I found this to be relatively challenging for a Monday, but very witty and great fun to solve!
I feel I must be missing something with 4a so please do correct or enlighten me.
UPDATE: Thank you Hovis (comment 2) – a much better solution. Blog is updated.
Plenty to enjoy. Thank you Peto.
ACROSS
1. Torment during enemy raid (6)
FORAGE
RAG (torment) during FOE (enemy)
4. Old TV show featuring boy with silver tongue (8)
MALAGASH
AL (boy) + AG (silver) in MASH (old TV show)
9. Expert regularly plays in a superior way (6)
ARCHLY
ARCH (expert) + [p]L[a]Y[s] (regularly)
10. Check for soldiers with stress (8)
RESTRAIN
RE (soldiers) + STRAIN (stress)
12. Complete as a result of embracing love (8)
THOROUGH
THROUGH (as a result of) embracing O (love)
13. Types of British grasses (6)
BREEDS
B (British) + REEDS (grasses)
15. Uncovered writer’s copy (4)
CRIB
[s]CRIB[e] (writer, uncovered)
16. Attire son sports at opening night is uncommonly loud (10)
STENTORIAN
(ATTIRE SON N[ight] (opening)* (*sports)
19. Constituent of Rayner ultimately needing it sorted out (10)
INGREDIENT
([Rayne]R (ultimately) + NEEDING IT)* (*sorted out)
20. Strike falling short of bridge (4)
SPAN
SPAN[k] (strike, falling short)
23. Slight reserve tense facing Bale? Not half (6)
SUBTLE
SUB (reserve) + T (tense) facing [Ba]LE (not half)
25. Studied posture in uncooperative behaviour (8)
ATTITUDE
27. Accepted relative’s mysterious conduct (6-2)
GOINGS ON
GOING (accepted) + SON (relative)
28. Set aside complete boxing record (6)
REPEAL
REAL (complete) boxing EP (record)
29. Obtained back number at the same time (8)
TOGETHER
GOT< (obtained, <back) + ETHER (number)
30. Began without resistance to become established (6)
STATED
STA[r]TED (began, without R (resistance))
DOWN
1. Fellow reportedly bottling it up when distraught (7)
FRANTIC
FRANC (fellow, “reportedly”) bottling IT< (<up)
2. Calculation of bill (9)
RECKONING
3. Furious pace causes bitterness at work (6)
GALLOP
GALL (bitterness) at OP (work)
5. Notice in French port (4)
ADEN
AD (notice) + EN (in, French)
6. Dubious retraction court dismissed earlier (8)
ANTERIOR
(RETRA[ct]ION)* (CT (court) dismissed, *dubious)
7. Saw Gaudi occasionally over time (5)
ADAGE
[G]A[u]D[i] (occasionally) over AGE (time)
8. Influence boy by favouring active involvement (5-2)
HANDS-ON
HAND (influence) + SON (boy)
11. Arranged it with Gore taking power in an act of self-aggrandisement (3,4)
EGO TRIP
(IT + GORE + P (power))* (*arranged)
14. Share importance of reading aid (7)
ENDNOTE
END (share) + NOTE (importance)
17. Rash of insulting books on Independent politician (9)
IMPRUDENT
RUDE (insulting) + NT (books, New Testament) on I (independent) + MP (politician)
18. Socialist view of brothels (3,5)
RED LIGHT
RED (socialist) + LIGHT (view)
19. Practical knowledge of popular spectacle (7)
INSIGHT
IN (popular) + SIGHT (spectacle)
21. Want journalist to catch Labour leader being heckled (7)
NEEDLED
NEED (want) + ED (journalist) to catch L[abour] (leader)
22. Order without delay (6)
DIRECT
24. Sell for naira on board ship (5)
BRING
N (naira) on board BRIG (ship)
26. Occupying felon endlessly in solitary (4)
LONE
[fe]LON E[ndlessly] (occupying)
i really did not like this at all. i wont say any more but I’ll be on the lookout foe Poins in the IndyThere are very few setters that I dont get on with but this is one of them(Favourites include Tyrus, Nimrod, Monk, Arachne, Serpent, Tramp, Brendan etc etc)Sorry
I had MALAGASH for 1a. AL (boy) + AG (silver) in MASH (old TV show).
I wasn’t keen either. There were several I pencilled in, but even with Teacow’s welcome assistance they still seem iffy (e.g. 8dn). Thanks to Teacow, and to Peto for the unrelenting obscurities.
Hovis@2 Thank you – on the ball as ever. I’ll amend the blog.
Tough solve for me with MALAGASH my last in after wrestling with a few unusual senses such as GOING for ‘accepted’ in 27a, END for ‘share’ in 14d and LIGHT for ‘view’ in 18d – or maybe it’s just me being dim. I had no idea about ‘naira’ in 24d, which went in from the ‘ship’ bit of the wordplay. Definitely an antidote for an ‘easy Monday’ mindset and hardest of today’s offerings.Thanks to Peto and Teacow
WordPlodder: I mostly agree with you. Never heard of Malagash, and END for “share” and LIGHT for “view” seemed a bit of a stretch. But I’m OK with GOING for ”accepted”, as in “going rate”.
Tougher than I was expecting, especially in the SE corner where I finally gave up. Needed a word finder for MALAGASH and ENDNOTE, not seeing “end” as meaning share. Did like FORAGE and GALLOP, the latter having an apt surface. Thanks to both.
That wasn’t fun.
Enjoyed most of this, particularly IMPRUDENT and STENTORIAN, but was held up in the SE corner by having PROMPT for DIRECT. Like EdK@USA, I didn’t like END for SHARE and while RED LIGHT was screaming at me, I couldn’t reconcile LIGHT with VIEW and left it out. Also failed with 1A, blinded by my own understanding of the difference between foraging and raiding, even though it was winking at me.
Thanks Peto and Teacow
This stretched well and truly past the coffee stop off on Monday morning – taking an additional three shortish sittings to finally get it out. Think that the main issue was with the less well known synonyms for a number of the answers and wordplay components – but on checking they were all valid.
Apart from being harder than I was expecting for a Monday, still thought that it was a good challenge that pushed the boundaries of thinking in a way not necessarily prepared for this early in the week.
Finally got on to the tricky and previously unknown MALAGASH after shifting the silver a few places to the left and the penny dropping with M*A*S*H. Like Tony@7, I had to use a word finder to get ENDNOTE as the last entry.