I suspect that much of England has rugby on its mind even though it’s being played in France (conveniently beaten by the English last week or so). It appears that Brendan does as well. Virtually all the clues have a rugby surface. Also conveniently, rugby and American football share quite a bit of vocabulary so this puzzle is pretty transatlantic. So quite straightforward from the definition point of view — I’ve left a couple of wordplays to be worked out as we speak. It goes without saying that Brendan is the master of the clever sensible rewarding clue.

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Although Bradman is a prolific stalwart of several national dailies, his FT appearances seem to approximate at only monthly in frequency. So the fact that publication also coincides with our sporadic FT blogging calendar makes this posting something of a rarity!  An enjoyable mix of clues; as much for their originality and subtlety of wordplay as their trademark technical precision. I had to confirm a couple of sub-elements (10A, 19A) post completion.

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I rattled through this puzzle but fell at the final hurdle, well as 24ac and 17dn.

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