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I have solved most of the clues but am lost on the theme (and what the missing letters spell out).

I see that 7a&20a have a link and similarly 7d&20d. Am i right? Also, are we in the right season for a festivity re 7d? Although I'm not sure if that means the theme is related to the character at 7d. Anyway for either of these pairs, I cannot see what 17a is.

I see a clear ambiguity for 15d. But, not sure what the other 3 would be. My answer for 16d is fits the definition (1st word of clue) and the outer letters are clear (last 2 words of clue) but the middle 3 letters i cannot see from the wordplay. I assume 16d might be one of the ambiguous clues.

For 27d, the answer seems clear but I'm lost on the wordplaym. Oops, I mean wordplay.

YorkyAndy - for 12 think of a slur for a citizen across the Channel and snip off the last letter.

For 6, one letter for British and 4 letter trade .. reverse that. Then a 2 letter metal and one letter old money.

Hi boson
Do you have the one who may not pick a side? 7d and 20d are famous examples of 17ac.
Help with 6d/12ac appreciated!

Cheers boson! Very helpful. Have you got the theme?

16d the side could be rephrased as the head of....
27d well it is a **** but it isn't given that there is a letter to be removed

Aaah thanks Andy! 27d makes perfect sense now!

Your hint for 17 did it for me - thanks! I had to do a quick google to confirm and it gave me a wiki page which had the name revealed by the hidden letters.

Oh dear, now I see the other ambiguities! All makes sense now!

the blog is done, jono - and I have incorporated your arcane knowledge of setters ....

Hi again Prospero, where can I find your blog? I've looked on 225 but the most recent is .268

Thanks to Glyph for a first-rate debut in the Genius spot.

I've never seen the themed work but, given its incredible poularity, am obviously aware of it.

I thought giving 2 examples to represent each side was a particularly nice touch, as was the way the both ambiguous answers were seeemlessly integrated into the wordplay of the relevant clues.

Well done Glyph:-)