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Hi Roof, please persevere. I started slowly but all fell I to place (with loads of help from the forum). In fact, it was one of the most enjoyable crosswords I have done for some time.

Just finished reading the thread, so I'll have another go. Lots of hints, not all of which I understood. The sun has come out again, hurrah!

Stick with it ! See my comments @71.

Well I did stick to it from 4.00pm until 6.30pm when I had to stop and cook dinner. Just finished eating it.

Done lots, but not the south west corner. I can't think of the second word for 18ac, nor the answer for 22ac. A hint for them and 13d might help me finish before the Night Manager.

22 is an anagram of the first 2 words in the clue. The defn "it may be used for beating" pertains to horse riding.

I believe equestrians would consider “beating” as wrong in this context. That would surely be misuse.

My heartfelt thanks to several regulars here for hints and tips without which I would have been in severe distress. I would never have understood 3d without the explanation here - it's superb.
As it is, I have one left to do which I have not seen mentioned : 20d * P * I * G which I can see as a verb for 'pop up' but can't get the bookies reference. Obviously I'm missing something.
Meanwhile, I have trouble parsing 11a
Loved the barbed 5a and the beautifully worked 22a.
I did have a deja-vu feeling about 7d, which has shown up in similar clues a couple of times at least in the past year.
One of my favourite clues - not the most devious, but made me smile out loud - must be 27a.

Thanks Geeker

I just got that one.

roof @84, 133d is a common 'promises to pay' abbrev plural (4) after (3,3) 'for / what archaeologists do'

Jvector, the bookies reference is the first two letters which refer to betting odds.