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Finally the light has dawned and I now have only to match up the substitutions. Approximate coincidences aren't good enough, which is why the letter pairs took me so long to sort out. With a bit of Googling, for which the word 'exact' might be, let's say, handy, I hope others will be able to complete the puzzle without leaving it until the eleventh hour.

For 25ac you need to think very laterally: 'Hope ...' is at the start for the clue for a reason, and paper knives have nothing to do with the solution. For 29dn, the last one I solved, look up 'log' in Chambers.

If it doesn't give too much away, am I right in guessing that 27 down has a connection with the theme?

ionacarr's hint for 25 across is a very finely judged hint to a most creative (but fair) clue: thanks.

I can't see a connection with the theme in 27dn, carpox1, but it's about 40 years since I read the book, so there may be something thematic that I've forgotten.

Whether fair or not, it breaches a standard Ximenean and Listener convention, but I've often observed in the past that Sabre is given more latitude by editors than is given to others.

Since 20A and 26A do not clash with any clued downs I assume the letter replacement must coincide with the unclued entry, which seems rather unfair, or perhaps it's in one of the unchecked cells.

I have in mind one possible entry for the unclued (8,4), which might be connected with something in ionacarr's last comment. Am I on the right track?

I don't think it breaches conventions. "Hope letter-opener" should be thought of as "How a letter to Hope would begin" i.e "D---- ---. So it parses in the conventional manner.

Thank you for nudges, but I am still not getting anywhere. 9,12,17,20 and 29 remain... Anymore hints would be great.
Simon

20 is a + cant (slang) + h.

Thank you. Can anyone enlighten me to a term for 8 to 12 pints! I am sure I have heard one before(in a crossword of course, not real life)

Simonsays, see my post #29 below for a hint. After that, do a bit of arithmetic and stay in the same cultural territory. The first two words of the clue are the definition. There are no fewer than three words for it!