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Hi Roof,
5d is a biblical reference where the wordplay works in reverse

Thanks Jono

It took me a while to see the parsing for 5d, but I got there in the end. Just three left now.

4d for which I have ?A?S?E?. I think it is a Welsh town, but can't think of one that fit or parses.
7d for which I have ?O?S?N and no idea what the definition is. Like many of you, I get the answer from the definition and work backwards to parse the wordplay.
24 across for which I have M?N? Again no idea. Ahh - just got it in a PDM.

I have the answer for 17ac, but can't see how it parses.

I think it was a hard crossword. It took me ages to get going and I only did so with help from the forum, so thank you to everyone.

Did not find this easy!!
I was delighted, a couple of weeks ago, to complete one of Paul's puzzles thanks to the excellent clues on this website.
You have all helped today, but I've had to rely on other sites for clues.
Compared with this, the Maskerade Easter puzzle was "a doddle"

Woah. Thanks all for clues. FOI was 24d so clearly I was struggling! About half-way there now thanks to the forum, may be back for more...

Hi Roof,
4d the wordplay is in reverse, so from the bottom a 3 letter word for acquire followed by a 4 letter term for the layer in which coal might be found.
7d is a term for alcoholic drinks generally, one might say ‘what’s your ......?’ Uncorked indicates the removal of a first letter in a word that wraps around ‘is’ from the clue
17a note that the last three letters are a form of Jamaican music in reverse.

Well this was a struggle, and I needed quite a few pointers but I enjoyed it very much. Thanks Paul and of course thanks to all contributors here.
FOI 10a, LOI 12a because of being stupid, cod probably 22d but 6d and others are good too.
Chrise, I must take issue with your question mark after 'music' @46- definitely a distinct, honourable and enjoyable genre. I also think the artist is well enough known for the I or e ambiguity to be ok, but my daughter-in-law is the artist's compatriot so maybe that counts as specialist knowledge.

I think I only knew 22a because I spent my sixth form in a half-boarding school in Keswick, but had little problem with that or 22d .
Now to wrestle with the maddening Captcha, then on to Everyman!

Luko
I respectfully disagree. The artist is known, but hardly a household name, and if you don't know it, there's no way you can decide on the third letter.
We can agree to disagree on the "music genre"!

Thanks Jono

I did manage to solve them all though with the help of some crossword solver app. But I don't like the answer to 7d, or indeed some of the others. Thanks for taking the trouble to reply. I can relax for the rest of the evening now.

I agree on 7d, roof - very poor clue. Loose in more than one way.

Just finished this evening too, as I wanted to make the most of a dry morning and get to the garden centre to sort my pots out.
Much like everyone else I didn't enjoy this week's puzzle, which is a shame because Paul is one of my favourites and usually provides a few chuckles. But mostly this was figure out what words could fit and work backwards to get the wordplay.
First in was 24d and last was 25a. Favourite possibly 24a for its conciseness and I like words like prayer, sewer, butter etc.. used in crosswords to throw you off.