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28 is an anagram of the first 4 words of the clue. Definition starts after the comma in the clue. It's really clever.

20D is easiest of those, I had to use an anagram solver for 28A and 30A.

Ladies does not mean "more than one lady" in 20D it means a place ladies go (men go to a similar place too, usually next door).

You should be able to get 25D if you have everything else (an author).

28a is an anagram relating to 19 25 .

30 is tricky, parses as 1, then 1 inside 7. The 1s are obvious, the 7 (syn of "maverick") is an uncommon word that figures in the title of a well-known book by Malcolm Gladwell.

20d . Ladies is a tad Pauline

The maverick synonym is a common term in statistics though.

Very true, but I studied statistics and have found it risky to assume general knowledge of statistical concepts!

I was just disappointed the answer was neither coprolite nor coprolith because that seemed to go best with Conservative to me when I did the quick solve ;)

Gladwell looks like a startled Leo Sayer :)

Indication of my age and background: the first book that came to mind re. that word was by Barnett and Lewis, pub. 1978. I figure Gladwell is somewhat better-known.

Indicator of my age: I know what Leo Sayer looks like ;)

Also: Huw Lloyd Langton (RIP), legendary Hawkwind guitarist, played in Leo Sayer's band probs when he was recovering from being in Hawkwind.