Cryptic crossword No 512

A nice gentle theme? I'm actually not sure what to call this feature exactly? Let's stick with theme unless anyone has a better idea. Smoothly clued, a bit of cheek in 13A, and 15A. Lovely. Thanks widders

Nice one widders, thanks. The theme went straight over my head but impressive once pointed out. Two or three new things in here for me (I guess quite crosswordy but I hadn't come across/remembered them) but all beautifully clued with lots of lovely misdirection. Favourites: 9A, 13A, 20A, 3D, 16D, 19D and 23D.

Thanks for this. A pleasant solve. Also missed the theme until it was pointed out.

Great idea, very nicely done. 11d probably my favourite (a word that some often spell wrong where there's no crosser!), but not far behind were 18a, 20a, and 6d. A couple of examples of punctuation didn't seem quite right to me, but then I realised that's more a case of me considering what I wouldn't have done myself rather than anything objectively wrong. Slight theme spoiler in reply...

For those who don't spot it, the "odd one out" is revealed in the annotated solutions. Some further notes in reply... [SPOILERS]

Very nicely done, widders. Your Instructions gave enough of a hint; at first I thought it was Across and then turned my attention to Down and it's there as well! Nice touch with your theme word. 13a certainly the biggest smile, though 9a, 25a and 4d were also good fun. Nice constructions in 5d, 11d and 21d and a very witty achievement in 21d. Thanks PM

Great fun. I spotted the theme and odd one out about half way through. Lots of imaginative, funny clues with clever misdirection. Particularly liked 8A, 9A, 13A, 24A, 25A, 4D, 11D.

Thanks widders, some really nice stuff in here, particularly 13a, 3d, 16d, 21d. The nature of the theme entirely passed me by, but that's quite normal, so I didn't get too hung up on it!

Nice work, as ever. Thought 17d excellent, and other favourites include 24a 13a and 5d. Thanks!

Thanks for the challenge widdersbel, you've created a puzzle jam-packed with cunning and efficient construction and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Particular favourites were 7a (very clean clue all around), 9a (funny surface and neat construction), 13a (very droll), 15a (made me laugh), 17a (neat), 25a (another smile-worthy construction), 1d ( very neat), 2d (very solid), 6d (very clean), 12d (cunningly misleading, nice construction) and 16d (hah!). It was a little tricky for me in places (my ...