I heard a short while ago that the scheduled blogger’s internet connection is down so here is a quick analysis of the clues. In the interests of getting this posted without further delay I will not add any commentary in this preamble.
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Across
1 It helps one hear / support for rider (7)
STIRRUP – double def. – the first referring to the bone in the ear
5 Go-between closed Brexit deal finally with European (7)
SHUTTLE – SHUT (closed) [brexi]T [dea]L (Brexit deal finally) E (European)
9 Time invested in renovated hall in colonial residence (7)
ANTHILL – T (time) in (invested in) an anagram (renovated) of HALL IN
10 Cat skipping about, poorly stalking (7)
TAILING – [ca]T (cat skipping about) AILING (poorly)
11 Crew member prepared to shoot comedian with single take (9)
HARPOONER – HARPO (comedian) ONER (single take)
12 Nothing bad about fruit (5)
OLIVE – O (nothing) plus EVIL (bad) reversed (about)
13 One filmed flying doctor with pair outside (5)
DUMBO – MB (doctor) in (with … outside) DUO (pair)
15 Small toes transmogrified in horror story (6,3)
SALEMS LOT – an anagram (transmogrified) of SMALL TOES
17 Money to acquire net pieces of underwear (3,6)
BRA STRAPS – BRASS (money) around (to acquire) TRAP (net)
19 Mass of timber rejected in practical lesson (5)
DRIFT – FIR (timber) reversed (rejected) in DT (practical lesson {Design & Technology})
22 Recipe amiss, ghee should be halved to make Indian bread (5)
RUPEE – R (recipe) UP (amiss) [gh]EE (ghee should be halved)
23 Jubilant to bag Romeo, ham it up playing line (9)
TRIUMPHAL – an anagram (playing) of HAM IT UP around (to bag) R (Romeo) plus L (line)
25 Georgian place is bit special, astride island on lake (7)
TBILISI – an anagram (special) of IS BIT around (astride) I (island) L (lake)
26 German Marks I’m not sure you heard to be among last in circulation (7)
UMLAUTS – UM (I’m not sure) plus U (you heard) in (to be among) an anagram (in circulation) of LAST
27 Attend to / details of one’s home (7)
ADDRESS – double def.
28 A novelist cycled from Asia, perhaps (7)
EASTERN – A STERNE (a novelist) with the letters ‘cycled’
Down
1 Mother’s in Slough getting drunk (7)
SMASHED – MA’s (mother’s) in SHED (slough)
2 During school time, keeping current caretaker (7)
INTERIM – IN TERM (during school time) around (keeping) I (current)
3 One’s endangered removing designer drug from highborn rogue (5)
RHINO – an anagram (rogue) of HI[ghb]ORN – Gamma hydroxybutyrate, a designer drug with anaesthetic properties (Chambers)
4 Sail open at sea, going round unknown islands (9)
POLYNESIA – an anagram (at sea) of SAIL OPEN around (going round) Y (unknown)
5 Instrument without charge, no good getting upset (5)
SITAR – [g]RATIS (without charge, no good) reversed (getting upset)
6 Due no ill with firm wearing proscribed attire (9)
UNIFORMED – an anagram (ill) of DUE NO FIRM – I think the setter meant prescribed, not proscribed
7 Regularly dismissed Tardis, container that’s unimportant (7)
TRIVIAL – T[a]R[d]I[s] (regularly dismissed Tardis) plus VIAL (container)
8 Most irritable from bananas not fully digested (7)
EDGIEST – an anagram (bananas) of DIGESTE[d] (not fully digested)
14 Cook — he’s done it as an extra job (2,3,4)
ON THE SIDE – an anagram (cook) of HE’S DONE IT
16 Feeling of torpor from drink daughter consumed in day (9)
LASSITUDE – LASSI (drink) plus D (daughter) in (consumed in) TUE (day)
17 “Cap‘s second rate” — I upset Cockney milliner (7)
BIRETTA – B (second rate) I plus [h]ATTER (Cockney milliner) reversed (upset)
18 Practical computer program was misleading (7)
APPLIED – APP (computer program) LIED (was misleading)
20 Heinous criminal using company’s assets (2-5)
IN-HOUSE – an anagram (criminal) of HEINOUS
21 Betrays Swiss marksman at location of intended target (5,2)
TELLS ON – TELL (Swiss marksman) SON (location of intended target)
23 Capers and offal, seconds for European (5)
TRIPS – TRIPe (offal) with S (seconds) replacing (for) E (European)
24 Head down in cramped places busy at Christmas (5)
MALLS – SMALL (cramped) with the initial S moved to the end (head down)
Yes, we thought ‘proscribed’ must be a typo for ‘prescribed’. Having said that, there are/have been times/places where some uniforms have been proscribed, but usually by regimes whose own authorities wear uniforms – often of menacing appearance.
Some nice misdirections today – ‘colonial residence’ suggesting a viceroy’s house, and ‘Georgian place’ suggesting Bath or maybe Brighton. In fact ANTHILL tied with BIRETTA for our CoD.
Thanks, eXternal and Gaufrid.
Couldn’t parse DRIFT. For 11a, I took ONE+R for single (one) + recipe (take). The latter being the original meaning not often seen outside cryptics but still used in prescriptions and some recipe books, providing the link with its more normal meaning these days. Thanks to Gaufrid and eXternal.
Hovis @2
Your parsing of 11ac may well be correct. eXternal used ‘recipe’=R in 22ac so I gave him the benefit of the doubt that he would use it twice in the same puzzle and opted to pick the “a single, uninterrupted action, process or operation” definition of ONER.
… but eXternal has used ‘European’=E twice (5ac and 23dn).
19ac defeated me. DRIFT = mass, presumably as in a snowdrift? Didn’t see it, and I didn’t know the abbreviation.
I’m still reading Moby Dick, and another whaling reference!