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Thanks George,

24a - 1 letter "hot" + 3 letter "priest" (very popular among setters) -homophone/'we're told' "achieved a" split 4,2

Re 24a the hot priest was indeed the nickname of a character in fleabag but here I think it is the usual 1 letter abbreviation for hot and then a three letter name of a biblical priest then a homophone for two words meaning achieved. The forest in 9a is just giving you part of the first word of the answer together with the last letter of decomposing.
This was a hard one agreed.

Bowergirl,

Re the "hot priest" and Fleabag, you're quite right - one of the funniest series on TV IMHO.
Her name for the female equivalent of satnav is one of the best lines I've heard (to risque to write here I'm afraid)

I'm with everyone who found this a really hard one! I needed a lot of help, and didn't (with the exception of a very few clues) find it particularly enjoyable (and I usually love doing the Everyman).

Originally my COD was 20a until I saw Chrise's comment upthread and realised that they were right - to make sense of the clue, the middle word should have been the alternative one!

Didn't understand 23a until coming on here, so I think that is now my COD. Thanks for enlightening me!

I also started off with the alternative word for 21d, which made 26a impossible for a long time.

Still can't parse the first two words of 11d What do they have to do with 'scene woven on'?? (I'm assuming the last word is parsed from 'goddam weaving device')

I'm with you julesvern too difficult to be an enjoyable Everyman.
To be honest for the first time in a long time I just couldn't be bothered with it . Normally I enjoy the mix of easy and difficult clues, but the balance was completely wrong today. There are plenty of crosswords out there for experts, I prefer Everyman when it's intermediate.
I'll check the answers next week, and hope in future Everyman gets back on track.

I'll throw my hat in to the ring alongside others and say this was the toughest Everyman solve I can remember. For those who come to Everyman for a nice stroll on a Sunday they may feel a little short changed. Personally I found the challenge made it really enjoyable. I think I'm picking 16a as my COD because I like clues that you can work along and end up with the solution. But there were p.enty of good ones here. Thanks also for the hints on here with 23a in particular. I was way off.

Thanks Everyman.

Found this easy except for 23a, which is odd because that kind of trick is standard in cryptics elsewhere. Completed for the first time genius (246) this month and it seems to be a lot easier than the norm. Recommended for a self esteem boost.

So obvious! I was just looking at the heart of anger! Thanks both.

Not at all obvious, helen. I thought it a bit unfair that a different number of central letters from each word was needed.

I disagree that it's unfair, Chris. If a word has an even number of letters, then it has two central letters, and if it has an odd number of letter, then there is just one central letter. However, like Helen, I first thought central just referred to anger. Then the light went on.