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Like rogerm, 20 was my LOI, but when I finally saw it, I appreciated it. Very clever. Also liked the combo of 25 and 24.

There are at least ten thematic clues, but I'm pretty sure others will show up.

rainman, that's what I suspected.
Also 1d.

Interestingly, this is a significant year for the theme, but not the right month. I don't know if Qaos intended it to be printed earlier in the year. Better late than never though, because it's a pleasant subject to research online.

Thanks to Qaos for what was a very enjoyable puzzle.

I had intented to tackle this after game 6 of the World Series ended but, having read there was a theme, curiosity got the better of me and I started doing it on my phone while watching the game on my laptop.

I didn't run into any real problems for the first 75% or so, but then seemed to hit something of a brick wall. This led to my decision to put it aside until after the game had finished - which proved to be a wise choice indeed!

The NE in particular caused me all sorts of problems and then, even when I finally got those, I was still left with the pesky 20d.

Having read all the posts I knew this was the key to the theme but, even though I was sure who and where it was centred around, I just could not see it.

I then went back to basics and split the clue up into what I presumed were its component parts, 2 synonyms, one with an instruction and a definition and.... lo an behold - it hit me immediately.

Having gone on Wiki to read about the theme, I can only see 6 related clues, which is a lot fewer than you guys but I'll continue looking anyway.

Geeker @6 - thanks for that update, I must have missed or, more likely, forgotten his post about a changed schedule. Perhaps if he or Rogerm looks in he/they can confirm whether they are or are not the same person.

Stay safe:-)

Hi Brendan
Depends on how one counts I suppose. Grid entries or the real things.

Re 20d, I kept ignoring what the wordplay said, and checked it finally.

I'm uncomfortable about 24D. There's been a sea change over the past few years in how we view this word and its connotations (Chambers seems behind the times on this but other easily accessible dictionaries are more woke) and to use it (iffily) as a synonym for one of the words in the clue, together with the use of potty humour to form the word, severely diminishes the horror and inhumanity associated with it.

Ah, thanks ilippu, I was looking at the theme in too narrow a fashion, thinking it apllied specifically to 20d, 15a, 17d and associated entries.

Having just Googled 20d in isolation, I immediately saw several others answers that qualify.

A1philosopher, I had the same uneasiness over it.