Solutions to THC # 8998

Across
 1 Mischievous fellow thrashes Eliot. How rude! (8) IMPOLITE
 5 Be fifty per cent when you act for someone (6) BEHALF
10 Lets out loathly hunter’s cry (5,2) TALLY HO
11 Match the devil? (7) LUCIFER
12 Avoid playing chess with Western leader (6) ESCHEW
13 A North American clown breaks religious decree (5,3) CANON LAW
15 X (4) INTO
16 And I search around for something to sit on (5,5) SEDAN CHAIR
18 They are a whole lot of good writing from olden times (10) SCRIPTURES
20 Discovery by not completely gentle daughter (4) FIND
23 Inspectors to leave out jittery member of the royal family (8) PRINCESS
24 A way to gain admission (6) ACCESS
26 Give life to the drawings? (7) ANIMATE
27 Opposed to civilian (7) MARTIAL
28 Young bird has a tottering leg snared by an alien (6) EAGLET
29 Inter-changes in cathedral city seen fully (8) ENTIRELY
Down
 1 Where winner is, to begin with (2,3,5,5) IN THE FIRST PLACE
 2 Stinker of a place to be redone (7) POLECAT
 3 They are no professionals (6) LAYMEN
 4 Saw, perhaps, gathering up of spoils (4) TOOL
 6 Intrude on a couple of characters right in railway carriage (8) ENCROACH
 7 Two boys take top-grade grass (7) ALFALFA
 8 Light and noisy public show (8,7) FIREWORK DISPLAY
 9 Alter mama about your old school (4,5) ALMA MATER
14 Separate rishi holding debate without no-one back (9) SEQUESTER
17 Technologically advanced period which began with the launching of sputniks(5,3) SPACE AGE
19 Barrier to top learner in band (7) RAILING
21 Tim, see I try and specify individually (7) ITEMISE
22 Duty of the French king after a month (6) OCTROI
25 Apostrophising homo sapiens in a country (4) OMAN