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Many thanks! All done now.

I've got all of this, including the thematic word, but two questions remain:
I'm stuck on 26ac which no one else has mentioned as tricky. ?Possibly I have the checking letter from 19 wrong? Nudge appreciated.
Also, when entering the form, I suppose we enter full length answers and prove we've understood the working via the thematic word.

aspria - 26: a usual crossword 2-letter abbreviation for "men" + what you give when you assist, both in a word for handouts. Def: things you twist.
I always with Geniuses assume you put into the boxes exactly what you put in the lights.

Many thanks prospero! Most helpful! Nailed 26 now (doh). i'm afraid I'm not as familiar with the word 'lights' in a crossword context as I should be, but i take it to mean that when we enter (for example) Iac we enter all 11 letters and the same for 5d?

no - I'm saying one puts in exactly what the finished grid says - eg 8 letters for 1ac. Probably doesn't matter because I gather any selected entry is checked individually by a person ... not that, after 236 entries, I've ever won!

This is what the Guardian editor said a while back…

“The solution to be entered in the solution form is the word or sequence of letters that is required for entry in the grid. It matters not if hyphens and spaces are included or left out. Nor does upper or lower case lettering matter.
A small selection of potential winners is randomly selected from the file where they are all stored and then the solutions are manually checked until the first correct one emerges.”

Keeping my fingers crossed for you, Prospero, can’t be long now, surely!

thanks, jono - maybe your thoughts will work telepathically ...

Unaccountably I too am stuck on 26a. I'm convinced my crossers are correct (including the "choice" at 23d) but can't seem to fit the elements together into what I assume is a phrase. My problem is that I think I've polluted my brain with The Devil Rides Out and its ilk. Hints please!

don't think I can be more explicit than at 33 - in fact I inadvertently slipped in part of the solution ....

Aargh! Yes! Got it now! I was thinking of different handouts. I'll now say farewell to those... Thanks