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9a is letter replacement of the first two letters…

Thanks jono

Morning all I always enjoy Imogen. Very slow start today but rocking now. FOI 9 and probably my favourite too. So far.

jono @6 - or Gary ...

Not the straightforward solve that I expected given early comments but once you get the theme it becomes a lot easier.

5d definition is a bit loose for people like me who don't know it. I can't parse 20a or 21a.

But there were some great clues in this. My COD would be 15d but there were plenty with 29 being a close second. Thanks Imogen.

Hi Rocky
If you can't parse 20a you may have got it wrong (as I did, twice!). Horace is famous for something.
I can see all the bits for 21a, but haven't bothered to sort them out. There are two equally valid penultimate letters, but only one parses.

My entry into the theme was 24d as well. Nice and easy solve overall, my personal spelling of 20a slowing me down a bit.

Rocky7 : I parsed 21a as 3 letters for 'endlessly tricky' inside 2 abbreviated 'kings' followed by 'one verse' abbreviated

Thanks Manu and Chrise. I can't think of another theme word that could fit 20a but I shall return to Google in case.

OK. I did not know the Horace reference. I'm good.

I could add what I found about the spelling of 20a, but it would be a spoiler.