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Williamseal, you mentioned 'Landis' - I've got him in a fairly conspicuous place in the grid, and when I remove him, real words are left.

A quick PS, Williamseal - enjoy the rugby!

Thanks Malone

Alas I made a silly mistake in 22 down. My penance was a lot of unnecessary grid staring

Glad I could help, willimseal. The rugby result would have been a good consolation prize, I'm sure!

Agh, I was going to ask for hints with parsing one clue, but I now haven’t got the puzzle to hand! Memory suggests it was 13A or thereabouts: the clue started with ‘A’ and contributed the second letter to the plea. If I recall correctly the first two words were the definition, and I just couldn’t figure the wordplay, nor even spot the word to remove! Could some kind soul remind me what the clue was, and throw me a parsing hint?

Mooncow, was it this...

13 A. Ancient sweet jelly provided the earnings of a good salesman (5)

If it was, the first two words provide the definition and the third is removed. I can see the first part of the answer equating with 'provided', but I don't get the rest. Maybe someone else can help?

Mooncow, I've worked out the parsing for the end of that clue - the last three letters are an abbreviation for 'the earnings of a good salesman'. You sometimes see it in job advertisements.

It was exactly that one, thanks, and I see it was all in my reach: once the ‘provided’ is taken out, the remaining letters can be looked up in CED, as can the omitted word which I did not recognise as a thematic example (and I’m pleased to say I’ve never worn one!). Ta.

PS personal milestone reached: I’ve been solving regularly for only about 6 months, and this is the first one I solved entirely from first clue to complete grid to endgame without needing a hint or pointer :-) I know it’s one of the easier ones but still pleased...

Glad my parsings worked - they don't always! I didn't bother with the thematic entries, extra words.

Well done on advancing so far and so fast with Listener. I'm sure some people take years to get to your current grade. Today's puzzle looks … somewhat harder!