No 12492, Saturday 08 Dec 2018, KrisKross

A pangram from the champ in line to retake his title shortly.

ACROSS
1   Fine to shatter building that's most remote (8) FARTHEST {F}{SHATTER}*
5   Summer in Mesopotamia (6) ABACUS [CD]
9   Spur mate swimming against the current (8) UPSTREAM*
10 Leaves home for a match (6) ELOPES [CD]
12 They work to make a net profit (9) FISHERMEN [CD]
13 Lazy person finished crossing river (5) DRONE {D{R}ONE}
14 Boy holding the old saw (4) EYED {E{YE}D}
16 Setter's sound asleep, surrounded by children — charming fellows (7) WIZARDS {I}{Z}(~I's) in {WARDS}
19 Do kill! (7) EXECUTE [DD]
21 Club's function (4) COSH [DD]
24 Bit crazy over girl (5) STUNG {NUTS<=}{G}
25 Nairobi TV broadcast: "Indication of earthquake" (9) VIBRATION*
27 Nonentity bats, not out, close to a century (6) NINETY noNENtITY*
28 Royal in trouble, about to start engaging Bond shortly (8) MAJESTIC {JAM<=}{En...g}{STICk}
29 Batsman in the middle tries cuts (6) SHEARS {batSman}{HEARS}
30 Sends short message, including smileys, essentially to get goods from Surat, say (8) TEXTILES {TEXT{smILEys}S}

DOWN
1   Light run around University with a couple of fellows (6) FLUFFY {FL{U}{FF}Y}
2   Fight is in balance (6) RESIST {RES{IS}T}
3   Animal runs wearing stockings (5) HORSE {HO{R}SE}
4   Crowded bus, ultimately hot (7) SWARMED {S}{WARMED}
6   Pope orders to capture twelve tailless cows (9) BULLDOZES {BULL{DOZEn}S}
7   Cabinet reportedly not interested to support award (8) CUPBOARD {CUP}{BOARD}(~bored)
8   Anxiety of writer absorbed in Seuss novel (8) SUSPENSE {SUS{PEN}SE*}
11 Understood wildebeest speaking (4) KNEW (~gnu)
15 Kid shot gun — end of the story (9) YOUNGSTER {GUN+thE+STORY}*
17 Soldiers carrying vegetables for countrymen (8) PEASANTS {PEAS}{ANTS}
18 Queen's upset with church order (8) SEQUENCE {QUEENS*}{CE}
20 Men vying display ill-will (4) ENVY [T]
21 Taxi with luggage, drug and cash (7) CABBAGE {CAB}{BAG}{E}
22 Cop is told to conceal weapon (6) PISTOL [T]
23 Plays correct stance (6) ENACTS*
26 Long time to book vehicle (5) AGENT {AGE}{NT}

Reference List

Boy = ED, The old = YE, Sound asleep = Z, Pope orders = BULLS, Drug = E, Book = NT

Colour/Font Scheme

Definition, Solution, Component letters, Embedded links, Theme word,  Anagram Indicator, C/C indicator, Reversal Indicator, Hidden word Indicator, Letter Pick indicator, Deletion Indicator, Homophone Indicator, Movement Indicator, Positional Indicator, Substitution, Indicator, Link/Connector, Extraneous

GRID