Assistant, being upset, chimed in and asked for support (8)

I believe the answer is:

appealed

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'asked for support' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with communicating as well as being past participle verbs.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I don't see?

'assistant being upset chimed in' is the wordplay.
'assistant' becomes 'PA' (personal assistant).
'being upset' is a reversal indicator.
'chimed in' becomes 'pealed' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'pa' back-to-front is 'ap'.
'ap'+'pealed'='APPEALED'

'and' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for appealed that I've seen before include "Asked for" , "attracted interest" , "Took a case to a higher court for review" , "Begged - was attractive" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.

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