguE}
8. Level of stream's starting to die off on one side (4) TIER Anno not clear
12. I refuse to include fool's name (8) IDENTITY {I}{DEN{TIT}Y}
14. Covers king in warm garment (8) SEALSKIN {SEALS}{K}{IN}
16. Makes improvements after firing public relations monsters (8) OGRESSES {prOGRESSES}
17. Spooner's lease cut — that could cause sleeplessness (3,3) JET LAG {(+J-l)ET-(+L-j)AG}
18. Support from members of branch organisation (6) ANCHOR (T)
19. Original short poem and timeless song (6) ODDITY {ODe}{DItTY}
20. Elderly relative managed to put end of leg over head (4) GRAN {leG}{RAN}

Reference List

Air-conditioner=AC, Income Tax=IT, Boy=B, Soldier=NCO, Chinese dynasty=Ming
Man=He, Right=R, Article=An, King=K, Public Relations=PR, Time=T, Managed=Ran

Colour/Font Scheme

Definition, Solution, Component letters, Embedded links, Theme word,  Anagram Indicator, C/C indicator, Reversal Indicator, Hidden word Indicator, Letter Pick indicator, Deletion Indicator, Homophone Indicator, Movement Indicator, Positional Indicator, Substitution, Indicator, Link/Connector, Extraneous

GRID