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Wonderful, thank you! (Tries to remember but realizes I'll probably be repeating this request regularly for the next six months or so...)

I share your pain nxe. I've just finished this (yes a toughie) having taken out a subscription a week ago. The cheapest postage from Australia where I am is $4.10 with an expected delivery of 15+ business days. This one came out on 4 Jan and entries have to be in by 16 Jan which is 9 business days, so to be sure of getting an entry there on time I would have to go for Express (3-5 business days) at $38.70. that works out at $2012.40 per year.
I used to do the Listener when it was a magazine in the early 1980s in the UK and won the prize once after a couple of years and even then I would have spent more on postage than the monetary value of the prize.
I don't really care about the prize, but I'd like to have my stats counted.

That was a reply to nxe on 3 Jan at 22:17

Finally done!

Tough but enjoyable. Apart from having to scan the clue list to find each one…

One niggle - can’t find the definition for 13d in Chambers. There’s a related word with that meaning, but the form I think it takes isn’t there…

Anyone able to tell me what I’m missing?

I took the definition to be "stinky" with a misprint which in Chambers is drunk (adj). The answer is an archaic form of "boozy" which Chambers has as drunken (adj).

I was trying to correct the vowel! Had forgotten that word… Thank you

A really late call ( If this post still monitored) ... Finished fine at the time so thanks to Priest ... Disposing of the copy noticed I had 4 question marks ...
1. Slight problem with 13A which I believe was solved with a missing word?
2. 28/30 - 28 solved without changed letter - 30 required extra word apparent from 3rd number in brackets but can't see defn. although fill must be correct
3. Why are two characters 'contrasting'

'water under the bridge' now but just for satisfaction.

crates - for 13a a correction was put out on the Listener website and printed under 4850 a week later. The clue should end "... led out water, deserted."
for 28/30 the division in the clue comes between "a" and "fit"; "a" is to be axed and "fit" is to have a misprint corrected.
I'm not sufficiently familiar with the work in question to pronounce on the two characters'"contrast".

Crates, my take on the contrasting was to do with seeing the future. One could and the other didn't (but his future was predicted - ie he was warned and ignored it). At least I think that was it, haven't got the crossword any more.

Also, IIRC one was made up by the author and one wasn't but that's a bit tenuous.