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My thanks to Imogen for what I thought was an awesome puzzle. I did not consider it 'too easy' at all - quite tricky in fact. Even after twigging the 1d connection, I thought some of the non-thematic clues were pretty tough.
I am still puzzled by 20a - I believe I have the thing Horace is associated with, but I don't see a 1d connection. All the other clues that reference 1 have a very definite thing in common, and I'm not seeing that in 20a.

Jvector, it is 4 letters for Horace works (plural) + a; definitely a thematic.

I enjoyed the puzzle.
It's a big holiday weekend in USA, "official beginning of summer", which likely cuts down on forum participation.

One tricky thing about the 1s is that they use a modern or "vernacular" (trying to avoid spoilers) English spelling, which in several cases is different from what was common for decades.

Geeker, you have 6 as your COD and I can't see anyone else referring to it. The solution seems obvious but struggling to parse. Is it possible that 'I had to leave' should read '1 had to leave'? However that still doesn't quite work. I imagine I'm missing something more obvious. Enjoyed the puzzle- thanks to Imogen.

Hi grum
How is "I had" abbreviated?

Finished, relatively quickly. An enjoyable puzzle, clever clues, nice theme. Got the theme from 21a when I hadcrossers from 13, 18 and 19 and could only think of one word to fit.

FOI: 17A
LOI: 16D
COD: 21, where I nearly googled for the biblical text, until I got those crossers: or 29a, now that I think about it!

I don't understand parsing of 16d (def is 1st word or 1st 3 words, but then ... ?) and 27a (last word def, ...?)

Hi PamD
16d definition is the last word.
There isn't a 27a, but in 27d the definition is also the last word.

Thanks, @chrise: 16d now makes sense. I had the uncrossed 4th letter wrong.

As for 27: I can see that the last word is definition, but I can't parse the wordplay.... Ah, yes, finally got it as 1 1 2. (Was trying to find some connection befween sport and the 5-letter word starting with a + the solution, and failing!) Fun. Thanks.

Setters frequently misuse the term for "sport" - it isn't!

A very clever and entertaining prize crossword from Imogen. Feeling very happy because I completed without having to come to forum for help! Found some of thematic answers a bit obscure but learning new words is always a bonus.
Certainly didn’t find it easy but loved the mixture of clues.
FOI 24a
LOI 27d
COD either 14a, 21a or 29a — all brilliant
Still working on parsing of 9a - endless red?
Enjoy the long weekend and thank you Imogen.