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All done except that I don't know what to do with the part-time participant, which doesn't fit with either group.

Your groups are of 20 and 6....the six are in one line which cannot be extended

Doric would have been a better fit (like) ; )

That's strange. My only candidate for the part-timer is not in line with the rest.

Could there be a second line of 5 elsewhere?

Of course. I'm blind. Thank you Tatters.

I had to laugh at the wordplay for 27A.

Usual story with Mr E for me. Nice enough gridfill, identified the theme, now been staring for some considerable time with no idea what to do next. Most frustrating. Hopefully inspiration will strike overnight.

Similar story to everyone else here - 26d in particular a tricky solve, and then took a while scanning the grid to find the groups of "participants"... but once you've found them it's quite a satisfying looking grid! My first encounter with Mr E but enjoyed some of the wording of the clues a lot - 16a and 5d were fun.

Start with the 20 that have one (or only a couple of) entry, 180 degree symmetry