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David -- 'we're told' is the aforementioned homophone indicator. 'Crooked' is the homophone.

Thanks chrise. Your comment confirms that I do have the right word, so perhaps I am odd in pronouncing 'Z' as in 'buZZ', or as in 'buTS' if I think the word is German. 'T' is close to 'D' of course but not close enough here for my taste. (I was also unhappy for the same reason as you.)

Homophones almost always cause controversy. Z is pretty close to DS for me.

Perhaps consider the answer to 24d as the surname of the inventor/builder of one of the first automobiles; rather than the modern day manufacturer which is always written as two words and hyphenated and doesn’t work for me. Just a thought

I wasn’t happy with placebos being described a spurious medication, since they sometimes work.

I’m usually too late to enter in to the discussion but enjoy reading the comments. I never seem to struggle with the same ones as anyone else! Usually I read this when I get stuck. Today, the last one I completed was 25a which was satisfying. I got 17d but I don’t know why. CoD 1d.
See you again next week!

17d is an anagram, after removing a letter.

Just got 23d, thanks to comments here. Nice,! Not a clue about 24a, though. Have the odd letters, not the even ones. 3D may be an American expression, so straightforward for me. Common expression for edgy, nervous. Nice puzzle but I’d love a hint for 24a.

Having said that, I think I’ve sorted 24a — a word I’ve never heard of. Not sure Chambers has either!

Ah! Finally I have 24a. It helped to know that others did not know the word. Being extremely picky here but I would not put the word “very “ in front of small to describe the weight. I mean, we’re not talking micrograms or even mg or g here!

Catcharmer, 3d I heard/used this phrase a lot in the Midlands in the 1970s Maybe a rather old fashioned expression. I always took the p part of the answer to mean the underneath British usage of the word, but it could equally refer to the American outer item, so its origin could be either I suppose. I live in the US and often hear the term ****y from the first word of the answer, presumably a derivation.