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Hopefully no spoilers here, but maybe I'm getting 1ac with Everyman because I found this pretty straightforward. In the past it would often take until 21ac to complete, but today I 17ac early and went 9dn from the get-go. I found things to be reasonably 3dn clued so it wasn't long before my 10ac was assured.

Also in the good books this morning because 22dn my partner lie-in and enjoy the extra hour in bed due to the clocks going back.

Happy halloween all.

PCA me too re 1A. Can't see how anything in the clue gives the first four letters, unless it's just a (very) loose synonym for 'back'. Has anyone got a better idea?

Richard - sounds like you had a 14A of inspiration. Crack open the 8D later.

Phil re 1a. I can’t think of anything better for the first part. See also Mattrom@28

That explains it. After a bit of googling I now understand the 2nd word. Never knew it could be used in that context. It's there in Chambers as well.
Just 12 and 13 to finish off.

Sorry, two of my pet hate misdefinitions here. 11a isn't a sponge - it's not even like[/b/] a sponge (for instance, it doesn't absorb water); it's a gourd, related to pumpkins (Halloween reference?) 14a are completely unnoticeable "in the main"; it's only when the boat returns to harbour that the devastation is discovered.

sorry, extra character in my bold turnoff

Fop for 12ac put the plural of an elderly relative around a 2 letter abbreviation for a Brussels institution and a letter denoting “one”. Answer is a European nationality (plural).

13d is hard to explain if you don’t know the person, a singer. Festive song should be easy enough for the first five letters, then the last five (loosely) mean getting longer, although I’d usually use the word for making something last longer.

Hope that’s not all too spoilerific

All done without coming to the forum except for confirmation.
I agree with Chris about the sponge but with my crossers nothing else fitted. It was the same with 1a, as the expression meant nothing to me.
I struggled a while with 8d as I had the last letter of 15a wrong. Having recognised a rhyming pair I thought the second word referred to bravery. I got there in the end and enjoyed this puzzle on the whole.

I think I'd allow 11a in that it is used 'like a sponge'.