Cryptic crossword No 2,527

With thanks to Amoeba. Mistakes my own. Hope you enjoy...

Thanks Ruskin that was excellent. I know the feeling, and solving it was too. Back to it...

Got there in the end - some decidedly tricky stuff there :-) ... re the thing: yeah that applies to me, too. Very nice piece of wordplay there in the back half of 8a clue. 11d and 16d might fox the proverbial younger solver! 16a was new to me. Took a bit of puzzled googling to understand the definition in 2d, though the spoonerism is a lovely one.

Tricky in places, but entertaining and fair

Thanks Ruskin. This was rather too tough for me - a fair few reveals - but lots of good stuff to enjoy and admire. My faves were: 10a, 25a, 2d (albeit one of the reveals), 14d and 20d. One tiny point in reply … spoiler …

I found this fairly tricky, Ruskin. Needed a couple of reveals where I was not on your wavelength - 8a, 13a, 18a. And I was surprised to find that I have been misunderstanding 5d for my entire life! (Not that I refer to it particularly often!) Faves inc 10a, 12a, 22a,3d, 6d, 11d and 16d. Thanks. PM