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Dylan, I too have both parts of 5 down, although I thought that the cryptic indication for the first two letters of my second answer was a bit tenuous. I have made a word of the right length for the grid by combining the first four letters from each of the two answers.

I agree, Opto, and I have also got the pair for 25ac, and the resulting word. I have also got both answers for 13ac, but I can't find a way to join them - maybe this is one where a third part is involved?

However, in my opinion there are far too many unclued entries - 12 when I checked - and this makes life too difficult, giving far too many options for where to put bits of words. I think I'll retire from this one - wedding to attend, and garden to deal with!

Dylan, I too have both parts of 25 across and can make a 5 letter word using a method similar to that for 5 down. This makes me wonder whether a similar method should be used for all double clues.

Thank you for this forum, Norah.

At 74 I'm way too old to spend what would be at least a day of my life with this beast!😊

Dylan, 13A is in OED remember. It’s the obvious 7 letters.

This is extremely tough, borderline unfair, depending on where you stand, but it does all work out perfectly. Those who lament too many easy ones can’t complain when thrown a stinker, but I’m not sure I’d want one every week!

Quisling, are we to understand that you have completed this puzzle?

I wouldn't call it borderline unfair, but I would call it really hard. Amazing that it all comes together.

I'm with bobbycollins, as a septuagenarian and just recovering from RSV, I'll sit this one out.

Buddy, on reflection I agree with you, because I was able to get to the end through logic, dogged persistence and no trial and error. It was indeed just very, very hard. But I’m not really sure what would make a puzzle unfair, other than a misleading preamble. Is there a reasonable limit to how much cold solving needs to be done before a gridfill can start? I don’t know