With only three entries during my first, very quick, pass through the clues I thought I might struggle with this one but subsequent, more careful, perusal paid dividends and the grid was filled at a steady pace, starting in the SE corner and then progressing anticlockwise.
Across
1 Expert, quiet in comical broadcast, dropped (12)
ACCOMPLISHED P (quiet) in an anagram (broadcast) of COMICAL plus SHED (dropped)
9 Part of shoe in mantrap (4)
VAMP double def.
11 Collectable items at home back in country area (7)
OMNIANA IN (at home) reversed (back) in OMAN (country) A (area)
12 Food and drink housing estate must have (7)
INGESTA hidden in (must have) housING ESTAte
14 Plain pages in unfinished guide (6)
STEPPE PP (pages) in STEE[r] (unfinished guide)
15 Pirate brooded, getting attention aboard (6)
SEARAT SAT (brooded) around (getting
aboard) EAR (attention)
18 Ditch resistance and whimper, losing wicket (5)
RHINE R (resistance) [w]HINE (whimper, losing wicket)
19 Supporting bands playing at club are electronic (10)
TRABECULAE an anagram (playing) of AT CLUB ARE plus E (electronic)
21 Exciting book about space revolving around alien vessel (10)
PAGE-TURNER RE (about) GAP (space) reversed (revolving) around ET (alien) URN (vessel)
22 Sun god clothed by gold luminance of air (5)
AURAL RA (sun god) in (clothed by) AU (gold) L (luminance)
25 Tool from range in mound (6)
TROWEL ROW (range) in TEL (mound)
27 Laugh, saving thousand dollars after hard bargain (6)
HIGGLE H (hard) [g]IGGLE (laugh, saving thousand dollars)
28 Figure not hopeful about city in India (7)
DIAGRAM DIM (not hopeful) around (about) AGRA (city in India)
29 Honour courageous person making point on top of skeleton (7)
OBELION OBE (honour) LION (courageous person)
30 Drama in valuation when odd pieces are discounted (4)
AUTO [v]A[l]U[a]T[i]O[n] (valuation when odd pieces are discounted)
31 Quite irritable, mostly in conflict with office in controlled environment (6,6)
WALLED GARDEN ALL (quite) EDG[y] (irritable, mostly) in WAR (conflict) DEN (office)
Down
1 Historically swift vessel, old destroyer, capsized (5)
AVISO O (old) SIVA (destroyer) reversed (capsized)
2 Stand and shout about an awful brute (10)
CANTERBURY CRY (shout) around (about) AN plus an anagram (awful) of BRUTE
3 Tree over earth full of life (5)
OPEPE O (over) E (earth) around (full of) PEP (life)
4 Number in dry procedure coming up in brackets (8)
POTENCES TEN (number) in SEC (dry) OP (procedure) reversed (coming up)
5 Unit rallied after refreshment of break (11)
INTERLUDIAL an anagram (after refreshment) of UNIT RALLIED
6 Doctor said to supply tropical herb (4)
SIDA an anagram (doctor) of SAID
7 Place often visited around river that is rising (8)
HAURIENT HAUNT (place often visited) around R (river) IE (that is)
8 Dragonflys day above channel curtailed (6)
DARTER D (day) ARTER[y] (channel curtailed)
10 Weird, gripping story about German roguishness (11)
ESPIEGLERIE EERIE (weird) around (gripping) SPIEL (story) around (about) G (German)
13 Porous compartment in container corroded (10)
CANCELLATE CELL (compartment) in CAN (container) ATE (corroded)
16 Slimy sediment in line left at bottom of drain (8)
SAPRODEL SAP (drain) RODE (line {rope}) L (left)
17 Tense feature in craze for killing for food (8)
BUTCHING T (tense) CHIN (feature) in BUG (craze)
20 Tangle with mean sailor (6)
MATLOW MAT (tangle) LOW (mean)
23 Moth in tatters dropping dead, upside-down (5)
EGGAR RAGGE[d] (in tatters dropping dead) reversed (upside-down)
24 Sole part of spacecraft in operation (5)
LEMON LEM (part of spacecraft) ON (in operation)
26 Space in courtroom / in good condition (4)
WELL double def.
Thanks Gaufrid.
Failed on trabeculae, which I shouldn’t have done. Perhaps I did a Natalie Bennett, since the anagram fodder is so clear.
Baulked, pedantically, a little at sole equating to lemon, since the lemon sole is not a sole, just as a hedge sparrow is not a sparrow.
Hi Conrad
I too wondered about the lemon=sole in 24dn but Chambers does have under ‘lemon’: “1. A species of sole differing in its markings from the common sole (also lemon sole or sand sole); 2. A kind of dab resembling a sole (also called lemon dab, lemon sole, smear dab or smooth dab)”
Also Oxford on-line has under ‘sole’: “A marine flatfish of almost worldwide distribution, important as a food fish. Several species in the families Soleidae, Pleuronectidae, and Bothidae.” and the second family listed is the same as that for a lemon sole.
Hi Gaufrid
Thanks for that. I suppose we have to accept the usage. It remains true though that the Dover sole is of a different family.
I certainly found this tougher than average. Didn’t finish it till quite late Sunday night.
Had trouble parsing 16dn for some reason, but seems obvious from your explanation, thanks.
I did find this one quite tough. Even coming back to it a month later I still failed at 1 down and 9 across despite finding AVISO in Chambers. Presumably read the definition too quickly and only spotted “advice”/”notification” in there.