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Opto, focus on the final unentered letters of the appropriate entries.

I “think” I enjoyed this one. Took several sittings which is a good thing. Lots of early minor PDMs which was fun and most of the grid filled with thematic words identified by Saturday night and on a roll.
Then the last 3 clues held me up for a couple of days. 14a, 18d and 20d proved tricky. 20d because I had entered an incorrect answer in 24a so my fault on that one.
All fair on reflection but very difficult especially when clashes are involved.
I only got the name to go below the grid after completing the puzzle and resorting to asking Claude. A fairly obscure theme in my view.
So lots of entertainment on the way but a stuttering conclusion.
Vastly better than the puzzles we have seen recently that can be done before dinner though.

For me, the puzzle has the right level of difficulty, and I applaud its ingenious cluing. There's a sticky stage early on when one doesn't know what to do with many of the answers, but a pattern emerges...

I deny that the theme is obscure - it's the most likely context for the 14-letter thematic feature. There's even a popular, prize-winning book about it.

The title applies to the opposites of the 14-letter feature and the 12-letter thematic word, but that's ok with me.

Bravo!

Apologies if this has already been asked - didn’t want to look through the message thread yet

Are there some sloppy clues?

14a looks like it should be rabbit, not rabbits

33a has a spurious “on”

2d looks like a straightforward definition

Of course, it’s more likely I’m missing something!

Hi Adeano
I don't think there are sloppy clues:
14a - this one is discussed early in the thread. I think rabbits, rather than rabbit, works better for me.
33a - I think "on" is needed as part of the syntax of the clue - it wouldn't read as a sentence otherwise. I don't think it's spurious, as in terms of wordplay it's part of "taking on"
2d - it's an "&lit" clue, but there is definitely wordplay within it.

Thanks twit - all clear now!

For rabbits, I had misread the relevant entry as singular rather than plural - so rabbits is definitely correct

Looking at 2d again it immediately fell into place

And your explanation of 33a makes perfect sense

Cheers