Cryptic crossword No 3,125

Thanks, Baldur. I loved 21a, cheeky 18a and topical 7a. 1a was very clever although beyond me - like most of the time with this sort of reverse clue I bunged it in from the enumeration and crossers. I hadn't heard of 14d but found it clearly enough clued. I liked the homophone indicator in 20d too.

Took me a while to finish this one - 3/4 filled in then last few I found tricky to parse ( 14d - new word to me, 3d- still don't quite get it?, 6d & 17d found a little tough ). Liked 5d, 16d (great surface), 21a, 23a, 18a (so simple :-) ), 15a, 8d, 20a, ("when escaping from trap" is a devious homophone indicator). 1a is v clever and only got it when I read your explanation - I guess the synonym is "The moment" or is it intended as a pure &lit? Nice mix of clues, and some fun indicators. Cheers!