Cryptic crossword No 452

Thanks Ozpiper I enjoyed this, on an initial scan the number of cross refs was a little daunting, but a few easier ones gave me  a start and my efforts started to 6D 9D. As it started to 14A in 11A, I thought a few clues were 1A (in a fun way). To sum up I think your clueing has 17D and it's a 25D 18A from me for this 13D.

Hi Ozpiper. Only right and proper that I pop into yours after your kind words of yesterday. As Blah says, there was clearly a key word which I never managed to parse though I guessed it from the other references and crossers. Favourites included: 16a, 18a, 13d (very nice), 24d. Some of those with cross references were also good though, as a lover of surfaces, they do tend to disrupt the flow which is why they're not on the podium. Couple of points in reply with spoilers.

Thanks Ozpiper, very nicely done. As Blah reported, not quite as tricky as the number of x-references threatened but certainly some chewy parts. I agree with many of Blah’s and PM’s points so won’t repeat them. I interpreted 5A as you intended though. I particularly liked: 1A, 26A, 29A, 30A and 28D.

Thanks for all the helpful comments - I do get that they are constructively intended, so appreciate the trouble y’all take to feed back.

Thanks for the puzzle, Ozpiper, I thought that was rather nice, and good use of cross-refs which weren't as daunting as initially anticipated. Particularly fun clues were 1a, 26a, 4d, 9d (thought this not too hard at all, felt like it dropped very satisfyingly out of the wordplay although I do get the criticism about non-contiguous deletion of contiguous fodder, and not sure if it breaks rules or just is frowned upon), 15d, 17d and 25d.