No 12825, Wednesday 25 Dec 2019, Spinner

MERRY CHRISTMAS

ACROSS
1   Empty cafe with authentic breakfast food (6) CEREAL {CafE}{REAL}
4   Perhaps, expert comes before kid, with rookie somewhere in the middle (8) PROBABLY {PRO}{BAB{L}Y}
10 Issue shady bluish money, at the start (7) PUBLISH {P}{BLUISH*}
11 Officer's gut feel oddly ignored (7) COLONEL {COLON}{fEeL}
12 A purist's probably at a higher level (8) UPSTAIRS*
13 Wipe crumpled suits with a little ethanol (6) TISSUE {SUITS*}{Et...l}
15 Every retiring man gets a cent (4) EACH {H{A}{C}E<=}
17 Metal superhero becomes scrap dealer? (9) SCAVENGER {SC}{AVENGER}
20 'People of action' — describes setter's bosses! (9) DOMINEERS {DO{MINE}ERS}
21 Employed American editor (4) USED {US}{ED}
24 Beginning from zero, set up home (6) ORIGIN {0}{RIG}{IN}
25 Goodbye, we're unfortunately in the midst of decline! (8) FAREWELL {FA{WERE*}LL}
28 I used to set beyond boundaries! (7) OUTSIDE*
29 Run one into the ground with ludicrous house tax, showing no love (7) EXHAUST {HoUSE+TAX}*
30 A little amount of publicity inherent in questionable links with extremists, basically (8) SPRINKLE {S{PR}INKL*}{Ex...s}
31 Senior people saluted in mutiny, forcing out egregious leader (6) ADULTS SALUTeD*

DOWN
1  Caught and healed on getting relevant injection (8) CAPTURED {C{APT}URED}
2   On inhaling drug, steals garments (5) ROBES {ROB{E}S}
3   Plane returned for pet (6) ANIMAL<=
5   Staple food item's cost having no upper cap! (4) RICE pRICE
6   Aggressive investor is taking on bars of gold (8) BULLIONS {BULL}{I{ON}S}
7   Railings of stairs bent out of place with the passage of time (9) BANISTERS {STAIRS+BENt}*
8   Shouted when worn out, let out a cry of pain (6) YELLED YELLowED
9   Sign laws protecting a community upfront (9) CHARACTER {CHAR{A}{Co...y}TER}
14 Under too much pressure as dead criminal retreats to hideout! (9) OVERLADEN {OVER}{AL<=}{DEN}
16 One recruited by extraordinary orchestra wanting a singer (9) CHORISTER {1} in {ORCHESTRa}*
18 Ultimately protested one's idea of alienation (8) DIVISION {p...eD}{1}{VISION}
19 Admires person of age taking a test endlessly (8) ADULATES {ADUL{A}T}{tESt}
22 Secures boats having model turbines (6) MOTORS {MO{T}ORS}
23 Formula found by head of department (6) METHOD {MET}{HOD}
26 Make qualification inherently uniform! (5) EQUAL [T]
27 Genuine currency (4) REAL [DD]

Reference List
Rookie = L, Money = P, Cent = C, Love = 0, Drug = E, Time = T, Criminal = AL, Model = T