No 13356, Monday 20 Sep 2021, Avtaar

Solution to 9A has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered only by a non-regular / novice commenter, with proper annotation. Those who have answered earlier in the week, please give others a chance.

ACROSS

1   Floor outside terminal blew up (7) BLASTED {B{LAST}ED}

5   Cuckoo eating rejected egg pieces (7) NUGGETS {NU{EGG<=}TS}

9   Land, not essentially best in wines, lacking greenery at the entrance (7) B?R?N?I (Addendum - BURUNDI BURgUNDIes - See comments) 

10 Trace out simple charts, adjusting lines emerging at the origins with the right proportions (2,5) TO SCALE Acrostic

11 Section in sewer is contracting (7,2) DRAWING IN {DRA{WING}IN}

12 A market-linked perquisite for a storyteller (5) AESOP {A}{ESOP}

13 Design of well by old master getting reviewed (5) MOTIF {FIT}{O}{M}<=

15 Dire Straits acting in the role of old Russian royals (9) TSARITSAS {STRAITS}*{AS}

17 Flowers retracted, slipped and dropped on a hound’s tail (9) DAFFODILS {SLID}{OFF}{A}{h..nD}<=

19 Arrest by old British king (5) NABOB {NAB}{O}{B}

22 After removing shirts, come, pray with holy leader — a Muslim lord (5) OMRAH {cOMe}{pRAy}{Holy}

23 Possibly informal convention for grooming (5,4) DRESS CODE [CD] [C&DD} See comments

25 Fermented rum’s not a cure, is it? (7) NOSTRUM*

26 Doctor pens one article on outbreak of strange shivers (7) DITHERS {D{1}{THE}R}{St...e}

27 Untouched whiskey-tainted bottles (3-4) DRY-EYED {D{RYE}YED}

28 “Reflections in Music” — Songs without “C” and “G”, say (7) MUSINGS {MUSIc+soNGS} Anno for 'SO' not clear See comments

DOWN

1   Sacking of support and maintenance heads by British ombudsman, very nearly upset the bureaucracy (7) BABUDOM {B}{OMBUDsmAn}*

2   Having kidnapped king, a brute gets in touch (7) ABREAST {A}{B{R}EAST}

3   Worthwhile investment in “Manhattan Timbers” (5) TANTI [T]

4   In Mongolia, onager is dozing on leaves — it starts to exhale and grunt awkwardly (9) DZIGGETAI {DoZInG}{IT+Ex...e+And+Gr..t}*

5   Unfair — whichever way you look at it (3,2) NOT ON <=>

6   Time taken to mature is not age? That’s basically preposterous (9) GESTATION {IS+NOT+AGE+That}*

7   Slips by the Spanish vaults in church (7) ELAPSES {EL}{APSES}

8   Kosher pasta-eating professional trekkers (7) SHERPAS [T]

14 Daring way to get Hydra (9) FOOLHARDY {HYDRA}* [RA]

16 Michaelmas daisy on wall around Malta’s port (9) AMSTERDAM {A{M}STER}{DAM}

17 Surgeon had gone under (7) DROWNED {DR}{OWNED}

18 Divine four? (7) FORESAY (~four say)

20 One old lab developed a logical system of counting (7) BOOLEAN {ONE+O+LAB}*

21 Sanctifies black vessel in sanctuaries (7) BLESSES {B}{LE{SS}ES}

23 Ill-fated love is put away — like the Taj Mahal? (5) DOMED DOoMED

24 It’s changing America’s position (5) SITUS {ITS}*{US}

Reference List

Old = O, Master = M, British = B, King = R, The in Spanish = EL, Black = B, Vessel = SS, G say = SO