Highly recommended
Across
1 MACAWS birds CAM< (river winding round) (WAS)*
4 CRABMEAT food (BAR CAME)* T (time)
9 NANTES French port SET NAN< (determined grandma back)
10 STALLION horse TALL in SION (Jerusalem)
12, 27 FAUSTIAN PACT satanic deal (ACT UP IF SATAN)*
13 GREENE Graham GREEN (raw) E (English)
15 LARK dd
16 JUSTICE fairness JUST (only) ICE (wintry aspect)
20 WINSTON Churchill &lit WINS (victories) TO [natio]N
21 PARR Katherine ‘survived’ PAR (what’s expected) R (king)
25 HASSLE bother (LASHES)*
26 BACKYARD DRAY< (back)
28 TALESMAN bystander who becomes member of jury (LAST NAME)*
29 INTACT flawless IN (regarding) TACT (diplomacy)
30 PERORATE use rhetoric PERFORATE (use riddle) minus F
31 HYPHEN mark in A-level
Down
1 MANIFOLD multifunctional MAN IF OLD or infirm may walk with a stick
2 CONQUERS takes control sounds like CONKERS (game)
3 WREATH garland sounds like Lord John Reith DG of BBC
5 RITZ posh hotel [biar]RITZ French resort
6 BALDRICK warrior’s belt BALD (obvious) RICK (heap)
7 EXILES people leaving country I L (one pound) in EXES (expenses)
8 TENDER dd
11 VAGUEST most unclear AGUE (fit) in V (very) ST (holy person)
14 OTTOMAN chair MOTTO< (saw turning up) AN (article)
17 DIALYSER medical equipment [hospita]L in (IS READY)*
18 CALABASH tree LAC< (resin found up) A B (black) ASH (tree)
19 CREDITON town (CIDERNOT)*
22 SHUT UP say nothing HUT (shed) in SUP (drink)
23 OSTLER horse attendant (STABLE ROLE)* minus ABLE (competent)
24 SKINNY lean INN (pub) in SKY (blue)
( )* = anagram [ ] = omit < = reverse dd = double definition
Thanks Jed for your blog and your enthusiasm for this puzzle.
Not many sharing it here, I fear.
But there I am.
I started this crossword late last night (in bed).
My rule is “find three solutions, then put the thing aside and go to sleep”.
So far so good.
But when I picked up this crossword this morning I found it quite hard. Certainly at the higher end of Bradman’s spectrum.
While Brummie was more or less a(n enjoyable) breeze, Bradman kept me going for a long time.
After I decided to use the advice of Mrs Chambers, everything fell in place.
Bradman is (Pasquale + Quixote)/2, but all the more attractive.
Some real gems here.
20ac (WINSTON), 26ac (BACKYARD), 31ac (HYPHEN [although I wouldn’t have minded a question mark], 1d (MANIFOLD).
There is something very right about this magnificent puzzle.
Even if I had to rely on ‘resources’ which, btw, I find OK – enjoying the setter’s ideas comes before the challenge, to me that is.
As you said, Jed, highly recommended!
…. everything fell into place.
Whoa, one more comment!
BTW, a bit of a pity that the clue for 1d showed seven dashes (instead of eight).
Agree with Sil – an excellent puzzle. And a pangram, to boot.
Well spotted, penzephyr.
Not a thing the Don is normally famous for or particularly aiming at.
Hence, another reason for finding this a great puzzle!
Sorry, it’s me again.
But I wanted to say that PARR (21ac) is just another great clue.
Perhaps even my CoD.