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Straightforward today as expected for a "Chalicea" ....just one query..
22a Plant's occasionally mixed buds (3) ... must be IEU from mIxEd bUds.....is "plant's" the defn?

It's not IEU = try another set of 'occasional' letters.

PS Yes, the easiest for a long, long time.

Sorry - yes, you've got the right definition.

Thank you ...of course ...didn't count properly!

You're welcome, Scarlett.

I have finished the crossword, have all the excess words but can not decipher how to fill in the central spaces! The initials of the excess words make no sense to me. Must be doing something wrong! Any help much appreciated.

I didn't use the letters, but the surplus words.

If you have a few of them, google them and the theme will be suggested to you multiple times.

The title of the key fits the middle row, as you'll see. Then, to fill the boxes, a key line is related to Manchester's cotton industry.

Jadzia49, it's not the initial letters of the extra words, it's the initial letters of the words either side of the extra words in the clues. These give an instruction and include the poet's name.

Two clues are very misleading. In 19a 'smuggler's' is superfluous to the definition since the Chambers entry for the answer makes no reference to 'smugglers', but it is not one of the intended extra words. In 24a, 'seen' is extra to provide an essential SI, but it could easily be taken as integral to the definition. When setter's use an extra word gimmick the extra word should be unambiguously extra. This isn't.

Thanks so much. I got there eventually!

I thought it was interesting that each filled space contains a word, one read anti-clockwise, one read clockwise. Deliberate or coincidence?