Independent on Sunday 1852 by Hippogryph

Thank you to Hippogryph. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across
1. Weapon provided in retirement to raise money (7)
FIREARM : Reversal of(… in retirement) IF(as long as/provided) + REAR(to raise/to nurture) + M(abbrev. for “money”).

5. Accommodate prisoner with criminal record (7)
CONFORM : CON(short for “convict”, a prisoner) plus(with) FORM(a criminal record, as in “the robbery suspect had form”).
Defn: …/to fit in with.

9. Metal bar securing otter traps (5)
INGOT : Hidden in(… traps) “securing otter”.
… note the trademark.

10. Easy-peasy, add a lasagne, bring back entertaining – good times! (5,4)
SALAD DAYS : Hidden in(… entertaining) reversal of(…, bring back) “Easy-peasy, add a lasagne”.

11. With Earth unprotected I authorised releases of plastic (10)
ARTIFICIAL : “Earth” minus its 1st and last letters(unprotected) plus(With …) I + “official”(authorised/sanctioned) minus(releases) “of”.

12. Striking bachelor of long standing (4)
BOLD : B(abbrev. for “bachelor”) + OLD(having existed for a long time/of long standing).
Defn: …/prominent.

14. Elvis trip is blighted with gremlins? (4,7)
EVIL SPIRITS : Anagram of(… blighted) ELVIS TRIP IS.

18. Face of net zero blamed wrongly for third-rate award (6,5)
BRONZE MEDAL : Anagram of(… blamed) [ 1st letter of(Face of) “net” + ZERO BLAMED ].
Defn: …/a coloured bronze medal awarded for coming in third in a competition.

21. Radical setter’s imprisoned in Alabama (4)
AMYL : MY(1st person possessive pronoun – setter of this crossword using it self-referentially) contained in(imprisoned in) AL(abbrev. for Alabama, the US state).
Answer: In chemistry, the radical with the formula C5H11.

22. Confounded assertion about daughter’s dexterity (10)
ADROITNESS : Anagram of(Confounded) ASSERTION containing(about) D(abbrev. for “daughter”).

25. Upper or lower? Whatever! (2,3,4)
IN ANY CASE : Cryptic defn: Reference to capital/upper case and small/lower case printed letters.

26. From 6 November missing former partner’s heading for discharge (5)
EXUDE : “nude”(answer to 6 down) minus (From … missing) “n”(letter represented by “November” in the phonetic alphabet) placed after(… heading) EX(former partner).

27. Say, party records on the counter make a big splash (7)
SPLODGE : Reversal of(… on the counter) [EG(abbrev. for “exempli gratia”/for example/say) + DO(a party/a social function) + LPS(abbrev. for “long-playing records”, phonographic discs) ].

28. Starmer struggling for support? (7)
ARMREST : Anagram of(… struggling) STARMER.

Down
1. One died in fight just before the weekend (6)
FRIDAY : [ I(Roman numeral for “one”) + D(abbrev. for “died”) ] contained in(in) FRAY(a fight/a battle).
Defn: The day ….

2. Just claims R and R? (6)
RIGHTS : Plural of(… and …) RIGHT(whose abbrev. is “r”).

3. In Manchester BBC releases broadcast essential for motorists in winter? (10)
ANTIFREEZE : Homophone of(… broadcast) in the Manchester/Northern accent(In Manchester …) [ “Auntie”, the informal name for the BBC/British Broadcasting Corporation) + “frees”/releases ].
Answer: Liquid chemical added to a vehicle’s radiator water to stop it from freezing.

4. Total revolutionary in command of country perhaps? (5)
MUSIC : Reversal of(… revolutionary) SUM(the result of adding multiple quantities/total) + IC(abbrev. for “in command”).
Answer: An example of which/perhaps, is country.

5. Fall in freezing fell (9)
COLLAPSED : LAPSE(a decline from previously higher standards/fall) contained in(in) COLD(freezing).

6. Note stylish man dropping dead in Emperor’s new clothes (4)
NUDE : N(abbrev. for “note”) + “dude”(informal term for a stylish and confident man) minus(dropping) “d”(abbrev. for “dead”).
Answer: As in The Emperor’s New Clothes, a folktale by Hans Christian Andersen.

7. Musical story with Hornblower possibly heading off to capture gold (8)
ORATORIO : “Horatio”(first name for a man, an instance of whom/possibly is the fictional Hornblower in the series of naval stories by C.S. Forester) minus its 1st letter(heading off) containing(to capture) OR(the colour of gold/yellow in heraldry).

8. Gathered facial hair as I have to leave quickly? (4,4)
MUST DASH : Homophone of(Gathered) “moustache”(facial hair above the upper lip).
Defn: What I might say if ….

13. Instruction for cryptic solvers to form master race (10)
MILLSTREAM : MILL(move around in a confused mass – an instruction to cryptic crossword solvers to form an anagram of …) MASTER.
Defn: …/a strong water current flowing through a narrow channel, in this case, under a mill to drive the mill wheel.

15. Instant time off is restricting newspapers and magazines? (9)
IMMEDIATE : Anagram of(… off) TIME containing(is restricting) MEDIA(collectively, newspapers and magazines, and suchlike).

16. Reportedly seize backing singers from Sweden for offices of religious leadership (8)
ABBACIES : Homophone of(Reportedly) “seize” placed below(backing, in a down clue) ABBA(the pop group from Sweden).

17. Toy with plain awful hairstyle (8)
PONYTAIL : Anagram of(… awful) [TOY plus(with) PLAIN].

19. Decline in official employment (6)
REFUSE : REF(short for “referee”, an official in a competitive match) + USE(utilisation/employment).

20. Feature of distorted space-time (6)
ASPECT : Anagram of(distorted) SPACE + T(abbrev. for “time”).
Defn: A particular … of something.

23. Conclusion is nothing great (5)
OMEGA : O(letter representing 0/nothing) + MEGA(large/great).
Defn: …/last of a series.

24. Coloured the ancient religious academic houses (4)
DYED : YE(archaic/ancient term for “the”) contained in(… houses) DD(abbrev. for “Doctor of Divinity”, a religious academic).