Cryptic crossword No 701

Great stuff! But I didn’t spot the theme until I’d finished, which with hindsight is mad 🙃 Favourite clue was 17d, so clever. Would you mind adding the annotated solutions? I’d like to check a couple of parsings. Cheers

Very nice Hex, with marvellous use of a well-chosen theme that offers lots of material. One interesting aspect, I thought, was that a couple of clues seem to rely on consciousness of the theme to make the most sense. This didn’t really bother me, because the grid was mostly gentle and the theme readily detected (pace Jaspa), but it might not be ideal in all cases. Spoilers as I comment further……….

Nicely done Hex, if a bit cheesy!! Like for me were 8a, 13a (nice to get that in with the theme), 28a (for "in"), 5d for the misdirection of apes and 17d which was clever. No real complaints apart from being unfamiliar with 6d, but that's my lack, not yours

Thanks for the puzzle Hex, nicely done and a fun thematic implementation. A nice level of difficulty for me too, nicely solvable and some lovely succinct clueing throughout. I particularly liked 8a (very clean and smooth on the surface), 12a (simple but fun and effective), 16a (fun), 5d (nice surface), 7d (lovely surface image and nice construction), 17d (very clever) and 30d (nicely constructed) - well done!