You know what it’s like when your mind wants an answer to be a particular word and won’t let go in the face of ridiculous amounts of evidence? Well, my mind so thought that 18D had to be PRIMATES. But that permitted no circus performer (25A) that I could think of — never mind that it did not fit the word play. Argh!
Across
1. TIMBRE – anagram of IM BERT
4. RUNAWAYS – RUN (ladder) + A[l]WAYS
10. PANEGYRIC – anagram of GAY PRINCE
11. LARGE – hidden word
12. FAIR – homophone (“fare”)
13. EISENHOWER – anagram of WHERE ONE IS
15. CANVASS – CANVAS (sails) + S[eek]
16. RESIST – IS (is) in REST (repose)
19. ADRIFT – AD (commercial) + RIFT (break). Nice combination.
21. HAMMIER – I (one) in HAMMER (thump)
23. PUNISHMENT – anagram of NINE THUMPS. Unusual punishment (4, 6)
25. SEAL – double definition
27. ROGER – double definition
28. IN EARNEST – anagram of TANNERIES
29. DISSEVER – anagram of SIDS + EVER (always)
30. GHOSTS – G (good) + HOSTS (landlords)
Down
1. TYPEFACE – TYPE (kind) + FACE (features)
2. MENTIONED – I (island) in MENTON (French resort) + ED (editor)
3. RIGA – RIG (equip) + A (a)
5. UNCLEAR – UNCLE (relative) + [p]AR[k]
6. ALL THE SAME – double/cryptic definition
7. ARROW – [h]ARROW
8. SHERRY – ERR (do wrong) in SHY (throw). Ah, yes, as in coconut shy.
9. TRAITS – anagram of ART ITS
14. PATISSERIE – anagram of IE PASTRIES
17. SPINELESS – SPIN (turn) + [blu]E + LESS (not so)
18. PRELATES – RELATE (say) in P[ew]S
20. TIM RICE – IM (I’m) in TRICE (instant)
21. HUNTER – double definition
22. SPARED – SPARE (remaining) + D (daughter)
24. NEGUS – EG (for example) in NUS (students’ union). I had not known but a negus is a drink made of wine, hot water, lemon juice, sugar, and nutmeg. (Hm, I’ll just have an 8D, please.) And a word once used as a title for emperors of Ethiopia. And, if memory serves, an antiques expert named Arthur.
26. ARCH – hidden word