Cryptic crossword No 824

Many thanks to Henri for being a fantastic tester. This is an attempt at a "technically correct" puzzle which as you may know goes against my nature (and my nonconformity may still seep through in places).

Thanks Mary - I love a 'toughie' but I'm afraid this one was largely beyond me, resorting to several reveals to get over the line and there's still a couple I don't 'get'. I did enjoy 8a, 12a, 15a, 18a, 20a, 1d, 8d, 14d, 21d & 22d - and with a bit of help 7a, 23a, 2d and the nho 5d. In others some synonyms were too stretched, or the wordplay was overly contrived, or in a couple of cases there were 'technical' issues; I appreciate a struggle but much of this took it too far, sorry. Spoilers...

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This really was a bit Marmite for me. Some of the clues were really superb – I think 7a is as clever as anything I’ve seen, and getting a good clue for a short word is always impressive ; 8d and 14d are very good too. I should have persevered, perhaps, to get 17d, which once you get it, is really neat. But while I don't go as far as Fez, there were a number of clues which I really didn't like… (Spoilers in reply)