CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 It’s not diplomatic to initially try to be more natural (8) 5 Leaning towards font (6) 9 I cast aspersions on one from Lewis, say (8) 10 Ex-pat finds grime out east (6) 12 Was cloth ever made into automobile? (9) 13 Walk into snare man’s hidden (5) 14 Post a letter home to 9 (6) 17 A young lady’s wrong (5) 20 River in England mistaken for another UK country (5) 21 Team with which the Spanish are on a par (6) 24 Springfield’s poet (5) 25 Pleased an assembly on seafront walk (9) 28 Opening to making a killing on stock market index (6) 29 ‘Ave expectations about job I’m in? The reverse (8) 30 Faced off first foe with coffee (6) 31 Chatters about shelter, going to bed first (8)

DOWN

1 What to put on a horse given to nervous movement? (6) 2 Section of Scottish ferry goes on French sea that’s less rough (6) 3 Single girl framed by both sides of the moon (5) 4 Get larger, too, without a head start (5) 6 Push your luck with worker at gallery embracing leading feminist (5,4) 7 Citizens Advice Bureau to sign on at holiday home, perhaps (3,5) 8 Least expensive way to keep gorilla in trunk (8) 11 Comfortable with refreshments offered in casualty department (2,4) 15 The runners have started with complaint about bad eggs, possibly (6,3) 16 Consumer branch (6) 18 Studiously avoided when cheesed off about whisky (8) 19 Pleasantly sympathetic tone adopted when injury sustained on ice cut off (8) 22 Simplistic account held in record (6) 23 Is an ongoing problem for vegetables containing terminal fungus (6) 26 Dog I’ll shortly give to student (5) 27 Up twelve inches (5)