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Hi Mr Crucible. Many thanks for dropping on our forum. The fact that this forum exists every month shows the interest generated by the Genius crosswords.

My penny's worth: I agree with Mrs Trellis WRT letter counts.

Also agree with peterm WRT 5Ac. Not a real "partnership" to my mind (as I already stated back at post number 24).

Otherwise, kudos for one or two gems - 19A was my favourite by a country mile (I live in France and the clue was quite brilliant).

At the point in the puzzle where, for 8 down, I had (L--) (-A-K), I really, really wanted it to be Lee Mack.
Even after I realised what the answer was, I still wanted it to be Lee Mack.
I could imagine Lee Mack doing the crossword with other people, seeing the clue, and saying,
"Lee Mack"
(everyone ignores him)
"Is it Lee Mack??"
(long pause whilst others discuss it...)
"I know what it is...it's Lee Mack!!"
(even after everyone else has said the answer)
"I know---Lee Mack."

In fact, it would make a good name for a tour: Lee Mack ...And Think of Etc.

Thank you for a very enjoyable puzzle, Crucible!

Very funny dove - I too thought it was Lee Mack, but couldn't make his regular oppos Tim Vine or David Mitchell work into the clue. Shame.

hi dove and mrs trellis,
I thought I was done after "uncovering" 1a ,finding 16a (Becky I think) and picking LEE,MACK for 8d.
Is that right or do I keep on tearing my hair (or what's left of it) ?

Still struggling with 4D,6D,14A,16A and 27A.

I am assuming 16A is based on spice girls and it's a girl's name

Any hints appreciated.

16A - you are on the right lines with the Spice Girls. The answer can be a diminutive of a girl's name but this is pure coincidence if you pars the clue and follow the instructions correctly.

4D - think 70s pop/rock icon meets eastern bloc composer.

6D was in the Mail a couple of days later I am told.

I am almost there. The top left corner (1A,10A and 3D) are seemingly beyond me.

As for 23A, I have two possible answers, one of which I much prefer to the other but still cannot see why it is correct.

Hi dizoz - change the last letter of Becky to make half of a pairing; 8d sadly is not Lee Mack. There's only one other thing that fits comfortably in there- put 'and' after it and finish the well-known expression!

hi angst and mrs t
angst - 10a "perform" read "do".
mrs t - thanks for 16a, will work on 8d

Hi angst, 1a -take 'kid's starter' from synonym for prefers, then its partner goes in the grid. 10a is another paired one - cleu is straightforward, then partner goes in grid.
3d is a 'normal' clue - incredibly convoluted (i had lots of help from this forum) - you need a soundalike for 'highly' (yes really), then think of the only famous person with that name (discounting the distance runner), and you've got your 'admirer'! - and if you can be bothered, the letter-play is to do with 29a See what I mean about convoluted? Very clever though.
23a - another paired answer, No.10 is usual cross-word fodder in synonym for 'union' reversed. Usual partner goes in the grid.
I suspect that like me you've found it tricky separating the clue from the letters you see in the grid for the paired answers - I would never have got there without the help of some clever folk on here :-)