Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Ah I had 1d wrong. Obvious really. Must be too tired should have waited till morning. Thanks again for assistance Brendan!
Have a great weekend

You too FemmeNoire 😃

Enjoyed that, best of this week’s Guardian offerings for me. Saw the theme early which helped but I see from the earlier comments some of the more technical references went over my head. Thanks for that, l shall go back through and see how many more I can find

Morning all, I really enjoyed this, although it's all done by the end of breakfast so will have to find something else to do now!
First in was 9a and last was 25a, pretty much worked my way diagonally across the grid. The only one I am not sure of the parsing is how the garment fits into 24a, if someone could enlighten me.
I love how the theme isn't glaringly obvious, but just used subtly throughout and more references the more you look. Too many good clues to pick a favourite, lots of short concise clues with smooth surfaces yet precise wordplay.

abicoop, I parsed the first two letters of 24a as a three letter garment with the first letter removed.

Thanks! Would have helped if I had gotten the answer right, no wonder I couldn't parse it. Doh!

After years of studying the erudite clues on this site I have finally been prompted to post myself,due to today's excellent puzzle. I finished unusually early, largely due to my intimate knowledge of the theme. Like @geeker , I have spent many,many hours at this pastime !

Knowledge of theme totally unnecessary - well, I did it without spotting it!
I've a different problem with 17a, if I've got it right. I can see the "stolen contents" (a bit of a "ghost"), but the definition is very loose.
I liked 19d (of course), and the 20s.

I think you have 17a correct Chris, I had similar thoughts.
What with golf, cricket and bridge (plus the theme) something for everyone here

Qaos just told me (via Twitter) there are 18 theme references to spot ;-)