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ChrisE, the “about” is a two-letter word preceding the “money”, with inside a short word for “hint”. The definition looks odd to me, but it’s in the BRB

Thanks quisling

Enjoyed this. FOI 1a, LOI 10 - the police chief part evaded me for ages which is unforgivable as that was completely my era! COD 18 for the lovely image of sozzled nuns that it evokes - and the reminder of family coming over later today!

Gave up after an hour with the SW untouched and looked up the answers . Despite the various hints below I can't see the Spoonerism (nothing new there) -can someone please break it down into minute pieces without saying what the answer is, please?
I didn't know Elizabeth I was what the answer is for 26a and don't recall having heard of the sorcerer at 21a .
Having finished yesterday's FT in about 30 mins , I have to say this was much harder .

Quisling and fop - many thanks. Yes, I guessed it must be NATO in nature but couldn't work out what was going on. But you're right, fop, it's genius once the penny drops.

Loubylou - just exchange the first letter of the first word with the first letter of the second, then say it out loud. All should become clear even though it looks like gibberish on the page.

... the sorcerer is Shakespearean

... and you're on slightly the wrong track with parsing 16D. The Queen is the standard two-letter abbreviation for the current monarch, which follows a (slightly shaky) two-word synonym for performing well. The definition is Traitor.

Whoops, sorry, completely wrong monarch clue! Apologies😂

Aha. I get it. Or rather. Get lots of them now. Many PDMs. I like the spoonerism. Got 13d (had struggled with the second word). Seen 26a before. After all that I very much enjoyed this weeks. For COD I am torn between 6d and 7d. But perhaps that makes me too 7d. So I'll opt for 14d as I do love the Speverent Rooner.