Cryptic crossword No 274

Hi Newington, I think this is brilliant. Lovely theme, some great clues, notably for the theme words, 19a and 6d very clever. A few laughs too such as 5a and 15a. Very strong surface reading throughout. See reply for more….

Great work, Newington, thanks! Thankfully I twigged the theme early and it helped me along. Some might describe this as getting ahead of the solve, but I was grateful; e.g. I had no clue how to parse 23d 17a but was able to write it in. Some lovely clues: 1A 25D 24D, 29A, 11D, 13D, 18D and 21D in particular.

Excellent, Newington - I agree with Piper on the surface readings, also like the clever misleading definitions. Took me ages to get started thanks to some tricky (but fair) wordplay, but once I twigged the theme, it fell into place quickly - though 10a defeated me (my lack of GK). 14d is an odd word but fairly clued (I'm not convinced by your definition but I like the surface). I especially liked 12a, 19a, 22a, 26a, 29a, 7d, 11d, 18d. And of course 5a is true regardless of the solution!

This was lovely. Thanks. Particularly liked 1a etc 15a 20a and 11d