Solution to THC # 9101

Across

 1 Apsara, perhaps, or first of apsaras embraced by a man of religion (7) REACTOR

 5 Transport requiring manpower? (7) BICYCLE

 9 Diocesan’s riches marred by recurring ailments (7,8) CHRONIC DISEASES

10 Captivate but finish off listener (6) ENDEAR

11 In times gone by, I included butter in smoked beef (8) PASTRAMI

13 One who meets the demand (8) SUPPLIER

15 Time for a leap (6) SPRING

18 Lakshman rekha at Chepauk (6) CREASE

19 Having a spine? Redo chat anyhow (8) CHORDATE

22 Supervisor of poetry accepted by old queen (8) OVERSEER

24 Cloud distracts minibus, dislodging one (6) NIMBUS

27 Concede a walkover and reveal the secret (4,3,4,4) GIVE THE GAME AWAY

28 Mordant but oddly inactive (7) DORMANT

29 British engineers, weary, were pensioned off (7) RETIRED

Down

 1 A disease of leaping insects, losing head (7) RICKETS

 2 Broadcast by our radio journalist (5) AIRED

 3 Half a score of stories about hundred grasping organs (9) TENTACLES

 4 Get up, say, for some food (4) RICE

 5 Such finery in a large bird perhaps (6) BRIDAL

 6 Box, container for the ticker (5) CHEST

 7 Conservative Croatia’s distressed by Central American state (5,4) COSTA RICA

 8 Following directions, going to court (7) ENSUING

12 One of those precious things in Gray’s caves of the ocean (3) GEM

14 He protects a standby in public relations (9) PRESERVER

16 Having relevance but cheeky in ten variations (9) PERTINENT

17 A question of identity (3) WHO

18 Obstructed but entered in the record after a bit of clearing (7) CLOGGED

20 Made an effort to develop, say, seed (7) ESSAYED

21 Proper come down, leaving the centre of Essen (6) DECENT

23 Town in India that NASA exposed, taking little time (5) SATNA

25 Fiddler in the garden (5) BOWER

26 Middling one in remote location (4) FAIR