No 13556, Saturday 14 May 2022, Arden

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   Devil-may-care fighting unit with perhaps, a sole follower (7) RAFFISH {RAF}{FISH}

5   Lug into fight and offer support (4,3) BEAR OUT {B{EAR}OUT}

9   Money, one that goes into the loo (5) M?A?S (Addendum - MEANS {ME{A}NS} - See comments))

10 With husband in prison, strives to get endowments (9) CHANTRIES {C{H}AN}{TRIES}

11 Tailor asking her about reduction in size (9)  SHRINKAGE*

12 Heathen quiet once more, losing interest (5) PAGAN {P}{AGAiN}

13 Insect behaving naturally when trapped (4) GNAT [T]

15 West end’s gone, badly disconnected (8) OCCIDENT dIsCONneCTED*

18 Booze, eating meat led to his heart complaint (4,4) BERI BERI {BE{RIB}ER}{hIs}

19 Told to see the place (4) SITE (~sight)

22 She springs into existence right in the middle of Australia (5) ALICE [C&DD]

24 Thief going around with mask, rough and ready (9)  MAKESHIFT {THIEF+MASK}*

26 Stops accepting money transfer? Definitely not! (2,2,5) BY NO MEANS {B{MONEY*}ANS}

27 He pays money essentially to go through the portal (5) DONOR {DO{moNey}OR}

28 Born with a voice, raised to get a title (7) BARONET {B}{A}{TENOR<=}

29 Lazy question about choice before Kings (4-3) WORK-SHY {W{OR}{K'S}HY}

DOWN

1   Give up a carriage (6) REMISE [DD]

2   Starts growing roses again in the country — such sweet smell! (9) FRAGRANCE {FRA{Gr...g}{Ro..s}{Ag..n}NCE}

3   Playwright bar hopping in Brisbane (5) IBSEN brISBaNE*

4   Cut one extra, make a headgear (9) HACKAMORE {HACK}{A}{MORE}

5   Support for a couple (5) BRACE [DD]

6   Does it pan out like the Poles? (9) ANTIPODES*

7   Due to win in up coming game (5) OWING {O{WIN}G<=}

8   When a situation arises, has some herbal tea (6) TISANE [T<=]

14 Term used with 3 to describe 16 perhaps (9) TRIBESMEN {TERM+IBSEN}*

16 In Kurukshetra, both sides saying they were brave (9) CHICKASAW {CHIC}{Ku...rA}{SAW}

17 Second time dives into river during sunrise, they keep you healthy (9) NUTRIENTS {NU{TR{tIme}ENT}S<=}

20 Some blood groups contribute to growth in Africa (6) BAOBAB Letter Bank

21 Anecdote about the bottom floor (6) STOREY {STOR{thE}Y}

23 Those who do bad things exposed, they’re close to centre (5)  INNER sINNERs

24 Last man in playing team mattered (5) MEANT {MEA{maN}T*}

25 Somethings ordered especially for the upcoming feast (5) SEDER [T<=]

Reference List

Husband = H, Quiet = P, Born = B, Kings = K'S, In = CHIC, Saying = SAW, Blood groups = A,O,B